Waiting for Guffman (1996)

An aspiring director and the marginally talented amateur cast of a hokey small-town Missouri musical production go overboard when they learn that someone from Broadway will be in attendance.

Director:

Christopher Guest

Writers:

Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy

Stars:

Christopher Guest, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Deborah Theaker	...	Gwen Fabin-Blunt - Councilwoman
Michael Hitchcock	...	Steve Stark - Councilman
Scott Williamson	...	Tucker Livingston - Councilman
Larry Miller	...	Glenn Welsch - Mayor
Don Lake	...	Phil Burgess - Blaine Historian
Christopher Guest	...	Corky St. Clair
Fred Willard	...	Ron Albertson
Catherine O'Hara	...	Sheila Albertson
Parker Posey	...	Libby Mae Brown
David Cross	...	UFO Expert
Eugene Levy	...	Dr. Allan Pearl
James McQueen	...	Singing Auditioner (as Jim McQueen)
Turk Pipkin	...	Ping Pong Ball Juggler
Jerry Turman	...	Raging Bull Auditioner
Bob Balaban	...	Lloyd Miller

Storyline

A town of Blaine, Missouri is preparing for celebrations of its 150th anniversary. Corky St.Clair, an off-off-off-off-off-Broadway director is putting together an amateur theater show about the town's history, starring a local dentist, a couple of travel agents, a Dairy Queen waitress, and a car repairman. He invites a Broadway theater critic Mr. Guffman to see the opening night of the show.

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Plot Keywords:

mockumentary | missouri | dentist | amateur theater | travel agent | 

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Taglines:

There's A Good Reason Some Talent Remains Undiscovered

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. / Castle Rock [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Christopher Guest Project

Filming Locations:

Gaslight Baker Theater, Lockhart, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$37,990, 2 February 1997, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,923,982

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment, Pale Morning Dun, All Night Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SDDS SDDS (uncredited)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The music and lyrics for "Red, White, and Blaine" were written and composed by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, who were the three stars of This Is Spinal Tap (1984).

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Goofs

When the Stage Manager says, "We're at fifteen," her mouth does not move with the words.

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Quotes

Corky St. Clair: I was shopping for my wife Bonnie. I buy most of her clothes and Mrs Pearl was in the same shop! And it just was an accident you know, we started talking... about panty hose, she was saying... whatever that's not the point of the story but what the point is is that through this accidental meeting... it's like a Hitchcock movie you know where you're thrown into a rubber bag and put in the trunk of a car, you find people. You find them. Something, is is it karma? Maybe. But we found him, that's ...

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits Christopher Guest's character shows us some of the fun memorabilia that he sells in his store.

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Connections

References The Remains of the Day (1993)

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Soundtracks

Teacher's Pet
Written by Joe Lubin
Daywin Music, Inc.
Administered by Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc. (BMI)
Danced to and sung by Parker Posey (uncredited) at the audition

User Reviews

A great little film that points out a quality in all of us

Some people might say this film's improvisational nature is dull and slow, it's the complete opposite. Just imagine a movie completely improvised? Not only does it take talent, it takes guts and charisma to stay with something so bold. While the ending was a little abrupt, this film was still one to enjoy. Christopher Guest seems to have playing a homosexual down to a hilt. If it wasn't for his role in Best in Show, I thought he would forever be typecast as an eccentric gay character. A fun film to watch if you're into alternate types of comedy.

But this film also says a little something about the human condition. We aren't all people who wait for each other to speak and are perfectly capable of leading a group of people. This is Guest's gift: he can accentuate the insecurities we have within ourselves and portray it perfectly on celluloid.