# Trading Places (1983) | Ep. 50 - Part 1

An episode of [All The Right Movies](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1471502633), 20 Dec 2024, 1 h 11 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO3962267046.mp3

Two heartless old men bet a single dollar on whether they can ruin one man's life and remake another's. Luke, Westy, and Matt begin the story of the sharpest comedy of its era. In Part 1 we cover the film's opening, director John Landis, the cast, and the second act — including Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd swapping lives, Jamie Lee Curtis's scene-stealing turn, and the Duke brothers' cruel little experiment. The revenge on the trading floor is still to come. Part 2 settles the score: crew, finale, reception, legacy. Out now. Episode sponsors: BetterHelp: For a 10% discount off your first month with BetterHelp, click here Connect with ATRM: To support what we do, access our archive and listen to exclusive episodes, become an ATRM patron: Listen on Patreon Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Twitter/X: @ATRightMovies YouTube: Subscribe to our channel Instagram: @allthe_rightmovies Threads: @allthe_rightmovies Facebook: Join our movie group Bluesky: @alltherightmovies.com TikTok: @alltherightmovies Website: alltherightmovies.com

## Transcript

[0:04] All the right. Movies given the right
[0:06] surroundings and encouragement, I'll bet that that man could run
[0:11] our company as well as your young Winthorpe.
[0:14] Are we talking about a wager, Randolph?
[0:18] I suppose you think Winthorpe say if he would lose his job,
[0:22] would resort to holding up people on the streets.
[0:25] No, I don't think just losing his job would be enough for
[0:28] Winthorpe. I think we'd have to keep a
[0:30] little more misfortune on those narrow shoulders.
[0:35] If he lost his job and his home and his fiance and his friends,
[0:40] if he were somehow disgraced and arrested with the police and
[0:44] thrown in jail even, yes, I'm sure he'd take the crime like a
[0:51] fish to water. An upper class commodities
[0:55] director and a lowly St. hustler unknowingly trade places as part
[0:59] of a scientific experiment orchestrated by the dastardly
[1:02] Duke and Duke. John Landis's 80s spin on The
[1:05] Prince and the Pauper was a seasonal smash in the early 80s.
[1:08] An outstanding cast and great writing combined to make Trading
[1:11] Places an Evergreen festive classic.
[1:13] My name is Luke and the two jive turkeys with me are Matt.
[1:17] My Harvard Thai like, oh sure, he went to Harvard.
[1:21] And Westie. Those men wanted to have sex
[1:23] with me. All the right movies are
[1:25] thinking big, thinking positive fear.
[1:28] That's the other guy's problem. Hi everyone, Murray, New Year
[1:49] and welcome to All the Right Movies, a podcast on classic and
[1:52] hit films whose stock is higher than pork bellies and frozen
[1:55] concentrated orange juice. Pork bellies.
[1:58] Pork bellies. I knew it.
[1:59] I knew it. We're back in the City of
[2:02] Brotherly Love this weekend. We're guaranteeing festive fun
[2:05] as we go behind the scenes on trading Blazers.
[2:08] Yeah. Oh, a hot potato, this one.
[2:10] Oh, it is too hot to handle. Almost.
[2:13] Sometimes. Yeah, definitely is.
[2:15] It's going to burn your mouth. Burn my fingers, man.
[2:21] Now, before we start, we're just going to remind you about the
[2:23] benefits of becoming an ATRM patron.
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[2:53] Yeah. So we've talked about Eddie
[2:56] Murphy movies like 48 Hours in Beverly Hills Cop, Dan Aykroyd
[2:59] and Ghostbusters and The Blues Brothers, JLC and Halloween in
[3:01] the Fog, John Landis's work on American Well with London, and
[3:05] much, much more. Yeah.
[3:06] Loads more. So for that and so much more,
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[3:19] That's patreon.com/all the right movies.
[3:22] Yeah, somebody to spend your Christmas money on.
[3:24] An investment worth making, for certain.
[3:25] For the year, yeah. OK, so back to the main event.
[3:30] Why are we talking about Trading Places?
[3:32] Well, for me, this film was right there at the very, very,
[3:36] very start and very early memory for me, right.
[3:39] We had it at home when I was a kid and it was one of those
[3:42] titles which were very impressionable for me when I was
[3:45] 78910 formative years. You know, the most suitable age
[3:49] for a child to be watching a film like this.
[3:51] Yeah, just watch it every year from 7 to 10 vulnerable times.
[3:57] We've mentioned how LAX parent and was in the 80s when it came
[4:00] to VHS consumption and this one is.
[4:02] Misunderstood. I think is.
[4:03] Misunderstood. Yeah.
[4:06] I loved it as a kid and I still do.
[4:08] I think it has a number of layers, some of which are a
[4:10] little muddled, maybe some of which work fantastically well.
[4:13] But I think the comedy is first rate, the themes are still
[4:16] relevant today and the cast are superb, a stand out.
[4:21] I also think that the film's been getting a little bit of a
[4:23] bad rap in recent years. Obviously some of it's
[4:26] justified, but I think a little bit of perspective is required
[4:29] to ensure that the film doesn't slip away, and I think we're
[4:32] just the type of chaps to provide that perspective.
[4:35] Absolutely. We do see so ourselves.
[4:39] Well, you do, but Lou comes in. Yeah.
[4:41] Exactly. Yeah, we're not applied out.
[4:43] Couple. Yeah, no.
[4:46] What's guaranteed, though, is that it's a hell of a film.
[4:48] It'll make for a hell of a podcast.
[4:49] Indeed. And Westy, unless I'm mistaken,
[4:52] you was in the tank last night bragging on your limousine.
[4:55] Yeah, yeah, it's just outside for me to go check it.
[5:01] Out right outside. Right outside you.
[5:03] I got this one pretty late, and it was a late edition for me.
[5:07] I'm talking like five years ago. Really.
[5:09] Six years ago. Yeah, it just completely slipped
[5:13] through the net as as a John Landis film.
[5:15] I was in the Blues Brothers. I loved that.
[5:18] That was my kind of flagship for Landis.
[5:20] American Werewolf and the Coming to America, of course, was the
[5:24] stand out for me. I think Coming to America kind
[5:26] of replaced this one for me growing up.
[5:28] That was the one that I went to. It was either, I think it's this
[5:30] or Coming to America that you kind of gravitate towards.
[5:33] Take the Stones and The Beatles, isn't it really?
[5:36] It's one of the other. And I think for me, I just
[5:38] wanted to see more of Eddie Murphy, and that's why I love
[5:40] coming to America. And this felt very much a
[5:42] divided performance with him and Ackroyd.
[5:45] OK, always preferred Ackroyd and Ghostbusters, and coming to this
[5:48] one a little bit later, I can. It's painful because I can see
[5:51] how lovely this would have been if I watch it when I was seven,
[5:53] that the nostalgia is there, the Christmas theme, the comedy.
[5:56] Eddie Murphy's just absolutely fire on all cylinders.
[5:59] Ackroyd's hilarious, everyone's great denim.
[6:02] Elliot's there. And I would have been like,
[6:03] that's the guy from Raiders and it was just like 1 after the
[6:06] other and I just, I should have got to it sooner.
[6:08] But I don't know what put us off for so long.
[6:10] It just felt like I'd seen it all before and it was just going
[6:14] to be a rehash. But watching it again, it really
[6:17] is its own film. It really does stand on its own
[6:19] and it really has got a lot to say.
[6:21] It's a it's great and I do really, really enjoy it, but I
[6:24] just feel like I'm missing something.
[6:26] I feel like there's just a little something there that I
[6:28] can't. I really, really like it, but I
[6:30] don't know if I love it. OK.
[6:32] And I think I might have just missed the ball on it.
[6:33] But hearing you 2 guys talk about it, especially you look,
[6:36] suddenly you love it. This is probably going to change
[6:38] your mind. And by the end of this, I'll be
[6:39] totally one over. OK, wonderful.
[6:41] Yeah, different perspective. Haven't only come to it about
[6:43] five years or so. Exactly.
[6:44] Hear about that? Yeah, my rose tinted glasses.
[6:47] You'll be able to knock them off a little bit.
[6:50] Unfortunately, I don't want to. But it's going to happen.
[6:53] I understand there. Was a lot of deep breaths when I
[6:55] was watching it. Really.
[6:56] Oh Gee. Can't do that.
[6:58] Wow, do that. Yeah.
[6:59] So we'll see where that goes. OK, finally looking good, Matt.
[7:04] Feeling good, Luke. Very nice.
[7:08] Why do you want to talk about Trading Places?
[7:11] Well, I'm kind of in the middle really.
[7:12] It wasn't one I watched as a kid, but I definitely didn't get
[7:15] to this late as Wesley did, so probably late teens.
[7:18] I think I first give this one a spin and I think it's always
[7:21] stood apart a little bit in a tea, right?
[7:23] I think if you say this film has got Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd
[7:26] in, that suggests a certain type of comedy, which this isn't
[7:29] really for the most part, in a lot of ways, it doesn't
[7:32] particularly feel like it does come from the 80s.
[7:34] I think that's really emphasized by having Don Amici and Ralph
[7:38] Bellamy in Denim Elliot in there as well.
[7:40] So it's got an interesting clash of Eus to it.
[7:43] It's got a bit more on its mind than the usual comedy, a bit
[7:47] more to see. Especially for 80s comedies.
[7:49] It's seasonal, so makes sense to talk about now.
[7:51] There are moments of complete hilarity in it.
[7:54] There were moments that make you think.
[7:56] There are moments that don't stand up to a lot of scrutiny
[7:58] these days. So there's a surprising amount
[8:01] to unpack with this one, I think.
[8:03] There certainly is much more than your average 80s comedy.
[8:08] Trading Places was written by Hershel Weingrad and Timothy
[8:11] Harris, directed by John Landis and produced for Aaron Russo for
[8:14] Paramount Pictures. Filmed on location in
[8:16] Philadelphia, NY and the US Virgin Islands, it was released
[8:19] on June 8th, 1983. It's another outstanding cast
[8:23] for us here including Dan Ackroyders, Lewis Winthorpe, The
[8:26] third Eddie Murphy has Billy Ray Valentine and they are supported
[8:30] by Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Amici, Ralph Bellamy, Denham Elliott,
[8:33] Paul Gleason. We're headed the streets of
[8:35] Philadelphia for the opening scene of Trading Places.
[8:38] Yeah. We open with the less than
[9:06] subtle images of wealth and poverty coexisting in the city.
[9:09] And Matt, you're starting us off here, the opening titles.
[9:12] Yeah, I mean, you've nailed it there.
[9:14] It is less than total, but that's fine sometimes because
[9:17] it's effective and it tells you straight away what the story is
[9:20] going to be about. And you know, one of the most
[9:22] effective parts of the film is the location shooting
[9:24] Philadelphia, very cinematic city.
[9:26] I mean, one shot in particular, it really looks like it's shot
[9:29] on the same St. as Rocky from the training sequence where it's
[9:33] an orange. Someone throws at him and he
[9:34] catches it. Yeah.
[9:35] Yeah, and there's a shot of the Rocky statue as well, isn't?
[9:38] There statue as well. But it is all about introducing.
[9:42] The themes are hard to film. So it's about the juxtaposition.
[9:44] If you get a you get the shots of immense privilege.
[9:47] The Borden on the river, which if you're from this country, you
[9:50] see that you're always associate that with Oxford and Cambridge
[9:53] University. And I assume it's the same in
[9:55] America. It's it's a sport only played by
[9:57] the elite, played by the rich. And then you get the shots of
[10:00] the Salvation Army with their sharing his carrying adverts.
[10:03] So rich and poor side by side. You get the imagery of the
[10:06] financial market side by side with blue collar jobs like the
[10:09] Hoagie restaurant or the haulage trains.
[10:12] And it's kind of blinking, You'll miss it.
[10:13] But if you look at those holiday trains, the whole and propaganda
[10:16] orange juice, which is a nice little nod to the climax of the
[10:19] film. So yeah, it's all about that
[10:22] juxtaposition. I think the most effective 1 is
[10:24] that sort of corn and opening the front door to Louise grandly
[10:27] decorated house. And then the next thing you see
[10:29] is that warmest guy in the shop doorway to try to keep himself
[10:32] warm under some newspapers. So, so no, but effective.
[10:36] Yeah, It's very reminiscent of Beverly Hills Cop, this opening
[10:40] title sequence, isn't it? Yeah.
[10:42] Big, long, kind of like establishing shots of the city.
[10:45] It's on for 3 1/2 minutes. This.
[10:49] Yeah. I'll go straight off the back of
[10:52] this with what Matt said there throws an orange and he catches
[10:54] it. There's so many references to
[10:55] orange juice throughout this whole film.
[10:57] Yeah, it's ridiculous. It's not like the godfather
[11:00] where just something forboden, but it's it's still there and
[11:03] you know, denimally it just preparing the breakfast in that
[11:06] chefs hat is probably one of the best images, and I would like
[11:09] that to be on the screen for 3 1/2 minutes, If I'm honest, That
[11:11] would be my title sequence. Just definitely doing the orange
[11:14] juice in that hat and there's so many I am privileged bits in
[11:18] this. Just the you know, there's your
[11:20] breakfast, somebody standing over you, waking you up and just
[11:22] that quick cut room get in shape.
[11:24] You don't see him enjoying his breakfast.
[11:25] You don't know if he's had it or not, and then his pork bellies
[11:28] and he's all about work. But the bit for me and Akro and
[11:31] you know exactly what you're setting up with his when he's
[11:33] just standing outside waiting for that car door to be open.
[11:35] Yeah, that's outrageous. What a prick.
[11:37] And that's just like, it just infuriated straight away.
[11:40] And I was like, I know exactly what Ackroyd performance I'm
[11:43] getting from this. Each sets of character
[11:45] perfectly. I think it's just really,
[11:46] really, really well done. And then when he walks into the
[11:49] building and it's just good morning, Mr. Mcdole.
[11:52] Good. Morning.
[11:53] Good morning. Good morning.
[11:55] And he did. You can tell he doesn't know who
[11:56] anyone is. No, he doesn't care about these
[11:58] people. It's just a face.
[12:00] And he just answers back, good morning, good morning.
[12:02] Just being polite. But then going into that office
[12:05] and that fires on and it just looks incredible.
[12:08] It's like, imagine that was your job, that's where you work.
[12:11] It's just ridiculous. It's just so over the top.
[12:15] The visual nature of it being this overly excessive world that
[12:21] I can't stand to be honest. This kind of world, this elite
[12:24] world where everyone thinks the better than anyone else just
[12:26] because they've got money. Just, it really fucking pisses
[12:30] me off sort of see that wound down and spun around and having
[12:34] it played on its head and taking the piss out of it a little bit.
[12:36] I really enjoy that. I really enjoy how flamboyant
[12:39] this is in regards to that because it should be laughed at,
[12:43] but it's not far from the truth. No, no it isn't.
[12:47] No, that's the kind of take away we get from the film.
[12:49] It is grounded in that reality, but the kind of take the piss
[12:52] out of that reality which I enjoy.
[12:54] Yeah, yeah, Grace. I mean, Winthorpe's got a Butler
[12:57] for Christ's sake. And for the role of Coleman John
[13:00] giel Good and Ronnie Barker had been considered before denim
[13:03] Elliot but giel Good had played a very similar role to yes
[13:06] previously in author, which he won an Oscar and allegedly
[13:09] Ronnie Barker would only take the role on the condition it was
[13:12] filmed no more than 7 miles from his home that's.
[13:14] Such an odd request, considering he lives in England.
[13:18] Yeah. And he knows it's set in
[13:20] Philadelphia. Yeah.
[13:21] It's definitely more than 7 miles, Ronnie. 7 is a very
[13:24] particular number. Just say no.
[13:27] Yeah, not exactly. Yeah, You would have been great
[13:29] though, I think. Oh, you.
[13:30] Would have been brilliant. Love Ronnie Barker.
[13:32] It's Denim Elliot's reactions to things he's.
[13:35] Just a voice of reason. He's the moral.
[13:37] He's fantastic, yeah. Does a lot with just like a
[13:40] raised eyebrow, doesn't he? Oh, he does.
[13:42] Yeah. Yeah.
[13:43] The first person to welcome Lewis into Duke, and Duke takes
[13:46] off his scarf and his coat. Good morning, Fuzzy.
[13:48] That's George Fuzzy Junior than an exec producer from the film.
[13:52] All right. Yeah, there's a deleted scene
[13:55] where he also welcomes in Billy Ray into the building when he
[13:58] gets his job on the first day. All.
[14:00] Right. Like it's like it mirrors it.
[14:01] Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah.
[14:02] OK. And then after this, we get the
[14:04] introduction of Duke and Duke, the music kicks up to an almost
[14:07] regal March. Their existence is very similar
[14:10] to Winthorpe, so we know that they're operating on a kind of
[14:13] similar level, but these two are elevated because they've got
[14:15] multiple staff clocking around them.
[14:20] I've always found a weird that they appear to live in the same
[14:23] house. They may have a different wing
[14:26] or whatever, but considering their constant bickering, I'd
[14:28] have thought they would have When they have the means, I
[14:30] would have thought they would have liked to live apart.
[14:33] Possibly, but I think they just kind of married to the
[14:35] lifestyle, aren't they really? I agree, yeah.
[14:37] Kind of married to each other because they can't.
[14:39] They can't do without each other, really.
[14:41] Yeah, I think they're Co dependent.
[14:42] Yeah, definitely. We're introduced to their way of
[14:44] thinking in the limo, and there's already an abundance of
[14:47] character building here. Mortem is obsessed by money.
[14:50] It's the only thing he's bothered about.
[14:51] Randolph, for some reason, is interested in hereditary versus
[14:54] environment. Very, very convenient that that
[14:58] really plays a part in the plot later.
[15:00] But you know, it sets up their bet.
[15:01] It's there. Take it if you want.
[15:05] And their dealings on pork bellies tells you just how much
[15:07] money we're talking about here. Because of Wynn Phillips advice,
[15:09] they make an extra 347,000. Yeah, not 347,000 in total.
[15:15] Extra. Yeah, it is extra they.
[15:17] Always make money. And Ray Malanda was originally
[15:21] cast as Mortimer, and he was famous for roles like Hitchcock
[15:24] Style and for Murder and Billy Wilder's The Last Weekend.
[15:27] And for that film he won an Oscar and that actually made him
[15:30] the first Welsh actor to win one.
[15:32] But for this he didn't pass the physical which the part were
[15:34] quite so they couldn't get him and she would.
[15:36] Right. Well, I mean, probably for the
[15:38] best, because he did die three years later.
[15:40] Oh, really? And I imagine seeing Jamie Lee's
[15:43] rushes might have tipped him over the edge, to be quite
[15:45] honest. Landis attention then passed
[15:49] over to Don Amici, who was told that he hadn't made a film in 13
[15:53] years and that his residual checks were being sent to
[15:55] someone in Phoenix. Amici was considered dead by
[15:58] account. Thankfully, he was alive and
[16:00] well and had been spotted daily walking in Santa Monica.
[16:02] And when Landis asked him why he'd been out with the movie
[16:05] Game for so long, he said he just hadn't received any offers.
[16:08] Yeah, He hadn't done anything since 1970.
[16:10] You know, you don't see it or and stuff like that.
[16:12] He's actually referenced, if you can.
[16:13] You remember he's referenced in the French Connection, Cloudy
[16:16] says. Can you remember that old actor
[16:18] Don Amici? He lives.
[16:19] In this building, yeah. Telemetry.
[16:24] I'm always the last to know. Boom boom W Very good.
[16:33] So 13 years out of the game, Amici would go understand over a
[16:37] dozen more films in his career, one of which two years later was
[16:40] Cocoon, for which he won an Oscar.
[16:42] Yeah. Unbelievable.
[16:43] He's. Fantastic and I haven't seen
[16:45] that film for years, but I remember being fantastic.
[16:47] It's. Great.
[16:48] And then when Duke and Duke arrive at the at the office,
[16:51] they double down on their privilege with the way they
[16:53] treat Billy Ray. Randolph just steps over him
[16:56] like he's not there. Eddie Murphy here.
[16:59] Jesus. Billy Ray pops out of nowhere
[17:01] and he's this volcano immediately.
