Spies Like Us (1985)

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

Dan Aykroyd (story) &
Dave Thomas (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

6 December 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

With spies like these who needs enemies?

Plot:

Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for Nuclear War.

Plot Keywords:

Missile | Spy | Pentagon | CIA | Pakistan

Cast

Chevy Chase	...	Emmett Fitz-Hume
Dan Aykroyd	...	Austin Millbarge
Steve Forrest	...	General Sline
Donna Dixon	...	Karen Boyer
Bruce Davison	...	Ruby
Bernie Casey	...	Colonel Rhumbus
William Prince	...	Keyes
Tom Hatten	...	General Miegs
Frank Oz	...	Test Monitor
Charles McKeown	...	Jerry Hadley
James Daughton	...	Bob Hodges
Jim Staahl	...	Bud Schnelker
Vanessa Angel	...	Russian Rocket Crewperson
Svetlana Plotnikova	...	Russian Rocket Crewperson
Bjarne Thomsen	...	Russian Rocket Crewperson
Sergei Rousakov	...	Russian Rocket Crewperson
Garrick Dombrovski	...	Russian Rocket Crewperson
Terry Gilliam	...	Dr. Imhaus
Costa-Gavras	...	Tadzhik Highway Patrolman (as Costa Gavras)
Seva Novgorodtsev	...	Tadzhik Highway Patrolman
Stephen Hoye	...	Captain Hefling
Ray Harryhausen	...	Dr. Marston
Mark Stewart	...	Ace Tomato Courier
Sean Daniel	...	Ace Tomato Driver
Jeff Harding	...	Fitz-Hume's Associate
Heidi Sorenson	...	Alice, Fitz-Hume's Supervisor
Margo Random	...	Reporter
Douglas Lambert	...	Reporter
Christopher Malcolm	...	Jumpmaster
Terrance Conder	...	Soldier #1
Matt Frewer	...	Soldier #2
Tony Cyrus	...	The Khan
Gusti Bogok	...	Dr. La Fong
Derek Meddings	...	Dr. Stinson
Robert Paynter	...	Dr. Gill
Bob Hope	...	Golfer
Gurdial Sira	...	The Khan's Brother
Joel Coen	...	Drive-In Security Guard
Sam Raimi	...	Drive-In Security Guard
Michael Apted	...	Ace Tomato Agent
B.B. King	...	Ace Tomato Agent
Larry Cohen	...	Ace Tomato Agent
Martin Brest	...	Drive-In Security Guard
Ricco Ross	...	WAMP Guard (as Rico Ross)
Richard D. Sharp	...	WAMP Technician (as Richard Sharpe)
Stuart Milligan	...	WAMP Technician
Sally Anlauf	...	WAMP Technician
John Daveikis	...	Russian Border Guard
Laurence Bilzerian	...	Russian Border Guard
Richard Kruk	...	Russian Border Guard
Heather Henson	...	Teenage Girl
Erin Folsey	...	Teenage Girl
Bob Swaim	...	Special Forces Commander
Edwin Newman	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nancy Gair	...	Student (uncredited)

Directed by
John Landis

Writing credits
Dan Aykroyd		(story) &
Dave Thomas		(story)
Dan Aykroyd		(screenplay) and
Lowell Ganz		(screenplay) &
Babaloo Mandel		(screenplay)

Produced by
Leslie Belzberg	....	associate producer
Bernie Brillstein	....	executive producer
Erik Disch	....	producer: location segments
George Folsey Jr.	....	producer
Brian Grazer	....	producer
Sam Williams	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Elmer Bernstein

Cinematography by
Robert Paynter		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Malcolm Campbell

Production Design by
Terry Ackland-Snow
Peter Murton

Art Direction by
Terry Ackland-Snow		(supervising art director)

Costume Design by
Deborah Nadoolman

Makeup Department
Carole Bennett	....	hair stylist
Frank Griffin	....	makeup artist
Pauline Heys	....	makeup artist
Stephanie Kaye	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Dan Allingham	....	production supervisor
Claude Hudson	....	production manager
Christopher Knowles	....	unit manager
John Palmer	....	production manager: Morocco

