The Kentucky Fried Movie

The Kentucky Fried Movie

high top sneaker, with a statue of liberty sticking out of it, and a rocket pack on the side.

Theatrical release poster
Directed by John Landis
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by Igo Kantor
Cinematography
  • Robert E. Collins
  • Stephen M. Katz
Edited by George Folsey Jr.
Production
company
KFM Films
Distributed by United Film Distribution Company
Release dates
  • August 10, 1977 (1977-08-10)
Running time
 83 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $650,000[2]
Box office $7.1 million[3]

The Kentucky Fried Movie is a 1977 American anthology comedy film directed by John Landis. The film's writers were the team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, who went on to write and direct Airplane!, Top Secret!, and the Police Squad! television series and its film spin-offs, The Naked Gun films. The "feature presentation" portion of the film stars Evan C. Kim and hapkido Grand Master Bong Soo Han.

Among the numerous cameo stars were George Lazenby, Bill Bixby, Henry Gibson, Barry Dennen, Donald Sutherland, Tony Dow, Stephen Bishop, and the voice of Shadoe Stevens. According to David Zucker in the DVD commentary track, David Letterman auditioned for the role of the newscaster but was not selected. The film also features many former members of The Groundlings theater and some from The Second City.

The Kentucky Fried Movie marked the first film appearances of a number of actors who later became famous as well as being the vehicle that launched the careers of the Zucker brothers, Abrahams, and Landis. Landis' work on this film was responsible for his being recommended to direct National Lampoon's Animal House in 1978.[4]

Description

The Kentucky Fried Movie consists of largely unconnected sketches that parody various film genres, including exploitation films. The film's longest segment spoofs early kung-fu films, primarily Enter the Dragon; its title, A Fistful of Yen, refers to A Fistful of Dollars. Parodies of disaster films (That's Armageddon), blaxploitation (Cleopatra Schwartz) and softcore porn/women-in-prison films (Catholic High School Girls in Trouble) are presented as "Coming Attraction" trailers. The fictional films are said to have been produced by "Samuel L. Bronkowitz" (a conflation of Samuel Bronston and Joseph L. Mankiewicz, but also a spoof of B-movie producer and American International Pictures co-founder Samuel Z. Arkoff). The sketch See You Next Wednesday mocks theater-based gimmicks like Sensurround by depicting a dramatic film presented in "Feel-a-Round", which involves an usher physically accosting the patron. Other sketches spoof TV commercials and programs, news broadcasts, and classroom educational films. The city of Detroit and its high crime rate are a running gag portraying the city as Hell on Earth; in "A Fistful of Yen", the evil drug lord orders a captured CIA agent to be sent to Detroit, and the agent screams and begs to be killed instead.

This film is number 87 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies,"[4] and is considered, along with The Groove Tube, to be one of the groundbreaking films of the entire spoof and mockumentary genres of filmmaking.

Sketch selection

The film's credits listed the sketches incorrectly, as the writers changed the order after the credits had been written. On second cut they corrected this error. The following list is in the running order used in the film:

Sketch details

11 O'Clock News (Part 1) (:04)

 A news announcer tells the film's viewers the popcorn they are eating has been pissed in...Film at 11.
Argon Oil (1:13) A commercial for a company that found ways to produce oil from acne, Italian people's hair (taken from combs in their trash), and US fast food.
A.M. Today (6:05) A morning TV news show with hosts (Janice Kent and Michael Laurence) and several segments: a news correspondent, unable to hear the announcers, scratches his butt and picks his nose on-camera and a studio debate between a conservative and liberal pundit leads to obscenity. The show's astrologer reminds us that astrology is meant to support people who can't take responsibility for their own lives. An animal segment introduces a "rare" hamster followed up by a gorilla (Rick Baker). The gorilla, who has been unable to mate, becomes progressively enraged by its female handler's explanations and suddenly tears off the handler's shirt. Studio hands try unsuccessfully to restrain the gorilla as it runs amok and smashes the camera.
His New Car (:24) When a man enters a car, multiple alarms go off. As he goes through a succession of actions (locking his door, buckling his seatbelt, and so on) the alarms shut off one by one until only one remains. Eventually he reaches down and zips the zipper on his jeans. The last alarm then stops.
Catholic High School Girls in Trouble (2:00) A parody of sexploitation films. One highlight is a topless conversation among three large breasted Catholic high school girls (Nancy Mann, Lenka Novak, and Betsy Genson). Later the school punishes them for breaking curfew by putting them in a jail where they are stripped naked except for brightly colored bikini bottoms. With their wrists chained above them, they face the camera bare breasted as their backs are whipped by a dwarf. Another is Uschi Digard's large breasts first being zoomed in and felt by a guy (to squeaky-balloon sound effects), and later comically squashed against a shower door when he penetrates her from behind. A shocked teenager interrupts his intercourse when he realizes it is actually his girlfriend's middle aged mother under the sheets. She claims people always mistake her for her teenage daughter. Another teenager learns in horror that masturbation has made his hands hairy.
(See You Next Wednesday in) Feel-A-Round (4:52) A guy watches a movie presented in "Feel-A-Round." The usher takes the role of the on-screen female lover. As she asks her male lover to smell her perfume, the usher sprays the viewer with said perfume. It eventually proceeds to chest rubbing and then to a lovers' quarrel. The latter culminates with a knife to the throat but ends with a quick kiss. The cinema's announcer invites the guy to also stay over for the next film – Deep Throat. The viewer runs away screaming.
Nytex P.M. (:35) A commercial for a drug that cures headaches by rendering the receiver unconscious.