[17:03] Merry Christmas. Thank you very much.
[17:05] Vietnam did this to me, but I'm not better.
[17:07] Thank you. Merry Christmas.
[17:08] Happy Hanukkah. Yeah.
[17:10] How you doing? Spare poor veteran some change.
[17:12] I'm on my knees for life. He just.
[17:15] Goes and goes and goes. It's so funny.
[17:19] And then Morton replies. I have no money to give you,
[17:22] which I'll admit is a line that I try and crow by into everyday
[17:25] conversation. Right.
[17:29] There's going to be a lot of this, isn't it?
[17:32] So that rapid fire dialogue, Jesus, it's amazing.
[17:36] But then when Billy Ray starts breaking down, grabbing his
[17:38] legs, Mortimer slams on him with his paper.
[17:41] And this is what we're dealing with here.
[17:42] Mortimer has got absolutely no concern for this apparent
[17:45] disabled person. He could easily spare that extra
[17:48] 347,000 and it would go unnoticed.
[17:52] But he doesn't bat an eyelid and he physically assaults Billy
[17:55] Ray. It's.
[17:56] One of us, by far the worst of the two.
[17:58] Yeah, yeah. He's horrific, Yeah, to be
[18:01] honest. Billy Ray's Subs of I really
[18:03] don't appreciate this as he's being wheeled away.
[18:08] It's just he's electric, isn't he?
[18:11] Unbelievable. Then the kicker at the the end
[18:14] of this scene, the plaque outside the Heritage Club, which
[18:17] reads with liberty and justice for all members only.
[18:20] Yeah, appreciate it. Subtle got a lot of soul.
[18:26] So there are a lot of things in the film that are on the nose,
[18:28] but Landis judges most of them just right.
[18:31] And these character intervals are superb.
[18:33] So far. Coming next is where 2 worlds
[18:38] collide and the Dukes concoct A diabolical plan.
[18:42] Man, it's over to you first. Yeah, because this is where you
[18:44] get the first conflict of the film, really, between Billy Ray
[18:48] and Louie when he bumps in from outside the Heritage Club, which
[18:50] leads in that chase. And it's just the most
[18:52] outrageous way to start because Louie immediately jumps to the
[18:55] conclusion Billy Ray is trying to rob him.
[18:57] Oh, he's not his bombing room. Sorry.
[18:59] About that. He couldn't be more apologetic.
[19:02] He's really. Apologizing.
[19:03] Really trying to help like it's the one time Billy Ray isn't
[19:06] trying to to get anything over on anyone and it still goes
[19:09] completely wrong for him. And it's that combination that
[19:11] the film does well of Juxtapose and the comic in the series
[19:14] score. Obviously it is a funny scene,
[19:16] but the serious underlying point is that the cop scene argument
[19:19] between the poor black man and a rich white man and the epic site
[19:23] immediately the straight on Louis side and Louis I mean
[19:26] Wesley said it to the Saudi such a prick and he is just continues
[19:29] to be such a prick He that he's just the absolute voice of
[19:33] arrogant privilege like trying to tell the cops what to do in
[19:36] there after him. He's getting away.
[19:40] But it's massed in comedy throughout every single scene of
[19:43] the song, which we'll get a new later.
[19:45] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Louis, he's just that
[19:47] kind of prick who thinks he needs to take charge of
[19:50] everything. And it's just typical coward
[19:52] behave as well, like he'd run enough to believe, but he always
[19:54] makes sure the cops are either in front of him or right behind
[19:57] him, so he's not going to really get caught up in this and that
[19:59] line he comes out with. People like this were menaced a
[20:02] decent society. We then see what decent society
[20:05] means to Louis when no one puts their hands up when Billy Ray
[20:07] asks if anyones lawyer. Is there a lawyer in the house?
[20:11] Yeah, they just. Call from the Shuffle and the
[20:12] Look Anywhere but Billy and then Martin are coming out with our
[20:16] racist about Billy Ray in his background.
[20:18] So, yeah, funny thing, but it's got a real, like, thematic
[20:21] importance behind it, yeah. Just before that, when he's
[20:24] outside and he's talking to the policeman, he sees them and he
[20:27] puts on his blind Stevie Wonder act.
[20:29] Yeah, he's talking about being in Vietnam.
[20:31] He's like I was with the Green Beret, especially unit battalion
[20:34] commando, airborne tactic, specialist tactic, unit
[20:36] battalion orange. He's just just seeing words me.
[20:45] Another reference to Orange, which is great, yeah.
[20:47] Yeah, yeah. And when when they pick him up
[20:50] from his little cart on wheels. It's not timing, isn't it can.
[20:55] See Legs. Oh my God.
[21:00] It's beautiful. I don't know what to say.
[21:05] Wonderful. I'll go for a little bit after
[21:08] that when the Dukes realized that they might have some kind
[21:10] of wager on the hands and they come up with this diabolical
[21:15] plan. Oh, horrific.
[21:16] It's a really good setup and you hear them from this moment on.
[21:20] The best thing about this is there's no reveal about how much
[21:22] the wage and and you don't know how much it's going to be set
[21:25] the usual amount and then the shake on it.
[21:27] But the destroying people's lives, the literally they this
[21:31] guy is managed the company. He's very, very good at his job.
[21:34] Yes, he's entitled. Yes, he's a bit of a prick, but
[21:35] he's making the money and they're just bored by being
[21:38] alive. They just got too much money,
[21:40] too much privilege, too much entitlement, and they just want
[21:43] to ruin somebody's life because they can.
[21:45] I felt quite depressed after watching this, but I was like,
[21:48] fucking hell, but what's what's the point of this with a couple
[21:51] of Dicks and they're trying to prove the point.
[21:52] And that's fair enough. That about he comes from a
[21:55] background that's not very privileged.
[21:57] He comes from a it's nothing to do with that.
[21:59] Anybody can be a success. Again, this is Landis put a very
[22:02] serious tone and masculine in comedy.
[22:04] Whereas it doesn't matter where you come from.
[22:06] It doesn't matter your background.
[22:07] You can't achieve things. It doesn't matter the color of
[22:09] your skin. It doesn't matter anything.
[22:11] You've just got to be given the opportunity and you'll be able
[22:13] to do it as Valentine does and then double crosses them and
[22:16] comes back on it, which I think it's it's got an important
[22:19] messages film, but I don't think it's just got so many.
[22:22] Though it's got. Too many, so you can't really
[22:25] hook on a bit. It's lost in all of this
[22:27] incredible comedy that kind of wraps it up and you miss these
[22:30] themes, I think, and this is one of their moments where you go,
[22:33] there's not much comedy wrapped on this.
[22:35] It is despicable, but a really, really brilliant setup and a
[22:39] really, really great concept for a film.
[22:41] Yeah, they are deliciously evil, these two brothers.
[22:44] Dick heads. Yeah, and I think this will be a
[22:47] constant in our conversation. The film comes under a lot
[22:50] criticism scrutiny, but I think there's some of it is undue.
[22:54] Mortimer's comments about what's wrong with Billy Reese is the N
[22:57] word, an N word at least obviously horrific.
[23:01] But if you think that the film celebrates that word and mortem
[23:04] as uses of it, then you just badly.
[23:06] Misread the film, doesn't celebrate that it's so loaded
[23:09] and so nastily said, and it's elongated as well.
[23:13] The way he says it's an obvious put down.
[23:15] This guy is obviously the bad guy.
[23:18] We're obviously not on his side. He's an absolute Dick.
[23:21] And from there, one of the great, great, great comedy
[23:24] scenes. Eddie Murphy had his finest as
[23:27] good if not better than the bar scene from 48 Hours when Billy
[23:30] Ray is in jail. Yeah.
[23:32] Which contrasts beautifully with Winthorpe and Penelope.
[23:35] He's romantic meal in the previous scene, Log, fire,
[23:38] Crips, Suzette, all of that. Shit, straight the bin.
[23:44] For Jesus Christ. Eddie here, Billy Rey is putting
[23:47] on this big short of proof. How much of a tough more four
[23:51] years. He's a chain belt in Kung Fu.
[23:53] Bruce Lee was his teacher and then he watched this and then he
[23:56] proceeds to do this ludicrous routine, loads of heavy
[24:00] breathing, the quarter blood technique.
[24:02] You do that, 1/4 blood will drop out of a person's body.
[24:04] That is dialogue to die for. That's amazing.
[24:07] It's just so off the cuff. It really is.
[24:10] It really reminds me of stir crazy this this whole scene.
[24:12] Yeah, it rolls off the toe. Prior as well.
[24:16] Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, he modelled himself on him.
[24:18] Did he? Yeah, definitely, yeah.
[24:19] The three people around Billy rear lapping up this shore, but
[24:22] the two big fellas aren't having any of it.
[24:24] When they brought you in here and booked you, you was grand
[24:27] like pussy. Yeah, yeah.
[24:30] That guy is amazing. That guy just says that, Billy
[24:34] Rear says. I threw tear gas on my face and
[24:37] that's the kind of shit they use on crowds and they're still
[24:38] walked in here like a man to get out of my face.
[24:40] All right. It's just one after the other,
[24:47] one after the other because I'm a karate man.
[24:50] Karate man. Bruise on the inside show their
[24:52] weakness. Oh wow, wow wow wow.
[24:58] Just dialogue left right and centre.
[25:00] Not just from Eddie it in Gooby nor Jive Turkey so close to
[25:02] Thanksgiving. That's great.
[25:03] That's great. Yeah, you used that on me a
[25:06] couple of weeks ago for being a Dick in the group, I believe.
[25:13] That guy is a musician and writer.
[25:15] He's called Big Ron Taylor. He was only 30 years older than
[25:18] this film, not 30. Years old is he Jesus Christ?
[25:23] Yeah, took paper round. Yeah, looks like you hate the
[25:26] papers. And even more famous is
[25:32] Giancarlo Esposito, who plays cellmate #2 here.
[25:35] He's probably best known to modern audiences.
[25:37] Gus Fring from Breaking Bad, but he's in loads of great stuff.
[25:41] Yeah, yeah. And talking about starring
[25:43] opposite Murphy, Esposito said. At that time, I was probably a
[25:46] little jealous of Eddie Murphy. A little jealous, really,
[25:51] because you work your early career to be a dramatic actor,
[25:53] and then this guy, a comedian with an affable personality
[25:56] who's incredibly talented, just shoots right by you to stardom.
[25:59] But that day, we became friends. And that nice yeah thank God I
[26:03] mean not surprising that heavy shots straight to stardom that
[26:06] deliveries out of this world. Yeah rapid fire hilarious
[26:10] instantly quotable if you're unsure about his comic talents
[26:12] haven't only seen him maybe on SNL.
[26:15] This scene puts pay to that, that.
[26:16] Yeah, it's one of my, if not my favorite comic performance of
[26:20] all time. Not just this scene, but Eddie
[26:22] in general. But I mean, I mean, all of them.
[26:24] As a comic performer in this scene, it's outstanding.
[26:26] It's one of the million, really. Yeah, he's amazing.
[26:28] And 22 years old, 22 what? He's so.
[26:32] Hungry in this film, it's just makes it so watchable because
[26:36] he's just electric and really, really.
[26:38] He's incredible. Yeah.
[26:39] OK, so that's the opening of Trading Places.
[26:41] It's going to get funnier, it's going to get more offensive and
[26:43] maybe a little bit more narratively confusing as we go,
[26:46] but it's a hell of a start. Yeah, the director.
[26:55] John Landis is the man at the helm of Trading Places, coming
[26:58] off the back of three consecutive classics, Animal
[27:00] House, The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London.
[27:03] Yeah, this is probably when he was at the height of his powers.
[27:06] Yeah, Westie, what do you think of his working?
[27:09] I mean, it's very John Landis. It comes to this knowing exactly
[27:12] what he wants to do comedy wise. I think he's got a lot to say.
[27:15] This feels very much like a 70s film to me.
[27:18] It feels like it's grounded in, you know, like 7879 maybe.
[27:21] It doesn't feel like an 80s comedy.
[27:22] I wouldn't go through it in places as a 1983 defines the
[27:25] 80s. I'd come in.
[27:27] America is probably more of the 80s comedy.
[27:29] This. Is a great bit.
[27:30] Total, this has a bit more grit to it.
[27:32] It has a bit more zest to it. And what I want to touch on is
[27:36] just how, like we've said, he introduces comedy in these
[27:40] scenes that are just so serious and have these themes that are
[27:43] just so kind of repellent and hard to deal with.
[27:46] But he deals with them through comedy.
[27:48] And I'll go specifically for Louis, Loses his job, goes to
[27:53] prison, ends up with a prostitute, dresses up as Santa,
[27:56] starving, pissed, goes to kill himself, and it's still funny.
[28:00] Yes. I don't understand how that
[28:02] works. Even that scene when he's trying
[28:04] to kill himself, it's funny. Yeah, because then it just
[28:06] starts raining. He's on the bus, yet it's a
[28:08] salmon affair enough. It makes you think like, well,
[28:10] maybe all of the shit that we think about and all of the stuff
[28:13] that we stress over, just don't worry about it so much.
[28:17] Like, it's just life, isn't it? Shit happens, get on.
[28:21] And that's what I feel Landis is bringing to this, is that, you
[28:23] know, shit does happen and you can deal with it.
[28:25] And the Blues Brothers for me is Landis best.
[28:28] I'm going to say it's just so fucking original and clever and
[28:33] brilliant. But this is kind of it's up
[28:35] there with less cocaine. A.
[28:41] Lot less cocaine and he really has something to say.
[28:44] And this film, it might be lambasted now, it might be
[28:47] saying like that it is very racist.
[28:49] Yes, it does have these themes, but he dives into it 100% as if
[28:53] he's friends with everybody. He's not attacking anybody.
[28:55] He's exploring these themes without any kind of attack.
[28:58] He let's start to the Dukes to do that and everybody comes
[29:01] together at the end of it. And it's such a warm film when
[29:04] you finish watching it. And I think that was what he
[29:06] intended. So for me, it's a Landis comedy.
[29:09] It really is up there. I saw the Blues Brothers first.
[29:11] It's why it's kind of yes. But you can see he's all over
[29:15] this and he's trying to say a lot more than people are picking
[29:18] up from it. And I think that's a shame
[29:19] because it is far more intelligent people think it is.
[29:22] Yeah. Oh, it absolutely is.
[29:24] And yeah, this was my first Landis film.
[29:27] I think American Werewolf came quickly after it, but this was
[29:30] the first certain. That makes sense.
[29:31] And we've alluded to it already, but Landis really hammers home
[29:34] this social disparity in class and race in his visuals.
[29:38] Those credits highlight the contrast of classes coexisting
[29:41] in the same city, sometimes on the same street corner.
[29:43] It also clearly highlights the racial economic differences in
[29:46] the city. That shot that you mentioned,
[29:48] Mass Winthorpe. Been walking a couple of shots
[29:52] before. That is a black man sleeping
[29:54] rough on the streets of Philly in winter.
[29:56] That ain't no picnic. With newspapers as well.
[29:58] I mean, that's is it. Terrific, no?
[30:01] There's a scene which I think really exemplifies this
[30:04] representation, visual representation of race in
[30:07] particular. When the Dukes give Ezra the
[30:10] server at the Heritage Club $5, maybe he'll go to the movies by
[30:14] himself. Half of it is from.
[30:15] Me. That's great.
[30:16] What a prick. Yeah, half of that is from me.
[30:19] I go to the queue. Mr. Mortimer, he's so fucking
[30:25] furious. Yeah, yeah.
[30:26] He's just like, yeah, he's a human being, man.
[30:29] Yeah, no, yeah, $5. Jesus Christ.
[30:31] Outrageous. But it feels incredibly symbolic
[30:34] that he's serving the Dukes up a glass of milk each.
[30:37] Yeah, a glass of milk, that's the whitest drink in the world.
[30:41] It's such an odd thing for 270 somethings to be drinking, but
[30:45] it suggests a few things. That suggests that they haven't
[30:47] grown up, that they've been raised in an environment of
[30:50] privilege, haven't experienced life, and have been in a
[30:53] permanent state of Arrested Development since their child.
[30:56] Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I didn't think about that.
[30:58] But there's also a plate of Oreo cookies on that tree as well.
[31:01] Milk and cookies, yeah. And I think that's a not too
[31:06] subtle representation of races coexistent.
[31:08] My interpretation of that out the brown cookie keeps the white
[31:12] center secure, which is metaphorical of the film's
[31:14] themes. So loads to take from that small
[31:17] scene. And Landis sprinkles this
[31:19] throughout the film. I mentioned earlier that a few
[31:21] things are on the nose, but it feels to me that Landis really
[31:24] has a bee in his bonnet about social inequalities in the
[31:27] world. Yeah, it's hamming home here,
[31:29] and I think it's a ballsy move to make a comedy like this.
[31:32] If you consider that vacation, National Lampoon's vacation came
[31:35] out two weeks later. I mean, nothing against that
[31:40] film, it's great. We've talked about it on Double
[31:42] Feature recently. But the level of writing, the
[31:45] narrative, the dialogue in this film is miles above vacation.
[31:49] And I think what is also impressive is that this weighty
[31:52] message in the film about race and class doesn't bog the comedy
[31:55] down. It's akin to how Mel Brooks
[31:58] tackled a similar narrative in Business Settles.
[32:01] I think it's Landis's finest work from a director point of
[32:04] view here. From a thematic point of view,
[32:06] yeah, he's definitely got something to say.
[32:08] Without doubt. Yeah, great.
[32:09] I think this is the most mature work Landis has ever done.
[32:12] Like all those other films, I think that all have this very
[32:15] snarky quality, like he's pulling faces at everyone behind
[32:18] the camera to make them laugh. But this I think because he's
[32:21] looked at the script that he's been given and well, obviously
[32:23] top by the right in the bid and he realizes that as he's saying,
[32:27] there's some depth to this, right?
[32:28] And yes, it's a comedy, but it does talk about those serious
[32:31] issues you brought up race, class, capitalism.
[32:34] So I think all the goofiness years you get with Landis is
[32:37] very reined in. And you know, we've mentioned
[32:39] the Blues Brothers and for me that that's when I came to quite
[32:41] late. So it's not one of my favorites
[32:43] like this for you to, but I like it.
[32:44] But my main criticism of that results being it's quite a buggy
[32:48] film. It's very broad, it's really
[32:49] excessive, it's really self indulgent and that's fine.
[32:52] But Landers knows that's not right for Trading Places.
[32:54] Trading Places needs to be sharp and it needs to be refined.
[32:58] It's like, you know, this film a.
[32:59] Lot lean like you think about Blue Brothers, you think about
[33:01] like the restaurant scene where I cried in blue she had just
[33:04] riffing for. Ages.
[33:06] You can take scenes out of Blues Brothers.
[33:08] You can't take anything out. You take about 45 minutes out of
[33:11] Blues. The Twiggy scene, that's a
[33:14] dimension area, and I think with this, Landis is just absolutely
[33:18] stamping down on stuff like that.
[33:20] Yes, he lets Murphy improvise because you can't stop him,
[33:23] basically, But even then, the improvisation still feels very
[33:26] content. Landon doesn't let it drag.
[33:29] He may be let Murphy do it, but he could it out in the edit to
[33:32] keep a chop, to keep it lame. Because there is that underlying
[33:35] seriousness to the plot here. And I think Landis recognizes
[33:38] that, and I think he just grows up a little bit with this one.
[33:41] Yeah, very much. I mean, it's quite laughable if
[33:44] you said to someone the trade in places as John and Alison
[33:46] Moore's mature film. Yeah, yeah, what you're talking
[33:49] about. But it really is.
[33:50] Yeah, it really is. Because it's got a lot of things
[33:53] that over shadow it, like the racism, the language, the
[33:57] outdated ideas, Jamie Lee's nudity, all of that over shadow
[34:01] what is a really smart film with a lot to say.
[34:05] Yeah, Landis came on board. Haven't received the script from
[34:07] Jeff Katzenberg. It was a Paramount executive at
[34:10] the time. Yeah, the original title was
[34:12] Black and White, which he didn't like and had a change, which,
[34:16] yeah, definitely changed that. But he later observed the irony
[34:19] that he would go on to direct the music video for Black and
[34:21] White. Yeah, Michael Jackson's black
[34:23] and white. Yeah, I mean black and white.