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Garfath	....	second unit director
Nick Heckstall-Smith	....	third assistant director
Dusty Symonds	....	first assistant director
Gareth Tandy	....	second assistant director
Ahmed Boulane	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Kevin Westley	....	additional third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
John Alvin	....	poster artist
Michael Boone	....	draughtsman
John Paterson	....	construction manager
Kevin Phipps	....	draughtsman
Graeme Purdy	....	chargehand stand-by props
Duncan Guest	....	carpenter (uncredited)
Mark Harris	....	technical set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Don Banks	....	boom operator
Charles L. Campbell	....	supervising sound editor
Larry Carow	....	sound editor
Samuel C. Crutcher	....	sound editor
Don Digirolamo	....	sound re-recording mixer
Larry Fallick	....	assistant sound editor
Richard C. Franklin	....	sound editor (as Rick Franklin)
Robert Glass	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Bob Glass)
David John	....	sound recordist: second unit
Robert Knudson	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Buzz Knudson)
Chuck Neely	....	sound editor
Howard Neiman	....	sound editor
Alan L. Nineberg	....	adr editor (as Alan Nineberg)
Rod Rogers	....	assistant adr editor
Ivan Sharrock	....	sound mixer
Larry Singer	....	supervising adr editor
Jerry Stanford	....	sound editor (as Jerry R. Stanford)
John Roesch	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
David Beavis	....	special effects technician
Rob Dickinson	....	electronic engineer
Tony Fox	....	special effects technician
Brian Johnson	....	special effects supervisor
Dave Knowles	....	special effects technician
Paul Knowles	....	special effects technician
Tony Phelan	....	special effects technician
David H. Watkins	....	special effects technician
Barry Whitrod	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Ray Caple	....	matte painter
Ira Curtis-Coleman	....	video supervisor
Peter Dorme	....	model unit
Michael McDermott	....	gaffer: model unit
Derek Meddings	....	visual effects supervisor
Jim Michaels	....	visual effects producer
John Morgan	....	visual effects camera operator
Terry Reed	....	model maker supervisor
Jonathan Taylor	....	visual effects: first assistant camera
Paul Wilson	....	visual effects photography

Stunts
Mohamed El Baz	....	stunts
Abdelkader Bouchafra	....	stunts
D. Boyd-Phillips	....	stunts
Peter Brace	....	stunts
Ken Buckle	....	stunts
Terry Cade	....	stunts
Alan Chuntz	....	stunts
Clive Curtis	....	stunts
Mike De Luna	....	stunts
P. Eastwood	....	stunts
Stuart Fell	....	stunts
David Forman	....	stunts
Terry Forrestal	....	stunts
Jim Handbury	....	stunts
Reg Harding	....	stunts
Brahim Khabba	....	stunts
Mohamed El Mansour	....	stunts
Lex Milloy	....	stunts
Abderrazak El Moustaghit	....	stunts
Mohamed El Moustaghit	....	stunts
Gerard Naprous	....	stunts
Mohamed Sedghini	....	stunts
Colin Skeaping	....	stunts
Rocky Taylor	....	stunts
Malcolm Weaver	....	stunts
Paul Weston	....	stunt coordinator
Paul Weston	....	stunts
Jason White	....	stunts
Nick Wilkinson	....	stunts
B.J. Worth	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Chic Anstiss	....	camera operator
Bob Bridges	....	clapper loader: Norway
Rande DeLuca	....	aerial photographer (as Rande De Luca)
Mark Gardiner	....	motion control camera operator
Vince Goddard	....	electrician
Keith Hamshere	....	still photographer
Martin Kenzie	....	first assistant camera: second camera
John May	....	gaffer
Michael McDermott	....	gaffer
Simon Mills	....	clapper loader: second unit
John Palmer	....	camera operator
Phil Pastuhov	....	aerial photographer
John Sullivan	....	best boy
Brian West	....	director of photography: second unit
Kenneth J. Withers	....	camera operator