High Adventure (3:01)

 A talk show's boom operator finds the French adventurer guest boring and causes troubles with his boom mike to both the guest and the host.
11 O'Clock News (Part 2) (:05) Moscow is "in flames" and nuclear warheads are headed for New York...Film at 11.
Headache Clinic (:40) A commercial hosted by Bill Bixby shows how a clinic's scientists demonstrate their headache curing drug Sanhedrin by pounding on people's heads. The commercial claims the people are not affected by the pain.
Household Odors (:40) A commercial for household deodorizer that claims if you do not buy it, people will humiliate you by telling you right in your face that your house stinks.
The Wonderful World of Sex (4:55) A couple plays a phonograph record of a how-to guide for sex. After disrobing to their underwear, the detailed record eventually instructs them to kiss and begin foreplay. After the male experiences premature ejaculation, the recording sends "Big Jim Slade," a briefs-wearing, muscular "tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs" to carry the woman away and finish her humiliated partner's job, backed by a vigorous choral rendition of the song "Heiveinu Shalom Aleichem."
A Fistful of Yen (31:34) One missile from the previously-announced (Film at 11) dual Russia-U.S. attack is revealed to be Chinese-made. The Chinese government denies any involvement. The mastermind behind the attack turns out to be a Chinese Dark Lord named Dr. Klahn. In a parody of Enter the Dragon, the UK government hires Loo (a Bruce Lee lookalike with an Elmer Fudd voice) to penetrate Dr. Klahn's mountain fortress and destroy his operation. Loo refuses the mission at first, but happily agrees once he is told he would get to kill dozens of people. The fortress is so organized it even has its own guided tours for their storage of drugs and weapons of mass destruction. When Loo is discovered, he first defeats Dr. Klahn, then an absurd number of warriors who keep appearing in waves. Big Jim Slade from the "Wonderful World of Sex" sketch re-appears to loud marching band music, and this time he frees the fortress' prisoners who rush to engage in battle. Alone, he then performs various bodybuilder poses in quiet ambiance. In a parody of The Wizard of Oz, Loo is sent back to Kansas after his victory and learns it may have all been a dream.
Willer Beer (:58) A beer commercial featuring Hare Krishna monks.
11 O'Clock News (Part 3) (:05) All kinds of disasters happen in the US...Film at 11.
Scot Free (:58) A commercial for a board game based on US president John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories.
That's Armageddon (2:17) A parody of the then-common disaster film genre, with "Donald Sutherland as the clumsy waiter."
United Appeal for the Dead (1:42) A commercial featuring Henry Gibson for an association that supports keeping around corpses of dead people and still treating them like part of the family.
"Courtroom" (Part 1) (4:35) A spoof of a courtroom trial that takes every word literally and runs like a game show while "The Beaver" (writer Jerry Zucker) and Wally Cleaver (Tony Dow, reprising his role from the original Leave It to Beaver) get into trouble in the jury stand.
Nesson Oil (:14) A commercial for cooking oil in which a little girl is "cooking the cat in pure Nesson oil".
"Courtroom" (Part 2) (3:02) Beaver and Wally continue to make trouble, while the trial's "surprise" witness recognizes the TV announcer himself as the offender in a car accident.
Cleopatra Schwartz (1:24) A parody of blaxploitation films. A love and marriage story of a Pam Grier–like character (Marilyn Joi) and a rabbi (Saul Kahan). Despite their differences, they live a passionate life (highlighted by the couple sitting in bed with satisfied expressions, with her topless).
Zinc Oxide and You (1:59) A parody of classroom educational films that shows what happens to a housewife who has everything that relies on zinc oxide disappear one by one, with increasingly undesirable results. Among other things, her bra disappears and her breasts instantly sag under her shirt. Her car crashes through her house as it has no brakes, and her husband's pacemaker stops working. Eventually the gas control valves on her stove disappear, her kitchen catches on fire, and everything that can stop the fire also disappears. The segment ends with a brief announcement of the next film in the series, Rebuilding Your House.
"Danger Seekers" (1:02) A parody of the 1973–1974 television series, Thrill Seekers. Part-time airline mechanic, full-time daredevil Rex Kramer (Robert Starr) vows to take on the most dangerous situations possible "for the sake of adventure." Rex, wearing protective gear, walks to the middle of a group of African American men playing Cee-lo in an alley and screams the racial epithet "Niggers!" whereupon he flees as they angrily chase him.