[34:25] Could it have been a worse title?
[34:28] Title. Yeah.
[34:30] To me, you may as well have just went with Ebony and ivory, yeah.
[34:35] This is racist. Yeah.
[34:40] And Landa said he was drawn to material because in his words,
[34:44] it was very old fashioned, the social comedy very much like the
[34:47] screwball stuff done in the 1930s.
[34:49] But he said he gave AD 80s twist by adding in the bad language
[34:52] and the nudity. Yeah, he certainly did that.
[34:56] The cast got on famously with Landis.
[34:57] Eddie Murphy would go on to make a further 2 films with him.
[35:00] Jimmy Lee Curtis said she owed her career to Landis.
[35:03] Wow, wow. And Ackroyd said we were under
[35:06] the hand of a great director. I basically did just what Landis
[35:09] told me. He's very much an old school
[35:11] director, like Cecil B DeMille. All that's missing is the riding
[35:15] crop, the boots and the bullhorn.
[35:18] I'll end on a wonderful quote from the man himself, he said.
[35:21] My last in memory is that it was a good experience on Trading
[35:24] Places. It had a wonderful cast, a great
[35:25] script, and it was an absolute pleasure to make.
[35:28] You can tell everyone's having a great of course.
[35:30] Yeah. The cast.
[35:37] Continuing our trend of wonderful ensemble casts,
[35:40] trading places, there's no exception.
[35:42] We're focusing on the main players here and I think I'm
[35:46] right in seeing that they are three firm ATRM favorites.
[35:49] Oh, yes, yeah. And we're starting off with
[35:52] Eddie Murphy, of course. Yeah, I mean, it's just worth
[35:55] remembering this is only his second big screen role after 48
[35:59] hours. And when you bear that mind, it
[36:01] just reminds you just how confident he was straight out of
[36:05] the gate. He knew exactly who he was.
[36:07] He knew how good he looked on screen.
[36:09] And he knows how funny he is. And that's what he brings.
[36:11] See, this performance just uses confidence in Christmas.
[36:16] And I yeah, I fully believe he's the only person that land us
[36:19] would let improvise because he's that good at it.
[36:21] And why would you stop him improvising when he's that good?
[36:24] Because he is hysterically funny when he just.
[36:30] And he just bawled you over with his complete charm offensive and
[36:34] he just makes every line sing like no one else in this film
[36:38] could break the 4th wall and get away with it, but Murphy can.
[36:42] Does it a couple of times as well, doesn't.
[36:43] He 2 times, that's it. People forget the does it twice,
[36:46] doing it twice and nailing it both times.
[36:49] But it's performed. It's got dramatic weight to it
[36:52] as well. Like Billy Ray knows deep down
[36:53] something isn't right in this situation.
[36:56] He knows something is off with the Dukes and he plays it just
[36:58] so suddenly, just underneath the surface.
[37:00] Yes, I'm going to enjoy all the trap and stuff suddenly being
[37:03] given. But I know there's there's a
[37:05] catch to all this. He's not an idiot and he plays
[37:08] out really effectively and there's a real smartness to him.
[37:11] You completely believe. Yeah, actually put it in
[37:14] language he understands, and he will understand the commodities
[37:17] brokerage and he will make some great calls.
[37:20] You know, he's really smart with this.
[37:21] And the override and feeling get from Murphy is, yes, he's
[37:23] supremely confident, but he's not cocky with it at this point.
[37:27] I think he appreciates the comic trops that Donna Croyde has.
[37:30] I think he appreciates that Jimmy Lee Curtis is Hollywood
[37:34] royalty, practically, and you can learn from her.
[37:36] And I really think he respects the hell out of Donna Michi and
[37:39] Ralph Bellamy. Yeah.
[37:41] Everything they've done in their crease, which by this point is
[37:43] decades upon decades of great work.
[37:45] So he knows how good he is, but he knows how good everyone else
[37:48] is as well. And I'll just, you get the sense
[37:50] he's just learning from everyone.
[37:52] In this film he's electric book very humble in his performance I
[37:55] think. There's there's a humility here.
[37:57] Yeah, definitely. Definitely, yeah.
[37:59] And it's the last time he'd play a second fiddle to anybody.
[38:01] Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was always going to be a
[38:04] leading actor after this in that escargot scene.
[38:07] He's got so much confidence about the wheat harvest, and he
[38:10] fits in in that environment. He's settled in.
[38:13] And you believe it. From Eddie Murphy.
[38:16] It's at the coffee ground scene in Beverly Hills.
[38:18] Yeah. It's like, but he could score
[38:20] serious. And it's like, yeah, drugs and
[38:21] coffee grounds. There's no comedy there.
[38:23] No. OK, I'll take him seriously.
[38:25] Just switches. It's great for 22 years old as
[38:27] well. 22 cheeses. How is that possible?
[38:31] I have no idea and. What's sobering is that we're
[38:34] double that right now. Yeah, Thanks.
[38:38] Wow. Thanks for the We're talking
[38:39] about it. We'll close up the Dukes, and we
[38:42] are to Murphy. Amazing.
[38:48] As mentioned originally, the film was called Black and White
[38:50] and set up as a vehicle for Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor after
[38:54] their stir crazy success. Yeah, that makes sense.
[38:57] Does totally after priors notorious incident where he set
[39:00] himself on firewall, freebase and crack cocaine, Paramount had
[39:04] to look for another lead and. That actually weren't keen on
[39:07] Murphy initially because the scene rushes on 48 hours
[39:10] actually and I hadn't liked them.
[39:12] But when that film tested with audiences, Murphy scores were
[39:16] just absolutely through the roof.
[39:17] So that's when they suggested he would be a good fit for Blu-ray.
[39:20] Yeah, at the time, Blanders didn't know who he was, but he
[39:23] flew to New York to meet him and was instantly enamoured by him.
[39:26] Of course of. Course you would be here
[39:28] definitely. Yeah, allegedly, Murphy
[39:30] suggested recasting the Winthorpe part because he felt
[39:33] uncomfortable acting alongside Gene Wilder.
[39:36] He didn't want to be seen as a Richard Pryor clone.
[39:38] Yeah, that, that makes total sense.
[39:40] Definitely Eddie Murphy improvised some of the dialogue
[39:43] in the film. Some, I would imagine all of it.
[39:46] It was something that was natural to him and something
[39:48] that will be relied on heavily when he's from Beverly Hills
[39:51] Cop. The Randy Jackson bit in the
[39:53] limo was improvised, as was the quote of blood.
[39:55] Technique just falls out of his mouth and.
[39:58] It's just outstanding, amazing. And I cried about him, and he
[40:01] was just starting out and developing his comedic gift and
[40:04] comedic voice. To see and be a part of a
[40:07] talented merchant like that was part of film history.
[40:09] Oh, yeah, no doubt. Yeah.
[40:11] I mean, it was a huge comic force at this time.
[40:13] And this film is a major part of his grown success.
[40:20] Next up is the most pompous asshole in Philadelphia, Lewis
[40:23] Winthorpe the Third. They're going to say me there
[40:25] because I'm not in Philadelphia. Expertly played by Dan Aykroyd,
[40:34] not Westie. Imagine, I mean, he's just so
[40:38] diabolical in this, but I love his arc because he feels sorry
[40:42] for him. And you do end up loving the
[40:44] guy. He's all right.
[40:45] It's just one of the people where you just, you don't really
[40:48] want to be friends with him. He's just a bit of a Dick.
[40:51] He's so entitled, he's so privileged.
[40:54] But it's what Ackroyd does really, really well.
[40:56] Is this kind of over the top, really privileged?
[41:00] Really straight down the line idiot?
[41:03] I guess it was just completely baffling at how stupid he is.
[41:07] He's just so set in his ways, and I think when Ackroyd set in
[41:11] his ways, he delivers every single time he does here.
[41:15] He doesn't dragnet. It's a very similar kind of
[41:18] performance where he's just, that's what I believe in.
[41:20] That's what I'm going to do, that's I'm going to talk fast
[41:22] and I'm going to get that done. Some of the lines are so fucking
[41:25] funny when he delivers and it's just so amazing.
[41:29] I'll get into it with the scene that I'm going to talk about
[41:31] later, but when he's running through that party screaming
[41:34] without going, it kills me. Hilarious.
[41:39] Fucking brilliant. And the quote that I put at the
[41:42] top when he's just so entitled. He's just come out of prison,
[41:45] he's had a fight, he's tried to be raped.
[41:47] We're talking about serious stuff here.
[41:49] Those men wanted to have sex with me.
[41:51] They bent me over and did this. And it's just they store Mike
[41:54] the stole his clothes. Like at what point is this not
[41:59] hideous? It's awful.
[42:01] He really, really sells that. It's not dour because he's too
[42:06] stupid to understand how pathetic his life could be
[42:09] without this. Yeah, when he's talking to the
[42:11] guys at the start, it's got very much a Patrick Bateman kind of
[42:13] American cycle very much and very good getting this thing.
[42:17] That's that where they borrowed this from.
[42:18] It's always very entitled on everything on the wall.
[42:21] And it's like, but it's night and yes, she's going to be there
[42:23] and yes, and everything just works.
[42:24] It's not luck. Exactly.
[42:27] It's it's not luck, but yeah, I think he just completely sells
[42:31] the performance, completely sells the character.
[42:33] And it's to Ackroyd's absolute credit that you're clapping at
[42:36] the end for this guy because you really shouldn't be.
[42:38] And that's just down to down outward.
[42:39] Yeah, yeah, I mean, his arc is magnificent, of course.
[42:42] Really shit time. Yeah, he's got loads of stand
[42:46] out moments. That scene when he comes in the
[42:47] Tennis Club dressed like a pimp in completely mismatched clothes
[42:51] and a fur court. Jesus, he's hit rock bottom.
[42:54] But I do like the fact that all Always Crows are an abomination.
[42:57] He's still got a jacket and tie on to kind of maintain a modicum
[43:00] of dignity. Those guys, those American
[43:05] Psycho guys, they're singing that song.
[43:08] It's one of the worst things that's awful ever.
[43:10] Seen in my. Life.
[43:12] Awful. Muffy referenced in that song,
[43:15] Muffy is played by Jamie Lee's sister, Kelly Curtis.
[43:18] All right, nice. All right.
[43:19] And then you've got that scene where he's desperate that he's
[43:22] trying to Hock his watch. Bo Diddley.
[43:25] Bo Diddley and there's a pawbroker is amazing 6955 retail
[43:30] you've got a receipt. It tells the times
[43:35] simultaneously in Monte Carlo, Beverly Hills, London parish,
[43:38] Rome and starred. Fucking starred.
[43:44] As if, but what diddly gives a fuck about that diddly squad?
[43:50] Great. If you were to look for that
[43:54] rush for core right now, you'd set you back around $30,000.
[43:58] Oh really? Yeah, an expensive time.
[44:00] Peace. Lovely peace.
[44:01] At the time there was a lot of speculation about Ackroyd being
[44:04] a bankable star without John Belushi.
[44:06] Obviously VMC is acting a writing partner because he died
[44:09] the year previously and apparently people were saying it
[44:12] was going to be like have an Abbot without Costello.
[44:14] Yeah, and because of this, Paramount weren't happy with the
[44:16] custom choice. Landis was adamant having worked
[44:19] with him on The Blues Brothers, and that road made it palatable
[44:21] to Paramount by accepting a much lower fee to be in the film.
[44:24] Yeah, I mean, I do get the concerns because I think we've
[44:27] talked about in the past Ackroyd works better as part of a double
[44:30] act he does in here, Ghostbusters, Blues Brothers,
[44:33] Dragnet. When he doesn't have a strong
[44:35] call lead to bounce off, he sometimes comes undone.
[44:38] Yeah, Ackroyd is very proud of Trading Places and considers it
[44:41] up there with his very best work, he said.
[44:43] I count that movie as AAA. It was intelligent and funny and
[44:47] had so much going for it. It was really satisfying.
[44:50] He meant Triple Ackroyd by that, didn't he AAA.
[44:57] And finally, it's always a pleasure to be talking about
[44:59] Jamie Lee Curtis, certainly when we're talking about a very
[45:02] important role in her career as Ophelia.
[45:04] I think with any Jamie Lee Curtis performance, you're going
[45:07] to get a bundle of personality, you're going to get a load of
[45:09] magnetism and a good dollop of comedy.
[45:11] And we get here. She's amazing.
[45:13] So good in this. I think unfortunate that she is
[45:16] kind of relegated to the background a lot of the time.
[45:19] She plays a hooker, which is not a great luck.
[45:21] It's a huge stereotype and she only has a handful of scenes and
[45:24] two of them she's naked in. But in spite the these
[45:28] negatives, she puts in a hugely memorable performance.
[45:31] She needs a strong personality for us to believe that she's got
[45:33] a smart business head on her shoulders.
[45:35] She may well be a prostitute with all the perceived seediness
[45:38] that comes with that, but she's got a long term plan and is
[45:41] strong willed enough to execute it.
[45:44] And I buy that completely from Jamie Lee Curtis.
[45:46] Yeah, I buy that 100%. It's no wonder that she went on
[45:50] to have the career that she has had because she really, really
[45:53] shine to you. Yeah.
[45:55] And I do like her dynamism with Ackroyd.
[45:58] There's a very sweet scene between the two of them when she
[46:00] turns her client away and she nurses Louis back to health.
[46:03] Yeah. I mean, the fact that she has to
[46:05] undress to do it is a fucking outrage.
[46:08] An outrage. But it shows there's some
[46:11] genuine affection there, even if she says she's only protecting
[46:13] her investment. But in amongst all the mayhem
[46:16] and insanity, there's some nice emotion at play there.
[46:18] And really watching it this time around, I really bought that in
[46:21] her performance, she brings that emotion to the film, which is
[46:25] lacking from the other two characters, the other. 2 exactly
[46:28] and there. Were also problems here with
[46:31] Landers getting Jamie Lee Curtis on board, he said.
[46:33] What really got me in trouble was Jamie Lee because up to that
[46:37] point should only do a horror picture.
[46:39] Just made Halloween 2 for which had been paid $1 million and we
[46:43] paid a 70,000 for this. I was called into the head of
[46:45] the studio's office and he said this woman's AB movie actress
[46:49] and I said not after this movie. Love that.
[46:52] Can you imagine getting paid $1,000,000 for Halloween 2A
[46:55] crappy horror sequel and only getting 70 grand for trading
[46:58] Blazers? You know, I mean, concern was
[47:01] understandable because how many horror movie stars have one
[47:04] serious dramatic role to their name or one good, serious role
[47:07] to their name, let alone the incredible crossover that Jamie
[47:10] Lee performed? Yeah.
[47:12] Up until that point, she'd started Halloween, Halloween to
[47:14] the Fog, Rd. Games Territory and Prom Night.
[47:17] All horror films. Only horror films that she
[47:20] started and. It's a really downhill that it.
[47:26] Started off good and she had recently turned down a part in
[47:29] Psycho 2 as well. Right.
[47:31] Yeah. And Jubilee.
[47:32] Kurt said that she knew her time was up in the horror genre and
[47:35] she needed to try something else.
[47:36] She said no one else wanted me. I guarantee you John Landis was
[47:40] the only person who said she's going to play this part.
[47:42] And without that moment, I wouldn't have the career that
[47:44] I've got now. Wow.
[47:46] Amazing sliding doors moment. Definitely.
[47:48] Having said all of that, then you know, we've alluded to it.
[47:51] There's the little issue of her nudity in the film.
[47:55] She said I was 21 years old. I think she was a little bit
[47:58] older than that, to be honest. I think she's got that wrong.
[48:00] But she said the partner required or feely to take her
[48:02] dress off. She said, Did I like doing it?
[48:04] No. Did I feel embarrassed that I
[48:06] was doing it? Yes.
[48:07] Did I look OK? Yeah.
[48:09] Fantastic. Did I know what I was doing?
[48:11] Yeah. Did I like it?
[48:12] No. Was I doing it because it was
[48:14] the job? Yes.
[48:15] And I certainly wouldn't do today.
[48:16] It's the last thing I would do now.
[48:19] Right. It's kind of the rotten core at
[48:21] the center of the industry, isn't it?
[48:22] If she'd said no to the nudity, that would have gotten somebody
[48:25] else into the pot and we would have missed out on Jimmy
[48:28] Curtis's amazing career. Yeah, and Landa said the only
[48:31] character in the script I had a problem with, because she's such
[48:34] a fantasy is Ophelia, the classic hooker with a heart of
[48:37] gold. I thought, how the fuck am I
[48:38] going to get away with this? But he then made a documentary
[48:41] made-up of old horror movie trailer school coming soon,
[48:43] which she narrated. And he said she was just so
[48:46] funny and smart and sexy and I thought to be terrific.
[48:49] Yeah, I mean, she's tailor made for this role.
[48:51] It really required somebody of her acting skill and presence,
[48:54] screen presence to be able to pull it off.
[48:56] Yeah, could have been like A2 dimensional character in the
[48:59] wrong could. Have been really throwaway,
[49:01] yeah. It could have been I'll.
[49:02] Be honest, if I was directing this and I got Jamie Lee Kurz,
[49:05] at this point in my career I would expect it to be
[49:07] two-dimensional. She absolutely delivers.
[49:09] Or something that's nobody else did.
[49:11] Exactly because she's not fantastic in Halloween and.
[49:15] Fantastic. Or anything before this.
[49:16] No, she's not. And she's absolutely amazing in
[49:19] this. Yes, she is.
[49:21] And it's been observed that there's absolutely no need for a
[49:23] feel it be a prostitute, which I kind of agree with a job as no
[49:27] bearer on the plot. And then she's sitting on a
[49:28] considerable number of T-bills earning interest.
[49:31] Well surely the right is kind of being that short sighted to
[49:33] think this is the only way a woman could make considerable
[49:36] amount of money in the 80s. It also feels like it's a bit of
[49:39] an excuse just for her to undress in front of Louis for
[49:41] that scene. You know, that scene.
[49:43] Yeah. You don't.
[49:44] You don't need it in one dress. Have you seen the dress?
[49:46] You don't need that take off. Nothing left of the imagination.
[49:49] Not, not a jot. It's fine with that.
[49:52] It has been argued that the character of Ophelia is an
[49:54] example of what's called or known as the Smurfette principle
[49:57] in movies. A woman in a largely male
[49:59] dominated cast who's there to be an attractive damsel in
[50:02] distress. Yeah.
[50:03] However, flipping it on its head, Ophelia is the one who
[50:06] rescues Louis ultimately. And I like, I like the right in
[50:10] there. But I've heard that they haven't
[50:11] got any money. No, they don't.
[50:12] And when asked about her preparation for the part, Curtis
[50:15] said. I'd love to say I went out and
[50:17] turned a couple of tricks on 42nd Street, but I didn't.
[50:21] Soon as she wouldn't love to have said that, no.
[50:24] Definitely not. However, we do have this film to
[50:26] thank for GLC Signature Shorthair.
[50:29] She had long hair at the time and the costume designer,
[50:31] Deborah Doolman thought that short hair would suit the
[50:34] character. Obviously it goes under the wig
[50:35] a lot easier as well. The hooker wig.
[50:38] Yeah, still a surprise every time.
[50:40] Yeah, And to wrap us up on the cast, we've got our first
[50:43] question from an ATR and Patreon supporter.
[50:45] Oh. Nice.
[50:47] I mentioned the benefits of signing up on Patreon.
[50:49] This is another one. Ask us a question for the film
[50:52] that we're talking about. We'll answer it right here,
[50:54] right now. And our first one comes from
[50:56] Uriah Young. How you doing Uriah?
[50:58] Hello. Uriah asks.
[51:01] If there was a remake of Trading Places, who would you choose to
[51:03] play? Billy Ray and Winthorpe.
[51:05] I think we're opening it up as well.
[51:07] We're also going to throw in and Ophelia and Duke and Duke into
[51:09] the mix as well for this question.
[51:10] OK, OK. So, Matt, over to you.
[51:13] Who are your picks? Do you reckon there's going to
[51:15] be any crossovers here? I think it's going to be
[51:16] straight down the line for each of us.
[51:18] I'm not going to predict what they are, but I don't think
[51:20] there's going to be any crossovers.
