Trading Places (1983)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

Timothy Harris (written by)
Herschel Weingrod (written by)

Release Date:

8 June 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

They're not just getting rich... They're getting even.

Plot:

A snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.

Plot Keywords:

Brother | Money | Black White Relations | Fish Out Of Water | Santa Hat

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Oct. 13

8:00 PM

MAX

Cast

Denholm Elliott	...	Coleman
Dan Aykroyd	...	Louis Winthorpe III
Maurice Woods	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Richard D. Fisher Jr.	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Jim Gallagher	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Anthony DiSabatino	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Bonnie Behrend	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Sunnie Merrill	...	Duke & Duke Employee
James Newell	...	Duke & Duke Employee (as Jim Newell)
Mary St. John	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Bonnie Tremena	...	Duke & Duke Employee
David Schwartz	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Ralph Bellamy	...	Randolph Duke
Don Ameche	...	Mortimer Duke
Tom Degidon	...	Duke Domestic

Also Known As:

Black or White (USA) (working title)
Glücksritter, Die (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Un fauteuil pour deux (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
De mendigo a millonario (Argentina) [es]
Entre pillos anda el juego (Spain) [es]
Kolo srece (Serbia) [sr]
Ombytta roller (Sweden) [sv]
Poltrona per due, Una (Italy) [it]
Ricos e os Pobres, Os (Portugal) [pt]
Rollebyttet (Norway) [no]
Trocando as Bolas (Brazil) [pt]
Vaihtokaupat (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:Atp | Iceland:L | Netherlands:6 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:S | Norway:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

30th Street Station - 3001 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Cinema Group Ventures

Trivia:

The premise is similar to that of Hoi Polloi (1935), The Three Stooges film. Two rich guys are arguing about what matters most: breeding or upbringing. One bets the other they can take any bum off the street and make him a gentleman.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When telling the Duke brothers where to rendezvous to pick up the crop report, Beeks tells them to meet him at "...2400 hours..." In Greenwich time (military time), there is no 2400. It goes from 2359 to 0000. This was most likely to show that Beeks is not the tough guy he wants you to think he is, but just a guy with a gun and connections.

Quotes:

Louis Winthorpe III: He was wearing my Harvard tie. Can you believe it? My Harvard tie. Like oh, sure he went to Harvard.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Matters: Trading Places (#9.8)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

DO YOU WANNA FUNK

Ahmwoonanawoonanawoonana-huh!

This is one of the best comedies out there, made back in the days when John Landis was still good. It is bursting with brilliant scenes for fans to act out and loads of hilarious lines to recite. I find myself doing this quite a lot. Who cannot resist Eddie Murphy's foreign exchange student disguise or Ackroyd's Lionel Josef. The ape in the train is a thigh-slapper too.

For a comedy it has a great plot and a decent running time but it has dated quite a bit. Please though, no remake. Let this film stand on it's own as proof that Ackroyd, Murphy and Landis were once brilliant at what they did.