Stripes (1981) On his way to the premiere of Meatballs, Ivan Reitman (The director of Meatballs ) thought up the idea for a film: Cheech and Chong join the army. He pitched it to Paramount Pictures and they greenlit the film that day. Len Blum and Dan Goldberg wrote the screenplay in Toronto and read it to Reitman, who was in Los Angeles, over the phone. The director, in turn, would give the writers notes. Cheech and Chongs manager thought the script was very funny; however, the comedy duo wanted complete creative control. Reitman then suggested to Goldberg that they change the two main characters to ones suited for Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, figuring if they could get Ramis interested and let him tailor the script for the two of them, he could convince Murray to do it. Ramis had already co-written National Lampoons Animal House and Meatballs, but was relatively unknown as a film actor. His best-known acting work prior to Stripes was as a cast member for the late-night TV sketch comedy Second City Television, which he had quit a few years earlier. When he screen-tested for Columbia Pictures, they hated his audition but Reitman told the studio that he was hiring the comedian anyway. According to actress P.J. Soles, Ramis was reluctant to appear in the film and that Dennis Quaid had read for his part but Murray told him, Look, I don’t want to work with anybody else. You’re doing the part. Otherwise, I’m not doing the movie. Judge Reinhold played Elmo, who was a collection of all the best jokes from the Cheech and Chong version of the film. The casting agent picked Sean Young based on how she looked and Reitman felt that her sweetness would go well with Ramis. Soles tested with Murray and they got along very well together. John Diehl had never auditioned before and this was his first paying job as an actor. Reitman was a fan of the westerns that Warren Oates had been in and wanted someone who was strong and that everyone respected to control the films misfit platoon. Goldberg knew John Candy from Toronto and told Reitman that he should be in the film. Candy did not have to audition. Before filming started, Reinhold thought that he had a handle on his character but once filming started, he was petrified because this was his first big studio film. Every scene had some element of improvisation and this was due in large part to Murray and Ramis, who suggested things for him to say and this spread to other cast members. Reinhold said that during filming, Oates would tell everyone stories about working on films like The Wild Bunch and they would be enthralled. Reitman wanted a little bit of weight in the center, and had a serious argument between Hulka and Winger. It was not played for laughs and allowed Murray to do something he had not done before. During filming one of the obstacle courses scenes, Reitman told the actors to grab Oates and drag him into the mud without telling the veteran actor about it to see what would happen and get a genuine reaction. Oates front tooth got chipped in the process and he yelled at Reitman for what he did. Much of the mud wrestling scene was made up on the spot by Reitman. Candy felt uncomfortable during filming, but Reitman talked him through it. Filming began in Kentucky in November 1980, then moved to California in December. Principal photography ended on Stage 20 at Burbank Studios on January 29, 1981. The production was allowed to shoot the army base scenes at Fort Knox, the city scenes in Louisville, and the Czechoslovakia scenes at the closed Chapeze Distillery (owned by Jim Beam) in Clermont, with a budget of $9–10 million and a 42-day shooting schedule. Reitman was amazed that they got the Department of Defenses cooperation. The spatula scene in the kitchen of the generals house was filmed at three in the morning, after the cast and crew had been up the entire day. Murray improvised the Aunt Jemima Treatment sequence and Soles reacted naturally to whatever he said and did.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 23:33:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015