[51:21] No, I'd, I'd be surprised if you had any of mine.
[51:24] Yeah. OK, you kind of have to play
[51:26] fasteners with this a bit because he's talking about
[51:28] getting everyone at the right ear stuff to wear this film and
[51:32] some aren't going to match up so.
[51:34] That's all right, man. Well, nobody's going to pull you
[51:36] up on that one, Matt. The standout choice for me was
[51:39] Donald Glover. I just saw.
[51:40] Makes complete sense. Motherfucker, that's the same as
[51:42] me. There he goes.
[51:43] Yeah. Well, honestly, when I thought
[51:45] of Billy May, I thought surely they're not going to pick anyone
[51:48] else as well, you know, to see what Luke says.
[51:49] So some. I'm going to change mine up.
[51:52] I've got I've got a backup. All right, fair enough, Louis.
[51:55] I've gone. Michael Sierra.
[51:57] I thought he'd work really well. Nice.
[51:59] Oh wow, that's great. OK, Ophelia, Alison Brie, Big
[52:03] fan of her. She's very.
[52:04] Very funny. Alison Brie a lot.
[52:05] Yeah, he's brilliant. And then for the Dukes, I've
[52:07] gone Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi.
[52:09] Oh wow, the fucker. Wow.
[52:14] OK then, Westie. Hold on, I'm.
[52:16] Mr. No crossover. Yeah, fucking loads of
[52:18] crossover. Do you have the same for the
[52:21] Dukes? Is that why you went?
[52:22] Mother pretty close. Jesus Christ.
[52:25] Motherfucker. Daniel Kaluya, Billy Ray.
[52:32] Oh, brilliant. I'll go.
[52:33] Ryan Gosling for Winthorpe. OK.
[52:36] Because he can really do that ridiculous comedy, you know?
[52:39] He's really for the A, yeah. He's zany kind of comedy.
[52:43] Anna de Armas is Ophelia. Oh Jesus Christ, I wonder why?
[52:50] And for the Dukes, I've got Ian McKellen, but I've got Patrick
[52:52] Stewart. Okay.
[52:55] Classic. Is there any nudity in it?
[52:59] It just fell off. All the clues have rotted off.
[53:02] I've seen everything. That'd be great.
[53:07] That's from. Extras if anybody doesn't know.
[53:10] Some great choices there fellas for certain and I'll take Matt's
[53:14] comments. Fast and loose is where I'm at
[53:16] with with my choices here. Yeah, for Winthorpe, I'm going
[53:20] to go with Hugh Grant. He can pull off that tough
[53:22] toffing and thing to AT. And for Billy Ray, I haven't
[53:28] gone for a black actor, right? OK, I've gone for there's too
[53:31] many themes in this script, so we're just going to strip away
[53:34] some of it, right? And I'm going with Zach
[53:36] Galifianakis as a slovenly bomb, right?
[53:39] OK. Who can?
[53:41] I think you can scrub up? Well, yeah.
[53:45] That's ridiculous. That's.
[53:47] Fantastic. Imagine them too.
[53:49] And for Ophelia? I haven't gone for Alison Brie.
[53:52] I haven't gone for Anna Deamas. I've gone for Melissa McCarthy.
[53:57] Now. A different spin.
[53:59] Can you imagine her being kind of like a, you know, an
[54:02] overweight, middle-aged prostitute?
[54:04] I'm having to now, yes. Yeah, thanks.
[54:07] Thanks for that. I think a different spin on the
[54:09] hooker with the heart of gold's motif.
[54:11] OK. And for Randolph and Mortimer, I
[54:13] initially thought Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd might have been
[54:16] quite nice. That would be a nice twist,
[54:18] yeah. But two personal favorites, some
[54:20] certainly of recent times and a lot of limelight on these two
[54:24] fellas recently, Martin Short and Steve Martin.
[54:27] Yeah, that's a good show. They're a delicious good show.
[54:29] Yeah, they'll be great. Yeah, yeah, they would.
[54:32] They would relish that outrageous behavior of Duke.
[54:34] Duke. Yeah.
[54:36] OK. So thank you for your question,
[54:37] Uriah. Fit and way to bring our peace
[54:39] on the cast to a close. Thank you.
[54:42] So 3 great lead performances, not forgetting Bellamy, Amici,
[54:45] Elliot and Gleason, but in Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd and Jamie
[54:49] Lee Curtis. Trading Places has got some
[54:50] serious talent. Oh, absolutely.
[54:52] Classic. A lot to say.
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[56:10] sponsoring this episode of All the Right Movies.
[56:16] The middle. In the second act of Trading
[56:20] Places, everything gets spun on its head, starting with Billy
[56:23] Ray being released from jail. Yeah.
[56:26] Released from jail, picked up by the Dukes in the car and they
[56:29] take him home and their opinion of him couldn't be clearer.
[56:32] Like waving that bottle of them whiskey.
[56:34] Whiskey. Yeah, it's ridiculous.
[56:39] Like he's just some kind of homeless dog on the street.
[56:42] They're trying to attempt in with the treat.
[56:44] And you know, we'll kind of mention them in passing.
[56:45] But I think we do have to say just how good Amici and Bellamy
[56:48] are. Wonderful, you know, despicable
[56:50] characters, but and you hate them, but they're so watchful
[56:53] and it's because of how good. And they've got that pretty old
[56:55] school classic Hollywood charisma.
[56:58] You would never think to put them in a scene with Eddie
[57:00] Murphy and think, well, that'll work.
[57:02] You'd think Eddie Murphy improvising around those two.
[57:04] That's not going to work. And yet it does, and it works.
[57:06] Brilliantly. Works totally.
[57:08] Works. But underneath that kind of like
[57:11] charisma, is the truth of these people, and their true nature is
[57:14] never far from the surface. Like when Billy rears in the
[57:17] jacuzzi, singing away to himself and Randolph says they're very
[57:20] musical people, aren't there? Which Jesus Christ?
[57:23] I mean Fox. Made so, but that's.
[57:25] The thing to him that's not offensive.
[57:26] He thinks he's been a genuine compliment.
[57:28] Yeah. Which is ridiculous and.
[57:30] It's outrageous. It is outrageous, but it's
[57:32] outrageous. Yeah, but it's.
[57:34] The total contrast between the world's these people come from.
[57:37] You know, we've mentioned that bit that if he's improvising
[57:40] when the kind of SWAT names Randy, that's like Randy Jackson
[57:43] from the Jackson 5, right? Yes, I saw.
[57:46] Yeah. Probably has no idea who he's
[57:49] talking about, but you know, Randolph just goes along with
[57:52] it. When the when the bring him
[57:53] home, he meets Coleman for the first time.
[57:55] Perhaps your court, Sir? Yes, this is my court.
[57:59] You get a glass, I give you a recip, man.
[58:02] Yeah, things he wants to like share the whiskey and I'll just
[58:04] put it away from some funny lines, but they've got the
[58:06] dramatic level to them as well that means something to the
[58:08] narrative and it's the same when they're trying to expand it.
[58:10] But he way that everything in this house he owns and it's the
[58:13] same way you think he's either testing them or it's just the
[58:17] nature. The way he's been brought up.
[58:18] This is his instinct to stop putting stuff in his pockets to
[58:21] see how they rock. Just moving around the room to
[58:23] try and distract them and he's putting stuff in his Jack of
[58:25] pocket. The curtains.
[58:28] They got this place set up. And it ends with that amazing
[58:37] bid at the end with the vase where it's going like from hand
[58:39] to hand to hand to hand. And then he smashes A barandal
[58:42] happy with that because they can claim on the insurance and then
[58:45] belly says you want me to break something else and they'll.
[58:47] Go no, no. Really.
[58:49] Land? Is that really?
[58:52] Yeah, When filming that, Lamorcy Landis was in the tow truck in
[58:56] the front and could hear the dialogue between Bellamy, Amici
[58:59] and Murphy. Or went something like this.
[59:02] Bellamy says, this is my 99th film, you know, just in between
[59:05] takes, just casual conversation. Amici says, oh, really?
[59:08] This my 100th film. And Murphy says, well, fellas,
[59:11] between us, we've done 201 films.
[59:18] Oh amazing. Love that.
[59:19] Yeah, depending on whose account you listen to, the numbers
[59:22] slightly differ, but that was Landis's take.
[59:24] Right. Tack sharp, isn't he?
[59:27] Oh yes, yeah, he's amazing focused.
[59:29] Yeah, well, I like the scene where Lewis World crumbles
[59:32] around him. Firstly, this scene in the
[59:34] Heritage Club, That place just absolutely reeks.
[59:38] Awful. I think Landis was incredibly
[59:41] forward thinking. I mentioned his visual
[59:43] storytelling. It's evident here again, that
[59:45] room is stuffed full of middle-aged white America,
[59:48] something that has perpetuated through big business for
[59:51] centuries, for decades. And it's only in recent times
[59:53] that kind of being called out to the state school has been
[59:56] ruffled somewhat. But not in 1983.
[59:59] And it's generational. You can see it in the portraits
[1:00:02] on the walls of the members from the heritage of years gone by.
[1:00:06] The Dukes and Winthorpe are continue in a tradition of
[1:00:08] history and greed, cruelty and elitism evident throughout the
[1:00:12] centuries. They're just doing what they've
[1:00:14] been told or what they've been shown and.
[1:00:17] Winthorpe judged by them paintings, yes.
[1:00:19] He is, yes he is. Love that.
[1:00:21] But that's all going to change once Winthorpe gets a big
[1:00:24] surprise administered by Clarence Beaks.
[1:00:26] And it comes as a double shock because, you know, considering
[1:00:28] he's just being congratulated from his bravery by the speaker.
[1:00:32] So he's not the type of criminal that Winthorpe had the guts to
[1:00:35] stand up to yesterday. I think it's incredibly
[1:00:38] convoluted way of rooting out the thief.
[1:00:41] Left hand on the shoulder of the man to your left, right hand in
[1:00:43] the coat pocket of the man to your right.
[1:00:45] What the fuck could? Be anything in.
[1:00:48] There, Big says that one of our reporters witnessed the theft.
[1:00:54] We'll just point the finger at Winthorpe immediately and forget
[1:00:57] about this charade that don't know what's going on here.
[1:01:00] It's really. Contrived it really is.
[1:01:02] It makes no sense. He's not going to save $150.00,
[1:01:05] is he? No.
[1:01:06] And in a wonderful contrast to that scene, when Lewis is in the
[1:01:09] police station, everyone around him is black.
[1:01:12] Again, Landis reinforcing this kind of societal disparity.
[1:01:16] I really, really like that. Right, so here's a fact for you.
[1:01:18] When Thorpe's prison number when his mudshot is taken is
[1:01:21] 7474505-B, that's the same number that Jake Blues has in
[1:01:27] the Blues Brothers. Fantastic.
[1:01:28] Wow, that classic Landis. Yeah, OK, I'm going to go for
[1:01:33] Billy Ray goes back to the bar with his measly $27.00 and that
[1:01:38] bar is that looks like my heaven.
[1:01:40] I love that place. Now just written on the mirror.
[1:01:44] That's enough for Christmas. Nothing else needed.
[1:01:46] Lovely. Would the have champagne?
[1:01:49] I don't think the wood just cracked out the champagne.
[1:01:54] He's obviously had that for years and nobody's opened it.
[1:01:57] But I just think it's just great dialogue here.
[1:01:59] He's just so fast-paced and he's talking to the the ladies who
[1:02:02] are like on each on his arms. I'm a sexy man.
[1:02:05] I'm a sexy man. So good.
[1:02:08] Later on, he's like, I'm a peaceful man, just really
[1:02:14] begging himself. Up I love that when he says
[1:02:16] champagne for everybody cozy of Billy Ray Vanadine A toaster
[1:02:19] Billy Ray he's. Just like so self congratulary
[1:02:24] and he loves the fact that he's been given this situation, but
[1:02:28] then you see how quickly that this he could be taken advantage
[1:02:32] of and he's never had possessions before.
[1:02:34] I don't think anything that he can actually call his own that
[1:02:36] he's proud of. And I think that's a really
[1:02:39] great twist of the character. Again, getting back to what
[1:02:41] we're talking about with Landis, about how he kind of disguises
[1:02:44] all these serious things with comedy on top of it.
[1:02:46] But it's it's one of the greatest improv lines by Murphy
[1:02:50] is in this scene when he gets back to the house and he's like,
[1:02:52] who's putting out the cools on my floor?
[1:02:57] I've got to write that in. Great.
[1:02:58] And I didn't know what cools were.
[1:02:59] And I've looked no mental, mental cigarettes.
[1:03:02] Yeah. And I was like, alright, OK,
[1:03:03] fair enough. Apparently they said that that
[1:03:05] was racist towards black people because black people's more
[1:03:08] cools. Right.
[1:03:08] But he's fine with the black face.
[1:03:09] We'll get to that later. Yeah.
[1:03:11] Yeah. But when I take that out, that's
[1:03:13] a little bit too far. But I think that's really great
[1:03:15] when he's like, it's a Persian rogue.
[1:03:17] It's a Persian. I love that it's just.
[1:03:22] It's just wonderful. But then we get another topless
[1:03:24] scene which I don't know if this is relevant or this works.
[1:03:28] Definitely it doesn't. And I think this bit is where it
[1:03:31] gets quite convoluted and a little bit crossed with what
[1:03:34] Landis is trying to see. Yeah.
[1:03:36] And he loses track of it here a little bit.
[1:03:38] It kind of unravels a little bit.
[1:03:40] He lets. The delve down a little bit
[1:03:42] because he's got some weighty material, he's got some big
[1:03:44] things to say, but then he's got these scenes, yeah, we don't
[1:03:48] need. This no, I don't think we need
[1:03:50] the back to the to the house scene.
[1:03:52] I think it could have caught what he's like come back to mine
[1:03:54] then then the next morning could have been like this place is
[1:03:56] trashed. Not doing that again.
[1:03:58] We don't, I don't think we need to see the party, no, because
[1:04:02] none of the characters apart from the guys who were in
[1:04:04] prison. Fair enough.
[1:04:05] There's a lovely call back there when he's just like, you know,
[1:04:07] me Limits is actually outside. Great, right.
[1:04:09] And that's a great. Thing that's great writing and a
[1:04:11] really good call back, but I think everything in the bar
[1:04:13] works, yes, and it really works and it's done and it's finished.
[1:04:17] So Billy Ray is adapting to his new life and Lewis is looking at
[1:04:20] 3:00 to 5:00. Mandatory.
[1:04:21] My how the tables have turned. Indeed.
[1:04:26] Lewis gets a temporary reprieve when Penelope gets him out of
[1:04:29] jail, but it doesn't last long and it sets in motion.
[1:04:32] The contrast and fortunes of our lead characters does.
[1:04:35] First off, we're back with Winthorpe, who is released from
[1:04:38] jail, and we can see how much of a terrible time he's had on
[1:04:40] account of his black eye and bloodied lip.
[1:04:44] Penelope doesn't belong in this environment, certainly when that
[1:04:47] huge gorilla bloke is trying it on, talking about her purse.
[1:04:51] Your voice, That's a nice voice. She's amazing as well.
[1:04:55] She's like, she's great. Manhunter and that's it.
[1:04:57] Yeah, she's great. Wonderful and manhunter as well.
[1:05:00] Oliver When Lewis first comes out and sees Penelope, he's
[1:05:02] darling. He's full of himself, so
[1:05:04] pompous, and he's dressed up in his ridiculous outfit which is
[1:05:08] probably being taken off some incarcerated hobo, and his hair
[1:05:11] is all over the place and he goes comes out spouting.
[1:05:14] The good news is I'm innocent. I'm doing anything vaguely
[1:05:17] resembling this, really. It's the truth.
[1:05:19] What a prick. So entitled.
[1:05:23] So entitled. Real life hasn't hit him yet,
[1:05:26] and the man who Penelope loves is kind of still there, so he
[1:05:28] gets a stay of execution. But it's fleeting because Beaks
[1:05:32] is up to his old tricks. And this is the moment that
[1:05:34] we're reduced to Ophelia, who will do all the things Louis
[1:05:37] likes just for a dime bag. No wonder Penelope Scarp has
[1:05:41] never to be seen again. Jesus Christ, she's never seen
[1:05:43] anything like this before in her life.
[1:05:45] No. And here you've got the makings
[1:05:46] of a beautiful relationship. There may be a slightly unlikely
[1:05:50] pair from two different sides of the tracks, but they work well
[1:05:54] off each other. Lewis thinks he's well above or
[1:05:57] Philia's level. At the start.
[1:05:58] He's a hustling you and then he brings out his, that was really
[1:06:02] good, his wallet. You don't think you'd give these
[1:06:06] to just anybody? What a prick.
[1:06:08] But he soon comes back down to earth with a bump and I love
[1:06:11] that Ophelia is smart. She's not buying any of Louis
[1:06:13] shit. And at each turn, at his house,
[1:06:16] at the bank, when Louis keeps on getting thwarted or Philia isn't
[1:06:20] surprised because she's seen this coming a mile away.
[1:06:22] She's seen this all her life. And it ends with Louis literally
[1:06:25] on his knees begging for help. I bet he didn't anticipate that
[1:06:29] at the start of the day, no. No, definitely not.
[1:06:31] Great and I totally buy Winthorpe slippery slope here
[1:06:34] and or Philia as I in a way to make money and fast track her
[1:06:38] retirement plans. I really like all the BT.
[1:06:40] Yeah, yeah. And that all contrasts really
[1:06:43] well to how Billy Rey's day is going, which is going really
[1:06:46] well for him. And then you see his first day
[1:06:48] at work and, you know, let's be honest, this explanation, what
[1:06:50] the deals do, it's not for Billy Rey's benefit.
[1:06:53] It's for us as well. Because yes, I know what
[1:06:58] commodities are, but a commodities broker not a clue
[1:07:01] what to do, how they do it, why they end up with so much money.
[1:07:04] And by the end of it, I'm still none the wise as to why this
[1:07:08] system exists and how it's something you can make so much
[1:07:11] money out of. So if anything, that sounds like
[1:07:13] an absolutely ridiculous way to make money, which I guess is the
[1:07:16] point the film is making. You know, how can you get so
[1:07:19] rich on doing seemingly so little?
[1:07:22] But as usual, the Dukes just so patronizing to believe we're
[1:07:25] explaining what commodities are and pointing out the examples on
[1:07:28] the table in front of them, what you might find in a bacon,
[1:07:31] lettuce and tomorrow sandwich. And then you get that look to
[1:07:34] camera. That look to camera is
[1:07:36] beautiful. It is.
[1:07:37] A thing of beauty, me mention it before, but it's it's just such
[1:07:41] a risky move to do that, to break the 4th wall.
[1:07:44] Twice. He's basically.
[1:07:45] Going yes, these guys are pricks, I agree, but The thing
[1:07:49] is that don't need to be that part nice and to him because he
[1:07:52] gets it. Like I said, when talk about
[1:07:53] just Murphy's performance in general, Billy Ray is smart.
[1:07:56] You know, he gets to the heart of the matter.
[1:07:58] Sounds like you guys were a couple of bookies.
[1:08:00] Love that line. Yeah, so he understands what to
[1:08:02] do. He just needs to get it on his
[1:08:04] terminology, his level of the life that he's lived, like how
[1:08:07] he works out later on. No, no, this is when he stopped
[1:08:09] selling the pork bellies because people are getting anxious over
[1:08:12] at Christmas dinner. It's all about that 4th wall
[1:08:14] break in this scene. But it's just so well done.
[1:08:17] It's so memorable. Yeah, it is.
[1:08:19] So then we get went off going back with failures and we'll
[1:08:22] find out that she actually has got brains as well as beauty and
[1:08:27] it's a wonderful thing. I think it's just a really
[1:08:29] strong, strong character, a really strong performance from
[1:08:32] Jamie Lee Kers. And a lot of people are going to
[1:08:34] be talking about a certain point of this scene, which is that's
[1:08:37] absolutely fine. And it's very 1983 think she is
[1:08:41] challenging this guy. She's challenging Winthorpe a
[1:08:44] little bit with her body and see how he would react and whether
[1:08:47] he would pounce on it or move back from it or whether that's
[1:08:50] something that because that's how she sells herself.