Casting Department
Marion Dougherty	....	casting: USA
Debbie McWilliams	....	casting: Europe

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sue Wain	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Margaret Adachi	....	assistant editor
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Lisa Zeno Churgin	....	assistant editor
Anna Ksiezopolska	....	assistant editor
Andrew MacRitchie	....	assistant editor
Bob Noland	....	color timer
Pattye Rogers	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Elmer Bernstein	....	conductor
Kathy Durning	....	music editor
Christopher Palmer	....	orchestrator
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer

Transportation Department
Mark White	....	transportation

Other crew
Rufus Andrews	....	location manager
Marlene Butland	....	production coordinator
Pamela Carlton	....	script supervisor
Susan d'Arcy	....	publicist
Peter Elford	....	location manager
Nigel Goldsack	....	location manager
Jim Michaels	....	computer playback operator
Stuart Neumann	....	location manager
Greg Powell	....	wrangler
Allen J. Schwalb	....	financier
Jan Walker	....	executive assistant to producer
Janet L. Wattles	....	production accountant
Greg Powell	....	horse master (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
• AAR Films (as A.A.R.)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1988) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• PIC Distribuzione (1986) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment (1985) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1986) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1986) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2010) (Sweden) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Warner Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Cinema Research  laser pulse
• Graunke Symphony Orchestra  orchestra
• Mark Baron Company, The  publicity
• Modern Film Effects  titles and opticals: US
• Optical Film Effects  titles and opticals: UK
• Russian Roulette Ltd.  russian language advisor
• TAJ Soundworks  foley

Also Known As:

"Drôles d'espions" - Canada (French title), France
"Espías como nosotros" - Spain
"Espiões Como Nós" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"Espias Improvisados" - Peru (TV title)
"Kémek, mint mi" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Misión Recontraespionaje" - Peru (imdb display title)
"Misión: recontraespionaje" - Uruguay (imdb display title)
"Mitäs me vakoojat" - Finland
"Oi kataskopoi pou irthan apo ti zesti" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Os Espiões que Entraram numa Fria" - Brazil
"Spióni jako my" - Czechoslovakia
"Spie come noi" - Italy
"Spijuni poput nas" - Serbia
"Spione wie wir" - West Germany
"Spioner är vi allihopa" - Sweden
"Szpiedzy tacy jak my" - Poland
"Vi er spioner" - Denmark

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Portugal:M/6 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 (1986) | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Lancaster, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

In an interview on The Today Show (a.k.a. "Today" (1952)) (included on the Saturday Night Live: The Best of John Belushi (2005) (TV)), Dan Aykroyd stated that the movie that would eventually become Spies Like Us was intended to star Aykroyd and John Belushi. Belushi's death shortly after the interview obviously prevented his participation.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the ambulance chase, the glass on the back doors is broken and back in place between shots.

Quotes:

Emmett Fitz-Hume:[trying to buy time by making something up] All right! All right, I'm an American agent!
Russian Interregator #2:And...?
Emmett Fitz-Hume:And? And... uhh... they... they sent me here t-to assassinate your Premier!
Russian Interregator #2:[to the other interregator] I knew it! Pay up, comrade!
Russian Interregator #1:[unimpressed] Let's cut his fingers off anyway.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: Spies Reminiscent of Us (#8.3)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

SOUL FINGER

Comedians like Us

Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd were at the height of their professional careers with the 80's "masterpiece" Spies Like Us. The cast alone makes this movie a triumph the 80's comedy. Although the same cast today would find itself on the video shelf and not the movie theaters, for the mid 80's this was a GIANT of a Hollywood cast. Second to only Doctor Strangelove, what other comedy is funnier when dealing with American / Russian relations during the cold war? Chevy and Aykroyd have terrific chemistry together that has been molded to perfection from their success on Saturday Night Live. The physical comedy in the first half of the movie is as funny as any Marx Brother film of its time. The comical situations that occur in the second half are as funny as any Blake Edwards production. Together, the movie is as funny as it gets for the 1980's.