(The name Rex Kramer would later be given to Robert Stack's character in Airplane!.)

Eyewitness News (4:24) A couple stops watching the TV news to have sex. In a parody of Nineteen Eighty-Four's two-way television, as soon as the man exposes the woman's breasts, the TV news announcer starts stuttering. As the man performs cunnilingus on the woman, men from the production crew gather around the news announcer to gape and snicker. They scream when she reaches an orgasm, but the crew runs away in time when the suspicious couple stops and turns to look at the television. The news announcer resumes his report. Assuming it was nothing, they resume having sex. This time the woman mounts the man. The men from the production crew return to the news announcer. They share a collective orgasm with the woman.
11 O'Clock News (Part 4) (:09) The news announcer declares he is not wearing any pants...Film at 11.

Background and production

David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams made the rounds of the Hollywood studios with the concept for Kentucky Fried Movie and were rejected by all of them, being told that "audiences didn't like movies composed of sketches." Since the three believed in their material, which they had honed in front of the audiences with their improvisational troupe "Kentucky Fried Theater", they decided to make the movie on their own.[5]

A wealthy real estate investor offered to finance the film if they would write a script. After completion of the screenplay, the investor had second thoughts and decided he did not want to finance the film alone. He said he would try to attract other investors if the three filmmakers would produce a ten-minute excerpt of the film, which he would finance. When the trio presented a budget of the short film to the investor, he backed out.[3]

The prospect of shooting the short film so excited the trio that they decided to pay for it themselves. The ten-minute film cost $35,000, and with it they again approached the Hollywood studios. This time they attached young director John Landis to the project. However, once again, the studios turned them down.[3]

Curious as to how audiences would react to their film, they persuaded exhibitor Kim Jorgenson to show it before one of his regularly scheduled films. When Jorgenson saw the short, he "fell out of his seat laughing." He was so impressed that he offered to raise the money needed to make the full-length version. By having his fellow exhibitors screen the film before audiences in their theaters, he convinced them to put up the $650,000 budget. When released, Kentucky Fried Movie was a box-office success, returning domestic American rentals of $7.1 million.[3]

Home media

Anchor Bay Entertainment released the DVD in the U.S. in 2000. This release is presented in widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio and full-frame (1.33:1). It includes commentary by John Landis; writers Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams; and producer Robert K. Weiss.

On July 4, 2011, Arrow Video in the United Kingdom released a two-disc special edition DVD with the following special features:

On July 2, 2013, Shout! Factory released the film on Blu-ray in a 1.85:1 aspect widescreen transfer. This version includes the original theatrical trailer and the Arrow DVD release filmmaker commentary and Zucker brothers interview.

Critical response

The film received favorable reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 80% based on 30 reviews.[6]

At the time, Variety described the film as having "excellent production values and some genuine wit" but also noted that film was juvenile and tasteless.[7]

Writing three decades later in 2008, Ian Nathan of Empire Magazine calls the film "occasionally funny" ... "in a scattershot and puerile way", and he concludes the film is "smart and satirical but very dated".[8] J.C. Maçek III of PopMatters wrote "The Kentucky Fried Movie is, however, profane, experimental, violent, silly, hilarious and occasionally quite sexually explicit (all of which surely helped its success over the years)."[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE (X) (CUT)". British Board of Film Classification. December 4, 1978. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  2. ↑ Matthews, Jack. "'Fried Movie' Producer at it Again" Los Angeles Times (September 15, 1987+
  3. 1 2 3 4 Litwak, p. 136
  4. 1 2 Cammorata, Nicole and Duffy, James (July 25, 2006). "Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies of All Time". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
  5. ↑ Litwak, Mark (1986). Reel Power: The Struggle For Influence and Success in the New Hollywood. New York: William Morrow & Company. p. 135. ISBN 0-688-04889-7.
  6. ↑ "The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster.
  7. ↑ Staff (December 31, 1976). "The Kentucky Fried Movie". Variety.
  8. ↑ Nathan, Ian (2008). "The Kentucky Fried Movie". Empire Magazine.
  9. ↑ Maçek III, J.C. (July 30, 2013). "In 'The Kentucky Fried Movie' Expect the Unexpected & Exercise Total Concentwation on the Isle of Lu". PopMatters.

External links

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