[1:08:53] And then she says this is what I've got.
[1:08:55] This is my commodity. And she heights if problem
[1:08:57] closes the door and says you have to sleep somewhere else,
[1:08:59] you're not part of this. You have to earn this.
[1:09:01] You have to earn who I am. That's, you know, food, rent.
[1:09:04] That's not the only things that cost money.
[1:09:06] She cost money. She's got respect for herself,
[1:09:09] which I think is really important for the character and
[1:09:11] it's really important for us going forward because she does
[1:09:13] save his life. There's her and Denim Elias
[1:09:16] character and they actually cough up the money and say
[1:09:18] without them guys there would be nothing.
[1:09:21] So she's got a head on her shoulder.
[1:09:22] She knows what she's doing. This is just a means to an end.
[1:09:25] When she takes that wig off, she's just a completely
[1:09:27] different person. Like she's disguising herself
[1:09:30] within that personality. She's in charge.
[1:09:32] I'm happy that she's in charge and it really works for me.
[1:09:36] It really shines. This whole scene is great.
[1:09:37] I love that scene. Next Wednesday poster in the
[1:09:39] background. Really Landis, This is John
[1:09:42] Landis film. It's a notorious scene for for
[1:09:45] one reason really put. Yeah, missing the point though.
[1:09:48] Yeah, beyond that, then the point has been missed.
[1:09:51] Absolutely. And that See you next Wednesday,
[1:09:54] a poster like you mentioned, Westie, it's a classic in joke
[1:09:57] from Landis. It's a fake film.
[1:10:00] It's a poster which you can see in most Landis works, including
[1:10:03] Schlock, The Blues Brothers, American Werewolf Commentary for
[1:10:06] America. It's a line taken from 2001, A
[1:10:08] Space Odyssey. Yeah.
[1:10:10] The final line on that video call with the video call with
[1:10:13] his daughter. Yeah.
[1:10:13] Yes. Well, we talked about that at
[1:10:15] length on our American well Wolf in London.
[1:10:18] Yes, classic podcasts. So if you want to listen to
[1:10:20] that, sign up. You will not be disappointed.
[1:10:23] Definitely. Not hit rihan so some very
[1:10:25] memorable scenes for more ways than one in the second act of
[1:10:28] Trading places the. Crew.
[1:10:36] As is often the case on a movie set, the crew are the unsung
[1:10:38] heroes. First on our crew list are a
[1:10:41] screen writing duel with one credit to their name.
[1:10:43] At this point the incredibly badly received cheaper to keep
[1:10:47] her from 1981, but they made a jump up in class and quality
[1:10:52] with trade in places. Matt, what do you think of the
[1:10:55] screenplay by Timothy Harrison? Hershel Wankrate.
[1:10:58] It's one I find difficult to know where to come down on it
[1:11:03] because on one hand, it's definitely smarter than it looks
[1:11:07] on the surface, smarter than a lot of 80s comedies.
[1:11:09] But I also don't think it's as clever as it thinks it is.
[1:11:13] And I think this mixed message and going on here, OK, on the
[1:11:17] one hand, it does have this seriousness at the heart of it.
[1:11:19] It addresses economic inequality and racism, class privilege and
[1:11:23] all that's really good. But on the other hand, I think
[1:11:26] it just doesn't address them enough or it addresses them in
[1:11:29] the wrong way. So on the surface, it looks like
[1:11:31] it's a film that's attacking like the Super rich as shown in
[1:11:35] the Dukes, but it only attacks them.
[1:11:37] It doesn't really attack the system.
[1:11:39] By the end of the film, the Dukes have been bankrupted by
[1:11:42] Billy Way and Louis, but Louis is back in his elevated position
[1:11:46] in society and Billy Way and a failure are rich now as well.
[1:11:49] So I don't know what the film is trying to say in that, you know,
[1:11:53] capitalism is OK as long as the right people get rewarded.
[1:11:57] Yeah, because it doesn't fix the inequality at the heart of the
[1:12:00] film. People like Billy we're are
[1:12:02] still out on the streets. They just don't have someone
[1:12:04] like Louis to help them and make them a lot of money in the
[1:12:07] process. And I think Louis in particular
[1:12:09] is quite a confused character. Like he doesn't have this
[1:12:12] revelation that all this shameless greed is abhorrent and
[1:12:16] he's been wasting his life in pursuit of it.
[1:12:18] He only wants to bring the Dukes down because they're trying to
[1:12:21] ruin his life. Yes, he doesn't have an epiphany
[1:12:23] about any of this. He doesn't learn anything.
[1:12:25] The system itself doesn't get critiqued by him.
[1:12:28] And that's fine to a degree, but I think the film just sinks.
[1:12:31] It's a bit smaller than it actually isn't, a bit more
[1:12:33] satirical than it actually is. And I think it would have been
[1:12:35] more interesting to me if it had been Louis that had overheard
[1:12:38] the Dukes using that racist language about.
[1:12:42] And that's what spurred him on to reflect on what kind of
[1:12:44] system he's been spending his life in with the don't go that
[1:12:48] way. And I feel like the film, it is
[1:12:49] partly inspired, I think, by the lesson that Scrooge learns in A
[1:12:53] Christmas Carol or George Bailey learns in its Wonderful Life,
[1:12:56] where the lesson is money isn't important, people are.
[1:12:59] But I don't think they've quite understood that lesson here.
[1:13:03] And I just think if this had been in the hands of someone
[1:13:06] like Frank Capra or some like Billy Wilder, because it does
[1:13:09] have these knots to classic Hollywood, it does, I think it
[1:13:11] would have absolutely nailed those elements.
[1:13:14] Whereas I think trying to address that stuff, it just
[1:13:16] falls a little short. Yeah, I mean, I don't disagree
[1:13:19] with you at all, Mass. Yeah, it's there's some mixed
[1:13:21] messaging. Blander seems to be very aware
[1:13:23] of racial inequality in the absurdity of the perceived white
[1:13:26] elite in Duke and Duke. But he's happy to have Ackroy do
[1:13:29] a blackface bit, which seems a little strange.
[1:13:32] Like we've talked, those messages really hammered home.
[1:13:34] But then he's got naked women in a lot of scenes, which kind of
[1:13:38] dumbs down his argument, really. Yeah.
[1:13:41] What I'm struck about in the right and it went all when every
[1:13:45] time I watch this comedy is the narrative beats and the comments
[1:13:47] on society. It's a weirdly subject for a
[1:13:49] comedy. But on top of all of that, he
[1:13:51] also added more complexity to it by setting it in a world which
[1:13:54] is alien to the majority of cinema goes the stock market.
[1:13:58] Can you imagine a film like this being pitched today?
[1:14:00] It's ridiculously high concept for a comedy and it just
[1:14:03] wouldn't get past the pitch. There's no way it's being remade
[1:14:06] today, this film. No.
[1:14:08] No, I think it's to the right discredit that they don't get
[1:14:10] bogged down in the detail of the stock market.
[1:14:13] There are a few exposition scenes peppered throughout that
[1:14:15] give us just enough information to keep us on side.
[1:14:18] Like you said, Matt, that scene with Billy Ray when he's in the
[1:14:22] office on his first day, it's Billy Ray being shown the ropes.
[1:14:25] He's basically the audience. Yeah, definitely.
[1:14:27] Yeah. Because we need to know all of
[1:14:29] this. And it's the same when they get
[1:14:31] to the trading flow in New York. When Thorpe's doing that voice
[1:14:34] over for Billy Ray, it's for us. Yeah.
[1:14:37] I think with the writing, you've got to be able to let a few wild
[1:14:40] swings go in the narrative. Billy Ray isn't stupid.
[1:14:44] And you mentioned it. Maddie protests, and he thinks
[1:14:46] the Dukes are up to something fishy.
[1:14:48] He goes from abject poverty to privilege, and he takes to it
[1:14:51] like a duck to water. All of a sudden, in the same,
[1:14:53] that very day, he's complaining about coasters.
[1:14:57] It is. It's a shortcut.
[1:14:59] It takes a shortcut. It does.
[1:15:01] Yeah. I do think that Lewis's arc is
[1:15:03] more believable than Billy Reyes.
[1:15:04] When we fall, we fall hard, and it's easier to drop than climb.
[1:15:08] Lewis does that spectacularly. And I think the writing does
[1:15:11] kneel that bit, but I don't think it's perfect.
[1:15:13] You've mentioned a few things there, Matt.
[1:15:15] There are a few other things coming up.
[1:15:17] It maybe tries to cram in too much for a comedy for me, for
[1:15:20] any genre for that matter, and maybe comes a little unstuck in
[1:15:23] the final third. Again, we'll be talking about
[1:15:26] that in a moment. But I do like the ambition for
[1:15:30] an 80s comedy. I love the ambition that they
[1:15:32] has and it's it's stuffed full of things that it wants to say
[1:15:36] and loads of great narrative beats.
[1:15:38] Yeah, I mean, I agree with both of you fellas as as always, but
[1:15:42] I just feel like this was written with Winthorpe in mind.
[1:15:47] And I think that didn't plan on Murphy being so fucking good and
[1:15:52] didn't plan on that that part being so kind of electric on the
[1:15:56] screen and the maybe need to give him a little bit more.
[1:15:58] It's hard to differentiate between what was written down
[1:16:01] and what was ad libbed over the top.
[1:16:03] So I mean, to read the script, I feel like it would be very bare
[1:16:06] bones, but then you start putting these actors in these
[1:16:09] roles and the IT the grow out of the roles.
[1:16:13] This film is a director's film. It's an actress film.
[1:16:16] I don't think it's down to the right and at all.
[1:16:18] The plot is secondary to the performances.
[1:16:20] It's all secondary to what they're trying to say, and
[1:16:23] they've used it as a bare bones kind of blueprint.
[1:16:27] The writing to me feels like the skeleton.
[1:16:29] It feels like the concept's there and these guys arrive and
[1:16:32] then deliver what they want on top of the concept.
[1:16:35] It is secondary to what Landis brings to it, what Murphy brings
[1:16:39] to it, what actually brings to it, what Lee Curtis brings to
[1:16:40] it. It's just the idea for me in the
[1:16:43] writing that works and they completely elaborate on that
[1:16:47] the. Co writer Timothy Harris came up
[1:16:48] with the initial premise. When he was playing tennis, he
[1:16:51] used to play it. For some reason.
[1:16:52] He used to play with two doctors who were brothers, and they had
[1:16:55] a terrible case of sibling rivalry, which laid the seed for
[1:16:58] Duke and Duke. He pitched the idea of two
[1:17:00] brothers argument over nature versus nurture to his writing
[1:17:03] partner Herschel Weingrod, who loved the idea.
[1:17:05] Obviously, and the criminal side of Trading Places was inspired
[1:17:09] by Harris's environment, he said.
[1:17:11] At the time, I was living in what was a fairly rundown part
[1:17:14] of LA that was completely crime ridden.
[1:17:16] I lived in an apartment complex where everybody either had a gun
[1:17:19] held to their head or had been raped.
[1:17:21] Jesus Christ, miserable. Yeah, sounds like they should
[1:17:25] Rd. taxi driver instead of. No, hardly the inspiration for a
[1:17:29] knockabout comedy. I'm having a terrible time to
[1:17:33] train places. Makes no sense.
[1:17:38] Research for the film about wine groud hanging out with real
[1:17:40] traders in LA. There were three hours behind
[1:17:43] New York time zone wise, which meant they were pissed early in
[1:17:46] the day because happy hour was a lot earlier for those guys.
[1:17:49] Wonderful. Yeah.
[1:17:50] You've got to fit in with them, haven't you?
[1:17:53] Winegrad and Harris researched the commodities market
[1:17:56] extensively. And I think that comes across in
[1:17:58] the film. Winegrad said the Russians tried
[1:18:00] to corner the wheat market, and the Hunt Brothers tried to
[1:18:02] corner the silver market. But pork bellies and frozen
[1:18:05] orange juice are much more funny, and most Americans didn't
[1:18:07] have a clue that such things were publicly traded and, in a
[1:18:10] really dire situation, could actually be delivered to your
[1:18:12] doorstep. Nice.
[1:18:14] The Cleveland knows about the subject.
[1:18:16] Oh yeah, definitely. And Harris said the choice to
[1:18:18] film in Philly was because it had a connection with the
[1:18:21] founding of the country, the Constitution, everyone being
[1:18:24] entitled to the pursuit of happiness or the idealism.
[1:18:28] It's all built in America. Yeah, that comes across in the
[1:18:30] visuals very much. Yeah.
[1:18:32] And the basic premise of the story takes inspiration from a
[1:18:35] few sources, most notably Mark Twain's classic story The Prince
[1:18:39] and the Pauper, in which those two characters who closely
[1:18:42] resemble each other swap lives. And Twain also had a short
[1:18:46] story, The £1,000,000 Banknote, and that involved two brothers
[1:18:49] who bet on the outcome of given a poor man, the titular unusable
[1:18:53] tender. And that was actually adapted
[1:18:55] for the screen in the 1954 film Man with a Million Stone.
[1:18:58] Gregory Peck. Yes, OK.
[1:19:01] Less directly, the film takes a lot of inspiration from a couple
[1:19:04] of other sources as well, the Three Stooges film Hoi Polloi
[1:19:08] and also an episode of The Twilight Zone from the very
[1:19:11] first season called A Nice Place to Visit.
[1:19:13] So it is taken a lot of inspiration from a lot of
[1:19:16] different sources, never actually been confirmed by the
[1:19:18] writers that that's where they took their inspiration from, but
[1:19:22] I think it's clear to see particularly The Prince and the
[1:19:24] Pauper and that £1,000,000 banknote as well.
[1:19:27] Yeah, yes. Ackroyd said that the two
[1:19:29] writers wrote the screenplay on fax machines.
[1:19:31] He said one of them was in Michigan and the other one was
[1:19:33] in Los Angeles. And they created pages by
[1:19:35] sending them back and forth, which is a strange way of
[1:19:38] collaborating. Yeah.
[1:19:40] So despite being in different states, Wine Growth and Harris
[1:19:43] wrote a screenplay. While not perfect, it's got a
[1:19:45] lot going for it, not to mention some wonderful comic dialogue
[1:19:48] and situations. Yeah, back on familiar territory
[1:19:53] for the Trade and Places score 2 episodes ago we talked about
[1:19:57] Albert Bernstein's iconic work on The Great Escape.
[1:19:59] Then. Unbelievable.
[1:20:00] He really is popping up in an 80s comedy.
[1:20:04] Huge range, multi talented. The fact that the music is
[1:20:07] largely classic pieces. I mean, it just adds to the
[1:20:09] pomposity of the world that we're peering into.
[1:20:12] It does. It's very elitist in the IT.
[1:20:13] Is oh, without doubt it's Mozart for the stuffy over classes who
[1:20:16] think there are cut above and it's do you want to funk by
[1:20:20] Sylvester and Billy Reid's party.
[1:20:24] Love that that contrast itself, that music that's something away
[1:20:27] surrounded by this opulence that the Duke owned home.
[1:20:30] I love that, and Bernstein has made a habit of this in the 80s
[1:20:34] when he switched to comedy, huge pieces of music, orchestral,
[1:20:37] Regal, Sirius, which works wonders in direct contrast to
[1:20:40] the comedy on screen, just like you did with Animal House and
[1:20:42] Ghostbusters. I think some of the best
[1:20:45] comedies have adapted this approach, and I think we've got
[1:20:47] Bernstein the thank for that trend.
[1:20:50] The grandiosity in the music adds a sense of history to the
[1:20:53] architecture that we see on screen of Philly works.
[1:20:56] Hand in hand with the visuals. It highlights an almost inbuilt
[1:20:59] kind of pre established etiquette.
[1:21:02] We don't need to be shown what's going on in these buildings.
[1:21:04] We already know because of the music.
[1:21:06] I think that's a great choice from Bernstein who's already
[1:21:08] collaborated with Landis on Animal House, Blues Brothers,
[1:21:11] American Werewolf in London. He's obviously his go to guy.
[1:21:14] He gave him a second life as a comedy movie scorer.
[1:21:18] Yeah. And I love the little cues that
[1:21:20] come into the Dukes when they're plotting their evil
[1:21:22] machinations. It underpins the scene when they
[1:21:24] come up with the wage after Billy Ray has been arrested.
[1:21:27] Just lovely little delicious cues here and there on top of
[1:21:31] all these huge classical pieces, which have a lot of reverence.
[1:21:35] I love that because I love the contrast.
[1:21:36] Westie, what do you think of the music in the film?
[1:21:39] I mean, it is what it is. I think the mix, now I'm
[1:21:42] watching it is really, really difficult because the music is
[1:21:45] so loud in the mix is so low. I don't know, I think it takes
[1:21:51] itself a little bit too seriously.
[1:21:53] It seems just too obvious. There's nothing in there where
[1:21:56] you're like, oh, that's the theme from Trading Places.
[1:21:59] This kind of classical look at things isn't welcome.
[1:22:03] There's a future now. People are looking at things
[1:22:06] differently. This doesn't stick.
[1:22:08] They're like looking at the paintings.
[1:22:09] I think it's the same with the music.
[1:22:11] It just has this very stuck in its ways, very much like
[1:22:15] overpowering, overbearing scent to it.
[1:22:18] For me, it just feels like it's slamming the point home a little
[1:22:22] bit too hard. Yeah, yeah, it's definitely
[1:22:24] doubling down on on its stance. It's like this is what we are.
[1:22:28] The film sounds like an oil painting, but it sounds like
[1:22:33] you're walking through a gallery.
[1:22:34] It's great. I would never have said it was
[1:22:36] Elmer Bernstein in a million years if I didn't know that.
[1:22:39] Yeah, it's amazing, isn't? It doesn't feel like that at all
[1:22:42] and it's all very heavy-handed. It's all a big punch in the
[1:22:44] face, which is great if you watch it in the cinema, but
[1:22:48] watching it at home it's a little bit too much.
[1:22:50] OK, right. Controversial views.
[1:22:52] Matt, what about you? Yeah, I don't think it's done
[1:22:55] any favours, US doing great escape, like sort of goal, yeah.
[1:23:00] I mean, that scores outrageous. Exactly.
[1:23:03] You mean that score is just incredibly memorable and this
[1:23:07] one just isn't really. It's fine for what it is.
[1:23:10] It accentuates themes, but when it's mainly the kind of
[1:23:14] classical reference which he's borrowed from somewhere else and
[1:23:16] he's just playing on that, it just feels it's probably a bit
[1:23:19] easy for him and a bit obvious. Like what's he saying to do that
[1:23:21] kind of thing? It is very obvious.
[1:23:23] Yeah, it is. This is really obvious, you know
[1:23:26] a couple of decent songs in there.
[1:23:27] Do you want to funk Condon? I've enjoyed the odd bop to the
[1:23:30] Locomotion over the years at the obstacle disco course.
[1:23:32] Not no going to deny that. Over the years, over the years.
[1:23:36] Yeah, overall, I'm just not going to get excited about the
[1:23:39] score for Trading Places, really.
[1:23:41] Whatever. Disappointed with that, but what
[1:23:45] do you expect? Yeah, but I mean, we've been
[1:23:47] alluding to the classical influence and the music in the
[1:23:49] opening titles. That's The Marriage of Figaro by
[1:23:52] Mozart in The importance of that is that opera has the subplot
[1:23:56] where the serpent is scheming to expose his employer.
[1:23:59] Yes. When Lewis is on his way to
[1:24:01] work, he whistles civil ballet from the opera itself.
[1:24:05] In that piece, Figaro says he'll overthrow the machinery, which
[1:24:08] obviously is thematically relevant at the end of the film.
[1:24:13] Really deep this film like it's. Outrageous.
[1:24:15] Yeah, so one of the legends of movie music doing good work in
[1:24:21] some people's eyes, not great work in others.
[1:24:23] Yeah, that's fair enough. Finally, we're talking about a
[1:24:28] man who flew under the radar, but was John Landis's go to DP
[1:24:32] shooting five of his most important films, not to mention
[1:24:34] the groundbreaking music video for Michael Jackson's thriller.
[1:24:37] Thriller. Yeah.
[1:24:38] Westie, what do you think of Robert Paint as cinematography?
[1:24:43] The big painter, the big painting.
[1:24:44] Picture painter by name, painter by nature.
[1:24:47] Wonderful. Think this looks very 70s.
[1:24:50] It's got that vibe to it. There's not a lot of moving
[1:24:53] camera. It's all very static.
[1:24:54] It's framed beautifully. When he cuts to the paintings,
[1:24:58] you're almost confused, thinking that could have been a shot of
[1:25:01] the guys just sat there. Yeah, yeah, the light.
[1:25:03] Is the same. It's the same kind of vibe.
[1:25:05] I think you just looked at their paintings and went, I want to
[1:25:07] make the whole film look like that, which is incredible.
[1:25:11] It looks great and it doesn't distract you at all.
[1:25:14] It doesn't pull you out of this film whatsoever.
[1:25:16] Everything is just so beautifully kind of framed and
[1:25:20] set up and it's very static. It's very back and forth.
[1:25:23] He knows what is in front of the camera as opposed to behind it.
[1:25:27] He knows exactly what he's shooting and he makes sure that
[1:25:29] everything's in the frame and everyone gets the place and he
[1:25:32] does it really, really well. I think it's a really good
[1:25:35] looking film. It stands up and it's a 70s film
[1:25:39] in 1983 that looks better than any other real 70s film.
[1:25:45] For me, it's like it's up there with French Connection.
[1:25:47] If you're going to look at like a 70s film, like a.
[1:25:49] Vibe looks great. It's up there and it looks
[1:25:52] fantastic, so for me did a great job.
[1:25:55] Main thing that stands out for me is doesn't look like a
[1:25:58] comedy, you know, certainly not an 80s comedy.
[1:26:00] It's got a different aesthetic. All the location shooting,
[1:26:03] that's excellent. You can like feel the cold at
[1:26:06] times, which he brings out the depth of some of the short
[1:26:08] compositions. It does feel like it's being
[1:26:10] shot more like a Wall Street drama than a comedy, and that's
[1:26:13] absolutely what Landis wanted to do.
[1:26:16] I mean, it's not the kind of cinematography for me that kind
[1:26:19] of shouts out loud and draws attention to itself.
[1:26:22] You know, tells a story. Yeah, tells a story.
[1:26:25] You know, it's not the kind of thing where you're going to get
[1:26:27] 100 different screen grabs to put as your screensaver in the
[1:26:31] background, or it's not that type of film.
[1:26:32] But for what it is, it does the job very, very well indeed.
[1:26:36] Yeah, I think it's the cinematography which is one of
[1:26:38] the elements that elevates this film beyond being a mere cheeky
[1:26:42] 80s comedy. It's clear that the city is a
[1:26:45] major part of the film, looming down at those who in Abbadish
[1:26:48] paint a clearly Revere Philadelphia.
[1:26:51] And I think that really comes across in the shot choices.
[1:26:54] Like you said, Matt, turn that volume down.
[1:26:56] Minus a few scenes, this looks like a really serious piece of
[1:26:59] work. It's in the architecture in the
[1:27:01] city, showing Philadelphia's rich history.
[1:27:04] Make that shot of Billy rear coming out of the elevator and
[1:27:06] Lewis at the end of that long, cold marble corridor.
[1:27:09] That's wonderful, as is the exterior shot of Lewis outside
[1:27:13] just after that. The architecture of the city is
[1:27:16] stunning and in direct contrast to the stinking mess that is
[1:27:19] Lewis Winthorpe, the third in that dirty old Santa suit, The
[1:27:23] Cut. From like the close to a wide,
[1:27:24] it's fantastic. It's great when he's in the bath
[1:27:26] and he's like your stuff from fart in the tub.
[1:27:29] It's like the close up and then you've got that wide and it's
[1:27:31] like you see everything great. It's so good.
[1:27:34] And then, you know, there's contrasts all over the place.
[1:27:36] One look at the street where Ophelia lives tell you that
[1:27:38] society has her in the same position as Billy Ray, which
[1:27:42] seems like 1000 miles away from the world of Duke and Duke, but
[1:27:46] they inhabit the same city again.
[1:27:48] It really kind of hammers home Landis's message and reinforces
[1:27:53] everything about that. So yeah, I think there's a
[1:27:55] wonderful harmony in the visuals, the music and the
[1:27:58] writing as well. I think they're all on the same
[1:27:59] team, elevating each other as a result to hit Landis's tune.
[1:28:03] Yeah. The end.
[1:28:10] The final act brings with it the fall before the rise, starting
[1:28:14] with Lewis reaching rock bottom Westerly.
[1:28:18] It's over to. You until bad Santa.
[1:28:20] Has anyone looked as disgusting as that?
[1:28:22] Roy does as Santa here? It's absolutely lifting isn't.
[1:28:26] It in the world. Disgusting and it's just the
[1:28:29] greyness of all the white. Why is it grey?
[1:28:36] Where has he been before this? It's just outrageous.
[1:28:39] Just the way he's stuffing everything into his pockets.
[1:28:41] He's just cutting slabs and meat off drinks absolutely off his
[1:28:46] face. It's just ludicrous.
[1:28:49] And you feel so sorry for the guy at this point, but at the
[1:28:52] same time you're kind of laughing, which is the the
[1:28:54] Landers for me in this whole situation is how he makes you
[1:28:58] know again. But we've talked about the
[1:29:00] comedy in the serious nature. This guy is fucked.
[1:29:03] He's done. He's done for.
[1:29:04] His life is over with. Yes, he is.
[1:29:06] And he's stealing food and putting it in his pockets and
[1:29:10] still trying to then frame Billy Ray.
[1:29:16] It's so funny. But at the same time, it's so
[1:29:19] heartbreaking because, I mean, I've had this is a 7 year old be
[1:29:22] like, oh, yeah, OK, fair enough. There he is, Sandra.
[1:29:25] Yeah, it's funny. But now I'm like, Jesus Christ,
[1:29:27] I understand this guy's plight. And it's really hard to get into
[1:29:31] the comedy element of it. And I think that's what randos
[1:29:34] was trying to do is say like, look, it is funny, but is it?
[1:29:37] Can you laugh at these people and getting back to the right?
[1:29:40] And when he talks to Billy Rey and he's like, if that's not the
[1:29:42] pot called, the cat will Black. Yeah.
[1:29:45] And he wipes it off and he's like doesn't respond to it,
[1:29:49] doesn't react to it. I've spoken about it before but
[1:29:51] when he runs out without gun and he's screaming jeez that's.
[1:29:56] Terrifying. It's terrifying.
[1:29:58] But he's got real control over the room and that's all he wants
[1:30:01] is respect from people and control and the way that
[1:30:05] Valentine changes and says, you know, you don't need to be soft
[1:30:08] on these people. He's got money to buy drugs and
[1:30:10] you see that kind of twist and you think, please don't go there
[1:30:13] and he doesn't. And it's great brilliant from
[1:30:16] Murphy because he's just playing to the Dukes hands and he knows
[1:30:19] what they want to hear. And you don't know that he's
[1:30:21] doing that until he pockets that joint because you're kind of oh,
[1:30:24] well, he's been one over now he's been one over.
[1:30:26] He's he's in the Dukes pocket. He knows exactly what he's
[1:30:28] doing. He's like, don't be, you know,
[1:30:30] don't be soft on this and then pockets a joint.
[1:30:34] He's. Playing.
[1:30:35] He's still Billy Ray. Yeah, he's.
[1:30:36] Still there in in spirit. And that works for me.
[1:30:39] And this is the scene that changed everything.
[1:30:41] Yeah, I love it when he's planting all of those just
[1:30:44] dumping shit loads of drugs. I found him.
[1:30:48] Marijuana quaaludes. Yellow ones, red ones.
[1:30:51] Cocaine grinder. He's the pusher, not me.
[1:30:55] Not me. When he pulls out that beef
[1:30:58] instead of a gun, that's. But he cuts the beef off and
[1:31:02] starts putting in his pockets. That's salmon when it goes into
[1:31:05] his shirt and it's just all the beard on it and it's just, oh
[1:31:09] God. You'll all be very, very sorry.
[1:31:13] Very, very sorry. That's.
[1:31:19] Hilarious. That's hilarious.
[1:31:22] And I do. Yeah, I do love the end of that
[1:31:24] scene when Billy rear sneaks the joint in his pocket and it sets
[1:31:28] the following scene up very nicely.
[1:31:30] A shotgun scene for certain, but a pivotal one for the plot and
[1:31:34] hardly surprising considering the Dukes disdain for the lower
[1:31:37] classes and their behavior towards Lewis.
[1:31:39] Billy Ray is catching a sneaky joint in the toilet and the
[1:31:42] Dukes walk in congratulating themselves on a job well done.
[1:31:46] Where he doesn't know where to blow the smoke.
[1:31:48] Yeah, yeah, brilliant. The Dukes of elevated Billy
[1:31:52] Ray's social status. He's adept in his role, and
[1:31:55] they've turned Lewis to crime. Sounds like the perfect way to
[1:31:58] win $1.00. I mean these guys, unscrupulous,
[1:32:02] incorrigible, down and dirty bastards.
[1:32:04] They don't care who they leave in their way.
[1:32:07] The worst? Horrific.
[1:32:09] And then comes that language from Mortimer.
[1:32:11] It's shocking to hear now. Probably less so in the 80s, but
[1:32:15] it's a tough pill to swallow. But I'm guessing not uncommon
[1:32:18] from the mouths of people in these positions with wealth and
[1:32:20] power in the 80s. Maybe not uncommon even now,
[1:32:25] Yeah. No, exactly.
[1:32:26] And in that kind of environment as well, where you think you're
[1:32:29] safe, where you've locked the door and you're in the bathroom.
[1:32:31] I guess you get that. And say what you want, it's got
[1:32:35] that RoboCop kind of vibe to it as well, where all the secrets
[1:32:38] come out in the bathroom. Yeah.
[1:32:40] It does. I mean, the message may be
[1:32:42] muddled, Matthew. We've talked about it in the
[1:32:44] writing, but I think it is a smart script and I think it's a
[1:32:46] brave thing for Landis to do this in a comedy.
[1:32:49] I must say Bellamy and particularly Amici are
[1:32:52] magnificent in this. Film.
[1:32:54] Oh they are. They completely embody the evil
[1:32:57] hidden in a racist upper class society.
[1:33:00] They know what they're doing and that's important.
[1:33:01] It's magnificent. They know that they are
[1:33:03] assholes. Yeah, they definitely know that.
[1:33:05] And Billy Ray's suspicions come to fruition.
[1:33:08] He he's he's known all along that something is up.
[1:33:10] And this is his evidence that physical comedy when he has no
[1:33:13] other alternatives but to put the joint in his mouth.
[1:33:16] I love that. I love that.
[1:33:18] Yeah. Could it have gone in the
[1:33:19] toilet? I would imagine so.
[1:33:22] I think so, yeah. How did the Dukes not smell that
[1:33:25] joint already? And you know, we'll put that
[1:33:27] down to their age it. Would have been very important.
[1:33:30] Yes, it would have. Yeah.
[1:33:31] And the final thing to say here for me is another piece of
[1:33:34] visual storytelling. The Dukes wash their hands in
[1:33:36] the bathroom, washing their evil scheme and clean.
[1:33:39] It's a very nice touch. Yeah, nice visual.
[1:33:42] Yeah. And then we pick up again with
[1:33:44] Louis getting on the bus, just reduced to just grunting people.
[1:33:48] He can't even be bothered to communicate, which I think is
[1:33:51] particularly effective because so much of the film he's been in
[1:33:54] love with the sound of his own voice.
[1:33:56] And now that's gone. That, like good Patrician, Rich,
[1:33:59] privileged voice is just gone. And he says no people now.
[1:34:03] There's no one listening to him anymore.
[1:34:05] No one, exactly no one's listening to him.
[1:34:07] He's absolutely at his loss and to seize.
[1:34:09] To say he's. Disheveled by this point is
[1:34:11] underselling it a bit, I mean. That's massively underselling.
[1:34:15] You mentioned. A book.
[1:34:16] That's it. Fucked.
[1:34:17] Yeah. Well, absolutely.
[1:34:18] Wait, I mean you said but I've never seen the beard just so
[1:34:20] monkey and dirty and mad. Was it back?
[1:34:26] Sick. Big.
[1:34:28] When he takes a bite of that salmon, like Croy really sells
[1:34:32] that and I think he takes a bite that is more beard than salmon
[1:34:34] to be honest. But what a thing to eat when
[1:34:37] you're drunk as a Lord like. Salmon don't think so.
[1:34:42] It's pulling that beard through his teeth.
[1:34:44] Yeah, because he can feel it. That horrible feel of fabric
[1:34:48] against his teeth, That's horrible.
[1:34:50] And when he gets on the bus that is a proper drunk and sit down,
[1:34:54] he does like when he's just plunking down there.
[1:34:59] And I think that's a young Edie Falco sitting opposite him.
[1:35:02] Isn't it like one of the? First, yes, yes.
[1:35:04] I kind of hadn't clocked until now.
[1:35:06] Yeah, very good. It's just the the litany of
[1:35:08] misfortune continues from the dog literally pisses on him,
[1:35:12] then it's also pissed down the thing and that great shot.
[1:35:15] Where would you say this is breaking the 4th wall because
[1:35:17] he's so constrained into the camera when he's putting the gun
[1:35:20] to his head? He's doing a Jonathan Demi Free.
[1:35:22] It is a Demi kind of move. It is a very much like a Not a
[1:35:26] Wonderful Life as well, I think. Yeah, definitely.
[1:35:29] Yeah, yeah, great. His luck is so out at this point
[1:35:32] that the gun won't even go off until he throws it away.
[1:35:34] Which I think. That's a really great goal.
[1:35:36] Funny. Yeah, you can't even get a break
[1:35:38] that way. But the way it ends, when he
[1:35:40] gets back to Phillies, I'm going to pick up Wesley Said that
[1:35:43] because I think there's another It's a Wonderful Life reference
[1:35:45] here. Because to me it's very
[1:35:46] reminiscent when George Bailey comes home on that Christmas
[1:35:49] Eve, totally despondent, but Mary Bailey is trimming the
[1:35:52] tree, completely oblivious. And it's the same as what of
[1:35:55] Philly's doing. Absolutely.
[1:35:56] And the other thing I think it references another Christmas
[1:35:59] film is the apartment. Because the suicide attempt, you
[1:36:01] know, it's what Fran does, the apartment, she tries to take an
[1:36:04] overdose of pills and gets rescued.
[1:36:06] So again, it's one of those things where you go through
[1:36:09] what's happening and you think, fucking hell, this is dark.
[1:36:11] This is serious stuff. It's really dark.
[1:36:13] Yeah, yeah. Really dark, but it's so.
[1:36:15] Funny. But it's funny.
[1:36:16] It's just all that likeness to touch, to make it funny.
[1:36:19] After everything, even his horrific plan to set Billy Rio
[1:36:23] hasn't worked. I mean, when would it ever dress
[1:36:26] the way he does? And then he's he tries to kill
[1:36:29] himself. That doesn't work.
[1:36:30] Gets pissed on by a dog and then and the drugs that he bought to
[1:36:34] said Billy Rio, which have failed, he uses them to OD and
[1:36:38] kill himself. I mean, it's so tragic.
[1:36:42] So with all the cards on the table, our unlikely dream team
[1:36:45] club together to take the Dukes down eggnog.
[1:36:50] Now we're getting down to business and boarding a train
[1:36:52] where there are a number of strange things going on.
[1:36:57] Yes, they. Are Matt, can you make sense of
[1:37:00] any of this? But John Landis can't make sense
[1:37:02] if any of those. So they've got the plan.
[1:37:06] They want to get the briefcase off beaks.
[1:37:08] OK, fine. This should be such like a
[1:37:10] classy heist move and it's anything but.
[1:37:15] And wants to get on that train. Strangers on the train or
[1:37:17] something it's. Yeah, yeah.
[1:37:19] Something like that, something like that.
[1:37:21] And this is where the film really starts to fall down for
[1:37:24] me. Everything has been really
[1:37:26] grounded up until now. It it's you know, we've been
[1:37:29] saying this is intelligent filmmaking for comedy.
[1:37:31] This is an intelligent script. It's it's one of the most
[1:37:34] realistic in kind of quotation marks comedies of the time.
[1:37:37] And like I said about Landis, this is his most mature film.
[1:37:41] But then you get to this. Point until now.
[1:37:43] Until now. And it's like the other John
[1:37:44] Landis comes in, the childish John Landis.
[1:37:47] And this is, it's like Landis has said to Aykroyd Murphy, OK,
[1:37:51] you can have this one scene, guys.
[1:37:52] You can do what you want in this scene because I've got all the
[1:37:55] rest, but it doesn't fit with the rest of it at all.
[1:37:58] And the whole sequence, it just comes across like some extended
[1:38:01] SNL skit from back in the day. Yeah.
[1:38:05] Everyone is just playing dress up.
[1:38:07] Everyone's playing a different character and none of it's
[1:38:09] believable. Like where would Louis get these
[1:38:11] performance skills from? Like it's just so out of
[1:38:14] character. Or they get the costumes.
[1:38:16] Where would Coleman get this drunken Irish pre stacked from
[1:38:21] an overt realistic? There's no way to think that
[1:38:23] this would plausibly work on Biggs.
[1:38:25] Who knows them anywhere? And yeah.
[1:38:28] They're trying to be, like, offensive to almost every race.
[1:38:32] Yeah, yeah. There's.
[1:38:33] Something that's offensive to everyone, pretty much.
[1:38:36] I mean, what is that gorilla doing being transported from DC
[1:38:40] to Philly by train? That's awful.
[1:38:42] The bit with the earth is that. Yeah.
[1:38:46] Who signed off on that? Exactly.
[1:38:48] And mistaken beaks for an actual gorilla.
[1:38:50] I mean, come on. Mental it's.
[1:38:53] Just so. She's in there.
[1:38:55] I believe she's. In that it's none of it makes
[1:38:57] sense. In.
[1:38:59] The Animal House. It's like it's like the spiced
[1:39:01] animal house into the end and none of it is judged well at
[1:39:04] all. It's like when the teacher goes
[1:39:06] out the classroom and all the kids, obviously it's.
[1:39:08] Exactly the same as that. Yeah.
[1:39:09] That's what it's like the telly in.
[1:39:11] Let's just watch that. Yeah, yeah.
[1:39:12] So it just sends the film into a tailspin from here on in for me,
[1:39:16] and it doesn't really recover at any point.
[1:39:18] Right. That's a shame.
[1:39:19] I mean, I totally, totally agree with you.
[1:39:22] Absurd characters, abstract comedy, funny costumes,
[1:39:24] character, truer accents. Yeah, the tone is a complete
[1:39:27] departure from the rest of the film.
[1:39:29] Yeah. Al Franken and Tom Davis play
[1:39:31] the Stoner bag of Chandlers in this scene, and they're great as
[1:39:34] well. Really, really funny.
[1:39:35] They're part of Saturday Night Live, as we've been talking
[1:39:37] about, but they weren't first choice, second City TV
[1:39:40] characters, the Mackenzie brothers, played by Rick Moranis
[1:39:43] and Dave Thomas. They were first picked by
[1:39:45] Landis, but scheduling conflicts means they couldn't do it.
[1:39:48] Yeah. Well, they would have been
[1:39:49] great, Moranis and. It would have been great, really
[1:39:53] funny. Moranis and Thomas would go on
[1:39:55] to play the Mackenzie brothers in the 1983 film Strange Brew,
[1:39:59] and Al Franken later became Senator Franken.
[1:40:02] He did because of his political position.
[1:40:04] His financial records were of public interest.
[1:40:07] So he still gets paid royalties for playing this part in trading
[1:40:10] places. Not really, which is nice.
[1:40:12] Yeah. Oh.
[1:40:12] Amazing. Yeah, before Paul Gleason came
[1:40:15] on board for the role of obviously Clarence Speaks,
[1:40:18] unbelievably, Gordon Liddy was being tapped up for the role.
[1:40:22] Now, if you don't know who that is, he was one of the main
[1:40:24] antagonists in the Watergate scandal.
[1:40:27] Oh yeah, I was thinking why don't all the names?
[1:40:30] Yeah, imagine that. What?
[1:40:32] Unbelievable. He had no experience whatsoever,
[1:40:35] but he recently been released from prison for the Watergate
[1:40:38] incident and was riding higher to the success of his
[1:40:40] autobiography. He was interested in the role,
[1:40:42] but then tapped out when he saw how it turned out for Clarence.
[1:40:45] Yeah. Exactly.
[1:40:46] Everyone would be. Yeah, he didn't really go over
[1:40:48] on the whole sexual assault. Thing, yeah, I'm fine with that,
[1:40:51] you know. Disgusting.
[1:40:52] Because he's great. He's a great character.
[1:40:54] At that point, I don't understand the end of this film
[1:40:56] at all. No, it's a maze.
[1:40:58] Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and the Symphony,
[1:41:01] and I think it just sums up this whole mess that it becomes at
[1:41:03] this point because Curtis, she's dressed in LEED Hosen but has a
[1:41:08] Swedish accent. And that was part improvisation,
[1:41:10] part necessity. She couldn't do the Austrian
[1:41:13] accent. Salandis just went with her
[1:41:14] being Swedish and tweaked the screenplay accordingly.
[1:41:17] Absolute pandemonium. Yeah, unbelievable.
[1:41:20] This wasn't the year. He wasn't there.
[1:41:25] Obviously, we're dancing around, but the scene is the cause of
[1:41:28] much controversy, which intensifies with each passing
[1:41:30] year. Yeah, detractors argue that the
[1:41:32] scene pushes the absurdity to breaking point, taking you out
[1:41:35] of the film. How could someone from Lewis's
[1:41:37] background be able to carry out this stereotype, considering his
[1:41:40] perceived ignorance to any class, creed or race other than
[1:41:43] his own? I'm sure others would argue that
[1:41:46] it's the absurdity which is the scene Saviour.
[1:41:49] Which, of course, brings us to our final Patreon question.
[1:41:51] This one is from Thomas Cole. Hi, Thomas.
[1:41:54] Thomas. Thomas.
[1:41:55] Thomas says. I watched this last night and
[1:41:57] completely forgotten about Dan Aykroyd doing blackface in the
[1:42:00] training. Do you think this is an impact
[1:42:03] on how the film might be viewed going forward?
[1:42:05] Mass. It's a cultural and racial hot
[1:42:07] potato. Certainly is catch.
[1:42:09] Thanks. Burn your fingers, man.
[1:42:13] Look, first thing to be said and I think everybody already know
[1:42:16] also, but I think they have to say it at the start.
[1:42:18] No one is suggesting from it at Landis or Aykroyd or racist as
[1:42:21] people. No, it's less than that.
[1:42:23] No, no, but it's a judgment call and blackface unequivocally is
[1:42:29] racist. And the question therefore has
[1:42:31] to be well, why is it in there? What purpose does it serve the
[1:42:34] narrative? Was there really no other way of
[1:42:37] Louis disguised himself here? Yes.
[1:42:40] And Smearin What I guess is to Polish the use.
[1:42:43] I don't know. It's what it looks like.
[1:42:45] Just smearing that over your face does not in any way, shape
[1:42:48] or form make you look anything like a black person.
[1:42:50] I mean, it's ridiculous to think so.
[1:42:52] And as I've said, this whole sequence is the worst sequence
[1:42:55] in the film, and this is the worst part of it.
[1:42:58] The only comparison in recent years to make is Tropic Thunder
[1:43:02] because that has Robert Downey Junior and blackface now.
[1:43:05] Is that OK? I mean, like you say, it's such
[1:43:08] a hot potato. I don't know.
[1:43:09] But the argument that that film makes is that Downey Junie's
[1:43:12] character is so pretentious as an actor that he thinks it's OK
[1:43:17] to go about method and die. Yeah.
[1:43:19] It works in that film. It works in that film because he
[1:43:22] gets called out for it. Yeah, he gets called out for
[1:43:25] being pretentious and offensive. Louis doesn't.
[1:43:28] At this point, everyone just thinks, yeah, it's OK to go
[1:43:31] along with this. So yes, there's no malice meant
[1:43:35] here, but I just think it's such a bad judgment call to go down
[1:43:38] this route with it. Yeah, I, I agree.
[1:43:41] I think it definitely casts a shadow over the film.
[1:43:43] And a film with already a lot of issues, this is probably the
[1:43:47] worst culprit as well. You know, of course it's
[1:43:50] terrific. It's a really bad choice.
[1:43:52] But you, I think you've got to give us some context as well.
[1:43:54] Context in the story that's been told, context in the characters
[1:43:57] which are absurd, and particularly this scene.
[1:44:00] I mean, how could they think that they could get away with
[1:44:03] this considering Beaks has had first hand contact with Ophelia
[1:44:06] and Winthorpe? You've also got to give context
[1:44:08] at the time it was made as well. I'm not advocating this behavior
[1:44:11] at all, but it's a product of its time, and I do not believe
[1:44:14] in censorship. If you remove this scene and
[1:44:17] remove the film as a result, which, you know, has been called
[1:44:20] for, how are we ever going to learn from our mistakes?
[1:44:24] And make no mistake about it, this is a big mistake.
[1:44:27] Yeah. This is the choice that you've
[1:44:28] made. Nope.
[1:44:30] You could have went down a million different routes.
[1:44:33] Westie, what about you? What are your thoughts?
[1:44:35] Yeah. I mean, coming back five or six
[1:44:36] years ago to this. Was a big big smart.
[1:44:40] Affair but it was like what on earth is happening here?
[1:44:44] Why is this? And like you guys have said,
[1:44:46] it's completely unnecessary and it makes.
[1:44:49] No sense it has no. Sense he's not disguising
[1:44:52] himself in any way. But I think the reason this
[1:44:55] works is because he's acting in the scene with Eddie.
[1:44:58] And if Eddie Murphy wasn't there, it would be offensive.
[1:45:01] But I think because Eddie Murphy's gone along with it, it
[1:45:04] becomes funny. OK, so I think Landis just goes,
[1:45:07] this is so stupid that nobody's actually going to take offence
[1:45:10] to this. It feels like it's in the wrong
[1:45:12] film. It feels like we've missed what?
[1:45:14] This whole scene does, doesn't it?
[1:45:15] The. Whole scene is like we've missed
[1:45:17] something here. Is there a different film where
[1:45:19] this is trying to plug in but just don't need these things?
[1:45:22] It's very, very easy to be a bit more subtle with it.
[1:45:25] It's very, very 1983 I guess as. Well, it's a product of its
[1:45:28] time, as you'd expect. Landis has had to see on this
[1:45:32] over the years, of course. So one thing he said, every
[1:45:35] movie is a product of its time and you have to understand it as
[1:45:38] such. The Birth of a Nation is
[1:45:39] genuinely offensive. There are scenes in it that are
[1:45:42] outrageous and unforgivable, But you don't say DW Griffith is not
[1:45:46] worthy of study. The guy was a genius and changed
[1:45:49] everything. But that movie is profoundly
[1:45:51] offensive. You don't cut it.
[1:45:52] It's better to see it. I see where he's coming from.
[1:45:55] It's got a point. You can only do what you can do
[1:45:59] within the the confines of what is acceptable at the time,
[1:46:03] right? There's so many things that are
[1:46:05] offensive. Yeah.
[1:46:06] But they didn't think they were. Supporters of this scene may ask
[1:46:09] why it isn't offensive that Dannam Elliott is dressed up as
[1:46:12] a priest and doing an Irish accent, perpetuating the
[1:46:15] stereotype that all priests are Alcoholics or all Irish people
[1:46:18] are Alcoholics, or both. Ackroyd said.
[1:46:21] I probably couldn't get away with it now.
[1:46:23] Ed and I were improvising there and he's a black man and his
[1:46:26] entourage were all black people, and I don't think they're better
[1:46:29] than I at all. There was no objection then.
[1:46:31] Nobody said anything. It was just good comic beat that
[1:46:35] was truthful to the story. Yeah.
[1:46:37] However, he now admits that he wouldn't choose to do the
[1:46:40] blackface thing, and he wouldn't be allowed to either.
[1:46:43] Certainly, you know, as he said, I probably wouldn't be allowed
[1:46:44] to do a Jamaican accent, whiteface or black in these days
[1:46:47] that we're living in. All of that out the window, I'd
[1:46:49] be hard pressed to do in an English accent and get away with
[1:46:52] it. They'd say, oh, you're not
[1:46:53] English, you can't do it. Yeah.
[1:46:55] Yeah, and Landis, he has no misgivings about the scene and
[1:46:58] he has said he would do it again now.
[1:46:59] And he said that this kind of behaviour is indicative of
[1:47:02] someone like Winthorpe who has lived a life of privileged
[1:47:05] ignorance. And this was last year, 2023.
[1:47:08] Well, and he used two real examples, he said.
[1:47:11] Brett Kavanaugh, one of the Supreme Court justices.
[1:47:14] Do you remember the pictures of the College in blackface?
[1:47:16] Or what about Prince Harry dressed up as a Nazi?
[1:47:19] It comes from a certain class of non thinkers.
[1:47:21] Yeah. I mean, I can see where he's
[1:47:23] coming from. There's not a definitive school
[1:47:25] of thought on it, I suppose. Like the only definitive we know
[1:47:28] is that it's not good to do blackface, no.
[1:47:31] Just don't do it. And it's fairly simple rule I
[1:47:33] think. It is.
[1:47:34] It is. As for the perceived gorilla
[1:47:37] rape scene, Lander said. I'm interested that people are
[1:47:39] offended by it. It's so ridiculous.
[1:47:41] I mean, the fact that the gorilla would accept this guy in
[1:47:43] a rubber mask, that's a cartoon gag.
[1:47:46] Yeah, I see where he's coming from.
[1:47:47] Yeah. Well, I like the bridge between
[1:47:49] the absurdity of the train and the trade and floor.
[1:47:52] I think it brings it back on track a little bit.
[1:47:55] Yeah. First off, you've got that scene
[1:47:56] in the car park where Billy Ray impersonates, beaks and provides
[1:47:59] the Dukes with the the bogus crop report.
[1:48:01] Almost certainly a nod to Deep Throat scenes from All the
[1:48:04] President's Men. Definitely is, yeah.
[1:48:06] It's great. When they're saying their
[1:48:08] goodbyes at the train station, Louis goes in for a smooch with
[1:48:10] Ophelia and Coleman looks away to give them some privacy.
[1:48:14] That great reaction. That denim Elliot is just pitch
[1:48:17] perfect in the in this film, Yeah.
[1:48:19] Yeah, so subtle. It's wonderful.
[1:48:21] Yeah. But when the boys get to
[1:48:23] Manhattan, they show up in a taxi compared to the Dukes in
[1:48:25] the limo. Another nice visual cue of
[1:48:27] standard and status. And I love the prep and tough
[1:48:30] talk that Louis gives Billy Ray. It kind of reminds me of the pep
[1:48:34] talk and Marin gives Karis in the Exorcist prior to go and
[1:48:37] talk to talk with the devil says the demon is a lie, will lie to
[1:48:41] confuse you, but it also makes lies with the truth to attack.
[1:48:44] But here it's think big thing positive.
[1:48:46] Never show any sign of weakness. Always go for the throat fear.
[1:48:50] That's the other guy's problem. That's the other guy's problem.
[1:48:52] I love that. Yeah, that's great.
[1:48:54] One minute you're up half a million in soybeans and the
[1:48:57] next, boom, Your kids don't go to college.
[1:48:59] They've repossessed your Bentley.
[1:49:00] I love it. That's great, right it?
[1:49:05] Is But this is Ackroyd scene. This is Lewis's arena.
[1:49:09] These are his people. And he's ultra confident combing
[1:49:11] his hair. And it's Valentine that's
[1:49:13] getting a little fidgety here. And you see that all the way
[1:49:16] through the trading floor. But Winthorpe is supremely
[1:49:19] confident and unflappable. Yeah.
[1:49:22] And they walk out of that bathroom with Lewis in.
[1:49:24] Let's kick some ass. Amazing.
[1:49:26] We're ready to go. Yeah.
[1:49:27] I love it. And then from there, we go into
[1:49:30] the trading floor. It's like, I haven't seen
[1:49:32] anything like this before. It's up there was like Wolf of
[1:49:35] Wall Street or Wall Street itself.
[1:49:37] Yeah, but it's my worst nightmare.
[1:49:40] This whole thing is my worst nightmare.
[1:49:42] People just have no identity. Everyone just becomes this thing
[1:49:46] that has to buy or sell, and it becomes about the commodity.
[1:49:50] And it's so chaotic. I don't understand how this
[1:49:53] works. They're just signing bits of
[1:49:55] paper and handing it, and how does that fucking work?
[1:49:58] There's that guarantee for the orange juice like, but it
[1:50:03] doesn't matter. That's the whole point of this
[1:50:05] whole sequence is that it doesn't matter.
[1:50:07] It's a classic 80s ending that people saw this and then just
[1:50:11] ran with it and just went, you know what?
[1:50:13] We're going to make the ending feel good and not make sense
[1:50:16] because it doesn't need to make sense.
[1:50:18] I think because I'm not very intelligent when it comes to
[1:50:21] this kind of bullshit. But they sell early and then buy
[1:50:25] late, right? So the sell at a higher price
[1:50:28] and then buy it back when it's a lower price.
[1:50:30] So I'll take this Westie, because I've got it in a
[1:50:34] nutshell. That that would be lovely.
[1:50:35] This is what I've gleaned from doing a lot of research on the
[1:50:38] Westie. OK Duke and Duke and bribe.
[1:50:40] The government official are going to copy the government
[1:50:42] orange crop report, meaning they'll have knowledge of the
[1:50:44] stock before it's announced. Winthorpe and Valentine get in
[1:50:47] before they get it and give the Dukes the opposite information.
[1:50:50] Yes, the crop is strong, the juice think it's weak and under
[1:50:53] the assumption that the price will rise.
[1:50:55] When Winthorpe shouts out and almost into unintelligible line
[1:50:58] that causes pandemonium on the trading floor, he says sell 38
[1:51:02] below 142, meaning they'll sell 30 contracts of frozen orange
[1:51:05] juice at 142 per pound. The pandemonium comes from the
[1:51:09] fact that the traders think the prices will be much higher than
[1:51:11] 142 in the future. But then the crop report comes
[1:51:14] out. Lewis and Billy Ray bought it
[1:51:16] $0.29 per pound. It's the classic buy lower sale
[1:51:19] high that you the opposite and they are hundreds of millions
[1:51:22] down. I mean, that's not my world, but
[1:51:24] it works. It totally works because you're
[1:51:26] like, yeah, these guys have got it sorted.
[1:51:28] And for the writing of the final scene, Harris said.
[1:51:30] I asked some people who are in that business to kind of walk me
[1:51:33] through it. And then when I was writing, it
[1:51:35] was like studying for an exam. You kind of understand it the
[1:51:37] day of, but then 24 hours later you can't remember how anything
[1:51:41] works. Yeah, I totally get that, Landis
[1:51:44] said. It just took him ages to work
[1:51:46] out how the finale worked. He's directing it and he didn't
[1:51:49] know what's going on. Winegrad and Harris said that
[1:51:53] the new would confuse audiences, but kind of rolled the dice,
[1:51:57] hoping that they'd be invested in the characters and wouldn't
[1:51:59] pay too much attention to it. Right.
[1:52:01] I think it does work because I still don't know what it means.
[1:52:04] No, definitely. Doesn't matter though, does it?
[1:52:06] That's the point. No.
[1:52:07] And I love Winthorpe walking out here and he's Valentine's like
[1:52:10] now when, when do we do this? Is that not yet Lewis?
[1:52:14] Not yet Lewis? And then when it hits, it's it's
[1:52:17] great. It's one of them great feel good
[1:52:19] endings. Initially, the trading floor
[1:52:21] scene was set in Chicago. Landis said that once it was
[1:52:24] clear that the film makers had a good understanding of how
[1:52:26] everything worked, the Chicago Commodities Exchange just
[1:52:29] slammed the door on them. They didn't want them to know.
[1:52:31] Oh, really? Yeah, Wall Street were a little
[1:52:33] bit more forgiven. However, things did change
[1:52:35] slightly. That was supposed to film at the
[1:52:37] World Trade Center Commodities Exchange on a weekday during
[1:52:40] trade hours. But the presence of Ackroyd and
[1:52:42] Murphy distracted traders, and $6 billion of trades were
[1:52:45] halted. So they have to move location.
[1:52:48] Yeah. Jesus.
[1:52:49] Crazy and the ended up moving to the 50th floor of the World
[1:52:53] Trade tenant and Landis said there were no windows and it was
[1:52:56] three to four stories high and just said that was very strange
[1:52:59] to take an elevator up 50 or 60 floors and then you thought you
[1:53:02] were underground very disoriented and and then he said
[1:53:05] also around 90% of the X was in that scene where actual real
[1:53:09] traders. He said.
[1:53:10] I was quite taken aback at how physically rough it was.
[1:53:14] They really elbowed one another, like giving him six now.
[1:53:16] It was like a contact sport. They were basically trading 8 or
[1:53:20] 9 hours a day. So we were in there for three to
[1:53:22] four hours on two days between opening and closing.
[1:53:25] I actually shot some gorilla stuff there that I used in the
[1:53:27] movie, but that sounds awful to me.
[1:53:29] You can tell that. You can tell that looks like
[1:53:31] real footage. You can tell.
[1:53:33] Yeah, it does. And then in 2010 there was a
[1:53:36] rule introduced into the trading of commodities, referred to as
[1:53:38] the Eddie Murphy rule, and that stipulated that using
[1:53:41] misappropriated government information for commodity
[1:53:44] markets trading was now illegal because prior to this it was a
[1:53:48] frowned upon practice, but you couldn't be prosecuted for it.
[1:53:51] Inside the trading basically. Yeah, Yeah.
[1:53:52] That's great. That's.
[1:53:53] Crazy. And then right at the end here,
[1:53:56] you've got obviously a beautifully delivered profanity
[1:54:00] from Don Amici. He took exception to the
[1:54:03] profanity here because he was deeply religious.
[1:54:05] He was from the golden age of cinema, where the F word was
[1:54:07] never wrote it. Yeah, according to Jamie Lee
[1:54:10] Curtis, this wasn't the only scene for which Amici had
[1:54:12] misgivings. After every scene with bad
[1:54:15] language, he went out of his way to apologize to cast and crew,
[1:54:18] even showing up early on set to get his apologies in before he
[1:54:21] did it. Outrageous.
[1:54:23] He's the worst guy in the film as well.
[1:54:25] He really is. Yeah, but for this scene, Landis
[1:54:28] eventually got to meet you to do one and only one take, he said.
[1:54:31] I'm going to do it once. I'm not going to do it again
[1:54:33] where Randolph collapses and Mortimer has to be aggressively
[1:54:36] dismissive about his brother's plate.
[1:54:38] It's. Fucking wonderful.
[1:54:40] I'm so glad he did because I mean delivery.
[1:54:44] Fuck him and the guy. He is stunned.
[1:54:49] It's amazing. Turn those machines back on.
[1:54:54] So a satisfying, if somewhat confusing, ended.
[1:54:57] We know one thing for certain though.
[1:54:58] Billy Ray and Lewis are looking good, feeling good.
[1:55:02] Too right reception and awards. A comedy with a mixed bag cast
[1:55:11] wasn't expected to do great business in the summer of 83,
[1:55:14] but we outperformed the majority of the competition.
[1:55:16] Yep, it became the fourth highest grossing film of 1983,
[1:55:20] behind Return of the Jedi. Understandable terms again.
[1:55:23] Demon and Flashdance, which obviously was a phenomenon back
[1:55:26] then. Yeah.
[1:55:26] Yeah. So they're returning $90 million
[1:55:31] from a budget of 15,000,000, which men did earn more than the
[1:55:34] likes of Superman 3, Sudden Impact and Octopussy.
[1:55:38] That's pretty impressive, really.
[1:55:39] So I'm established IP there as well.
[1:55:42] Yeah, yeah, pretty good. Timothy Harris said that he got
[1:55:44] a call from his agent who had people approaching them asking
[1:55:47] if it was true that the idea for the film was producer Aaron
[1:55:50] Russo's and that he and mine grew up a hired hands.
[1:55:53] He found out that Geoffrey Kosenberg was going around town
[1:55:56] saying that was his idea, he said.
[1:55:58] Being a Hollywood cynic, by then I knew it was a hit because
[1:56:01] people were trying to steal credit for it already.
[1:56:04] And that's when you know you're honest.
[1:56:05] Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you've got something
[1:56:07] hot on your hands. Yeah.
[1:56:08] Yeah. I mean, it was popular from a
[1:56:09] critical lens. High.
[1:56:11] Profilable. Controversial film critic Rex
[1:56:13] Reid spoke fondly of the film, saying Trading Places in an
[1:56:16] updated Frank Capra with four letter words.
[1:56:18] And I could think of no higher prayers than that.
[1:56:21] If you can't, then that's not good journalism.
[1:56:24] It's not really good point. Jenna Maslin had positive things
[1:56:29] to say about Trading Places, but also said Preston Sturd just
[1:56:32] might have made a movie like Trading Places if he had a
[1:56:35] little less inspiration and a lot more money.
[1:56:38] Harsh, Harsh. That is harsh.
[1:56:40] In a retrospective review, Empire gave it 4 out of five, it
[1:56:43] said. A brilliant ensemble comedy with
[1:56:46] Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd at the top of their games.
[1:56:48] He, he and finally the big man Roger EBIT out of four.
[1:56:53] What do you think he gave it? 3 1/2.
[1:56:56] I'll go 2 1/2. I think he liked his old school
[1:56:59] stuff and he thought this wasn't quite up to this standard.
[1:57:03] I tell you what, split the difference, it's three out of
[1:57:05] four, he said. It's a great idea for a story.
[1:57:09] A white preppy snot and a black street hustler trade places and
[1:57:13] learn new skills they never dreamed existed.
[1:57:15] The movie's invention extends all the way to the climactic
[1:57:18] scenes, which involve not the usual manic chase but a
[1:57:21] commodity scam, a New Year's Eve party on a train and a gay
[1:57:24] gorilla. During award season, Trading
[1:57:30] Places was recognized with a smattering of nominations but no
[1:57:33] wins unfortunately. 1 Oscar nom, Bernstein for Best Score, who
[1:57:37] lost out to Michael Legrand and Alan and Marilyn Bergman for
[1:57:40] Yentl. The fact that War Games was
[1:57:42] nominated for its screenplay and this wasn't, I think it's a
[1:57:45] crime. That's outrageous.
[1:57:46] Wow, OK. Fucking outrageous. 2 Golden
[1:57:50] Globe noms best musical or comedy.
[1:57:52] It lost out again to Yentl and Murphy was nominated for Best
[1:57:56] Actor in Comedy and Musical, but lost out to Michael Caine for
[1:57:58] Educating Reader. Okay, I love.
[1:58:00] Educating me. He's great.
[1:58:01] Yeah, he's good. He's good in it.
[1:58:03] Yes, yes he is. More disappointment followed.
[1:58:06] At the Baftas. Denham Elliott and GLC were
[1:58:08] nominated in the supporting categories.
[1:58:09] Both missed out. Elliott was clearly the hometown
[1:58:12] vote. Yeah.
[1:58:14] Yeah, Harris and Wang God were nominated for their right and
[1:58:17] put lost out of Paul D Zimmerman for the King of Comedy.
[1:58:20] That's fair, I think. That's absolutely.
[1:58:22] That's fair. That's on the page, it's on the
[1:58:25] screen. It is, yes, it is.
[1:58:26] Yeah, it's great. And now, from a contemporary
[1:58:28] point of view, Trading Places has 89% on Rotten Tomatoes Very
[1:58:32] High and 7.5 out of 10 on IMDb, which if my memory serves me
[1:58:37] right, is .2 more than Beverly Hills Cop.
[1:58:39] Yes. So it's still got a good
[1:58:40] reputation, so performing well on all fronts.
[1:58:43] I'm sure that Landis wasn't expecting awards, but he'll have
[1:58:46] been happy that this risky cast brought home the bacon or pork
[1:58:50] bellies. Yeah.
[1:58:55] Sequels and influence. No sequel to Trade in Places of
[1:59:00] course, but in a very nice call back, the Landis directed Eddie
[1:59:04] Murphy vehicle Coming to America has a scene in which Prince
[1:59:07] Hakeem gives 2 hobos a bundle of cash.
[1:59:10] Yeah, and those whole balls turn out to be Randolph and Mortimer,
[1:59:13] who clearly put the money to good use and are referenced
[1:59:15] again in Coming to America, the sequel from a few years ago.
[1:59:19] Right. That aside, in the years since
[1:59:21] its release, where have you seen Trade in Places influence?
[1:59:24] What do you think its legacy is, Westie?
[1:59:26] I think it's mainly on the people who were in the film.
[1:59:30] I think everyone rose from this. It was Landis invested in
[1:59:35] people, I think, invested in actors, invested in their
[1:59:38] performances. Murphy couldn't have got bigger
[1:59:41] after this. Ackroyd.
[1:59:43] Ghostbusters straight after. Ghostbusters straight after this
[1:59:47] and it just kept rising. I just think this was just an
[1:59:50] absolute lesson in believing in people, believing in their
[1:59:55] ability and believing in what they can do and they will
[1:59:58] deliver. From 83 to like 89, any of these
[2:00:02] guys were complete commodities or just absolute gold to buy a
[2:00:07] new. And that's how it feels to me.
[2:00:09] It feels like Landis has planted something and it's just spawned
[2:00:14] all of these different branches that you get so much from this
[2:00:17] film. So for me, its influence and its
[2:00:20] legacy lies in whoever was involved in this film.
[2:00:23] Grew from it, Yeah. That's what I get from it.
[2:00:26] Yeah, From just a like a broad point of view, it's generally
[2:00:28] considered one of the best comedies of the 80s.
[2:00:30] It's a touchstone in the career of most, if not all of the casts
[2:00:34] respective careers. And the film that sprung Murphy
[2:00:36] to superstardom, Paramount, later tied him to a $25 million
[2:00:40] five picture deal and financed Eddie Murphy Productions along
[2:00:43] with it. On this alone, that's huge.
[2:00:46] Massive. That's too big 25,000,000.
[2:00:50] Without the success of Trading Places, you don't have a studio
[2:00:53] taken Dan Aykroyd's Ghostbusters script seriously for me, the
[2:00:57] implications of which would have been seismic for a number of
[2:01:00] reasons. The advancement in special
[2:01:01] effects would look different. So would Bill Murray's career.
[2:01:04] And that icon, like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, would be
[2:01:07] erased from existence. Yeah.
[2:01:09] Big. Worth thinking about Big.
[2:01:11] News And as GLC has said, she wouldn't have the career she
[2:01:14] has, which means no fish call wonder, no anything, anywhere
[2:01:17] all at once, no Oscar win. No.
[2:01:20] We mentioned the impact it had on Don Amici's career.
[2:01:22] Yeah. Matt, what do you think about
[2:01:24] the legacy and influence of Trading Places?
[2:01:27] Definitely more of a legacy film than a film with influence.
[2:01:30] That saying, I can't think, can't think of more Chef Watch.
[2:01:33] We've got our definite Trading Places influence on that.
[2:01:38] The legacy is more to do with the fact that I said earlier, it
[2:01:40] just has a very different feel to more so the 80s comedies.
[2:01:43] It is trying to do something different and it has a veneer of
[2:01:46] quality you don't really get in this genre, certainly not from
[2:01:49] that decade. So I think maybe though, its
[2:01:52] biggest legacy is just making you reassess and realize again
[2:01:56] how amazing Eddie Murphy was right from the start.
[2:02:00] So early 22. It's still among his best films
[2:02:03] in terms of performance. And that's it.
[2:02:05] It's probably landed the second best after American.
[2:02:08] Werewolf. Unfortunately, when you speak
[2:02:10] about legacy, you've also got to mention that the blackface scene
[2:02:12] doesn't scan right in 2024 and as a result it was one of 16
[2:02:17] films that Sky ATV broadcaster in the UK added disclaimer to
[2:02:20] the start of the film. And the disclaimer reads, this
[2:02:23] film has outdated attitudes, language and cultural depictions
[2:02:26] which may cause offence today. Right.
[2:02:29] Fair enough. Unfortunate, but on the positive
[2:02:31] side, Business Insider claim that Trading Places is the
[2:02:34] greatest Wall Street movie ever made.
[2:02:37] OK. Right, OK.
[2:02:38] Timothy Harris said that he had people coming up to them saying
[2:02:41] the trading place has inspired them to become broker.
[2:02:44] Didn't inspire me to become a broker.
[2:02:45] No fucking chance. But she said it's a huge
[2:02:49] paradigm turn. The film, written as a satire of
[2:02:53] that world, ends up inspiring someone to go into the world and
[2:02:56] make a lot of money. Like it happens left right and
[2:02:59] centre though, doesn't it really?
[2:03:00] It does. It's like what happened with
[2:03:02] when Gordon Get Go inspired people to do the same thing.
[2:03:05] Yeah, exactly. Just.
[2:03:05] Like Dell boy. Wall Street and then same thing,
[2:03:08] yeah. Trading Places has become a
[2:03:10] Christmas Eve tradition in Italy.
[2:03:12] On Channel Italia One they have a trade in places on Christmas
[2:03:15] Eve for over 30 years and it's regularly sighted as one of the
[2:03:18] great Christmas movies overall as well.
[2:03:21] OK, in 2015, the Writers Guild of America voted the screenplay
[2:03:26] the 33rd funniest screenplay ever, joint with Ferris Bueller.
[2:03:29] Joint with Ferris Bueller. I think it's better than.
[2:03:35] That. Yeah, and finally, it was
[2:03:37] adapted for the stage in a musical version, which debuted
[2:03:39] in Atlanta in 2022. So there's life in the old dog
[2:03:43] yet? Oh wow.
[2:03:44] OK. Despite the controversy trade in
[2:03:46] places, impact on the industry is still big and it still has an
[2:03:49] incredibly strong reputation in pop culture and among film fans,
[2:03:52] no doubt helped by its seasonal set.
[2:03:54] Yeah, all the right movies ranking.
[2:04:01] Before we set sail for a Paradise Island, it's time for
[2:04:04] the renowned ATRM ranking. Matt, your summary and score for
[2:04:08] Trading Places, please. Loads to really enjoy about
[2:04:11] this. Brilliant performances from
[2:04:13] everyone. There's not one performance that
[2:04:15] lets this film down. Hilarious moments throughout and
[2:04:17] you can feel Land is trying something different with this
[2:04:19] one and recognising that he can grow up a bit and he can try to
[2:04:22] make something that carries a bit of weight to it.
[2:04:25] And for the most part it does that really successfully.
[2:04:28] But I think overall it's a nearly film for me.
[2:04:31] It's nearly a Christmas classic if you want to frame it that
[2:04:34] way, but it's not one I put up there with the likes of Die
[2:04:37] Hard, for example, you know, if it's on, I'll watch it, but
[2:04:40] could live without watching it every Christmas.
[2:04:43] And the reason for that is it's nearly a brilliantly directed
[2:04:47] film. It's nearly a brilliantly
[2:04:48] written film, but for the reasons I outlined in the
[2:04:51] writing, it just pulls its punches a bit.
[2:04:53] I think it knows what it wants to say.
[2:04:56] Don't think he knows how to say it.
[2:04:57] And so the message and just gets confused along the way.
[2:05:00] And then you do get to that final 20 minutes and it just
[2:05:03] collapses a bit. It's silly, it's confusing, it's
[2:05:06] offensive, it's contradictory because all we see in greed is
[2:05:09] bad. No, actually it's good as long
[2:05:11] as you're the right person to get it.
[2:05:12] I don't know what it's. I don't know what it wants me to
[2:05:14] think at the end. Paul from It's good to see a
[2:05:17] cried Murphy happy, which fair enough.
[2:05:19] And it's a shame because most of the pieces of film needs to be a
[2:05:22] masterpiece are here, it's just not all of them.
[2:05:26] So for that area, it's a surprisingly classy comedy, but
[2:05:30] it's not as sharp as it should be, and it doesn't quite have
[2:05:33] the teeth I think it could have. So it's a solid 8 out of 10 for
[2:05:36] me. 8 out of 10. Yeah, it's a solid score for
[2:05:39] certain. What about you, Wesley?
[2:05:41] I mean, if I could have summed it up before math, I'll probably
[2:05:44] have said exactly the same thing to be honest.
[2:05:47] And I came to this one really late and it was an eye opener
[2:05:51] and a jaw dropper at times. Of course.
[2:05:54] I mean, I knew Landis's career and I knew everything, you know,
[2:05:58] came that from this and before this and how important this was
[2:06:01] to him, how important it is to everybody who's involved in this
[2:06:04] film. But like Matt said, he's missed
[2:06:05] the trick. It just feels like there's just
[2:06:08] a home run here that hasn't been hit.
[2:06:11] Yeah, there's just something that.
[2:06:13] He's got the first base. Yeah, he's there.
[2:06:16] But I wanted to finish on a high and I didn't feel like
[2:06:21] incredibly moved by it. By the end of it, I didn't feel
[2:06:25] like anyone had got any further forward.
[2:06:27] I didn't feel like anyone understood any of the other
[2:06:29] characters. It was just let's go to the
[2:06:31] Virgin Islands and let's get a boat.
[2:06:35] So nothing's changed really from the start of the film as opposed
[2:06:38] to everyone's just in a better place because of money.
[2:06:41] It's great because it wants to say something and it pulls you
[2:06:44] through that, and I love it for that.
[2:06:46] But I'm the same as my. I'm going to have to give an 8
[2:06:48] out of 10. Yeah, OK.
[2:06:49] Well, again, solid scores. Yeah.
[2:06:53] And you know, we've looked in the dark corners of Trading
[2:06:55] Places. We found a few things that we
[2:06:57] don't like. Yeah, we found a few things that
[2:06:59] haven't aged well at all, but this is a rarity in the genre.
[2:07:03] A comedy with something to say, a lot to say, a lot on its mind.
[2:07:06] Yeah, it's a lot. There's a lot here.
[2:07:07] But like Matt said, he said it beautifully.
[2:07:09] It's like it doesn't know how to say it.
[2:07:12] Yeah, I agree with that and it's Moodle for certain.
[2:07:15] But the relevance of the message in the film and the narrative
[2:07:18] themes, that hasn't diminished with time.
[2:07:20] Some of the narrative beats don't hold up to scrutiny, but
[2:07:23] the comedy I think grabs a hold of you from the start and I
[2:07:25] think that sticks. The landed, but at least said
[2:07:28] about the train sequence the better and everything that comes
[2:07:31] with that. Yeah, agree with that.
[2:07:33] But the cast are outstanding and it's very important in the
[2:07:36] careers of at least four of the cast members.
[2:07:39] Without this, Curtis Murphy, Aykroyd Amici's respective
[2:07:42] careers would look dramatically different.
[2:07:45] There's so much more than Trading Places than meets the
[2:07:47] eye and it has been overshadowed for me.
[2:07:49] It is a top tier 80s comedy issues notwithstanding.
[2:07:52] I'm given Trading Places 9 out of 10.
[2:07:55] OK, fair enough. Yep, that's all that come in.
[2:07:57] That's fair enough. Yeah, yeah, of course.
[2:08:00] And I would say it's got a 9.5 of that is nostalgia.
[2:08:03] Yeah, that's me. That's always fair enough.
[2:08:06] Our 4th and final score come from our followers on X Trading
[2:08:09] Places is, as discussed, a hot potato at this time of year and
[2:08:13] that was certainly evident in the comments.
[2:08:15] Anthony at anti Juan Kenobi said 7 out of 10 movie 8 out 10
[2:08:20] comedy 9 out of 10 Christmas film 10 out of 10 Jamie Lee
[2:08:23] Curtis. Can't argue with that.
[2:08:26] Yeah, fair enough. Ian Cusick at Ian Cusick said
[2:08:31] one of my Christmas favorites. The image of Dan Aykroyd eaten
[2:08:34] salmon through his matted be. It always makes me gag as it
[2:08:38] does. Also you.
[2:08:39] Yeah, Eddie Murphy being real Eddie Murphy when he was funny.
[2:08:42] Fantastic denim Elliot performance.
[2:08:44] JLC looked amazing to a teenage viewer.
[2:08:46] Still does. 8.5 out of 10. Yeah, and back that up.
[2:08:51] And finally, stuck at Stuck in Middle You said, a comedy that
[2:08:56] hits mostly the right notes with a sublime performance from Eddie
[2:08:58] Murphy in Wonderful Turns by Dynamici and Ralph Bellamy.
[2:09:01] The romance between Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee is a bit stilted,
[2:09:04] but doesn't bog down the enjoyment of the film overall.
[2:09:07] That's fair enough, and I've left out a few comments because
[2:09:10] a lot of them were concerned. And Jamie Lee and her assets,
[2:09:14] shall we say. Right.
[2:09:16] Yeah, people have no shame in seeing what's on their mind on
[2:09:20] X. It's absolutely outrageous.
[2:09:23] Really keep it to yourself, everyone.
[2:09:24] Come on. A little bit of classic
[2:09:26] Christmas. See what they want.
[2:09:28] So considering all of that, what do you think?
[2:09:30] Trading Places scored out of 10 on X Chaps. 9. 8.5.
[2:09:35] Westie out of the park. That's a home run.
[2:09:38] Boom. Very solid, very surprising. 9
[2:09:41] out of 10. There were a lot of positive
[2:09:43] comments on X about this film. Very little on the negative
[2:09:46] side. OK.
[2:09:46] Yes, very little. If this gets you at the right
[2:09:49] time, it really gets, it's got a lot of say and you can get lots
[2:09:52] from it. It's great.
[2:09:53] Yeah, which means with all four combined, Trading Places scores
[2:09:57] 34 out of 40. A fair score I think,
[2:10:00] considering the issues that the film has to be 6 off full marks
[2:10:05] is pretty remarkable really. Yeah, considering, yeah.
[2:10:08] Join us again on All the Right Movies in two weeks.
[2:10:11] We are taking a Christmas break, so you'll get to listen to an
[2:10:14] episode of our Patreon Double Feature show, which will only be
[2:10:17] available for a limited time. Then we're kicking the new year
[2:10:19] off with a bang by delving into Denis Villeneuve's outstanding
[2:10:23] sci-fi arrival. John, Matt and Wesley will be
[2:10:26] bringing you that story, a relatively new film, which is a
[2:10:29] nice change of pace for us here. Great, grateful.
[2:10:33] Outside of our classic show, we have a lot going on.
[2:10:35] There are regular episodes of Showreel coming out every two
[2:10:38] weeks. Alternative to this show,
[2:10:40] there's the Patreon exclusive podcast Double feature, the
[2:10:42] latest episode of which is live next week.
[2:10:44] And there's a Christmas bonus. It's three films on the show,
[2:10:47] not 2. Outrageously, we're talking
[2:10:50] about Jason Statham in Lock Stock, 2 Smoking Barrels, Snatch
[2:10:54] and Crank. Bound to be a lively discussion
[2:10:56] to be had there. Very good.
[2:10:58] So yeah. Save it for the episode Wesley I
[2:11:02] love. It keeping it really reserved,
[2:11:05] yeah. There'll be brand new episodes
[2:11:08] of our movie review show, The Watch List, available for our
[2:11:11] Patreon supporters in the middle of January.
[2:11:13] So for everything we've said at the top, all of our podcasts
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[2:12:55] We're going to go to a tropical island.
[2:12:58] Lobster and crack crab for everyone.
[2:12:59] Oh, it is Christmas after all. That sounds good.
[2:13:02] Feeling good? Look.
[2:13:03] Looking good Wesley, Merry Christmas everyone.
[2:13:07] Thank you so much for listening throughout the year.
[2:13:09] We love your support. Much more to come from ATRM in
[2:13:12] the new year. All the very best.
[2:13:14] Yes, thank you so much for listening, guys.
[2:13:16] It's massively appreciated. And then Merry Christmas to
[2:13:18] everyone. Season's greetings.
[2:13:20] Merry. New Year in this country, we say
[2:13:24] happy New Year. In Philadelphia it's worth 50
[2:13:52] bucks.

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