The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

Director:

David Zucker

Writers (WGA):

Jerry Zucker (written by) &
Jim Abrahams (written by) ...

Release Date:

2 December 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

The Villain. Even Mother Teresa wanted him dead.

Plot:

Incompetent cop Frank Drebbin has to foil an attempt to assasinate Queen Elizabeth II.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Queen | Baseball | Mind Control | Scheme

Cast

Leslie Nielsen	...	Frank Drebin
Priscilla Presley	...	Jane Spencer
Ricardo Montalban	...	Vincent Ludwig
George Kennedy	...	Ed Hocken
O.J. Simpson	...	Nordberg
Susan Beaubian	...	Mrs. Nordberg
Nancy Marchand	...	Mayor
Raye Birk	...	Pahpshmir
Jeannette Charles	...	Queen Elizabeth II
Ed Williams	...	Ted Olsen
Tiny Ron	...	Al
'Weird Al' Yankovic	...	'Weird Al'
Leslie Maier	...	'Weird Leslie'
Winifred Freedman	...	Stephie
Joe Grifasi	...	Foreman

Also Known As:

The Naked Gun
¿Y dónde está el policía? (Chile) (Venezuela) [es]
Çiplak silah (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Agárralo como puedas (Spain) [es]
Aonde É Que Pára a Polícia (Portugal) [pt]
Beint á ská (Iceland) [is]
Bláznivá strela (Czechoslovakia) [cs]
Corra Que a Polícia Vem Aí! (Brazil) [pt]
Csupasz pisztoly (Hungary) [hu]
Den nakna pistolen (Sweden) [sv]
Die nackte Kanone (West Germany) [de]
Høj pistolføring (Denmark) [da]
L'agent fait la farce (Canada: French title) [fr]
La pistola desnuda (Argentina) [es]
Mies ja alaston ase (Finland) [fi]
Naga bron (Poland) [pl]
Trelles sfaires (Greece) [el]
Una pallottola spuntata (Italy) [it]
Y a-t-il un flic pour sauver la reine? (France) [fr]

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:14 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-12/9 | Iceland:L | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12 | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Spain:T | Canada:A (Nova Scotia)

Filming Locations:

University of San Diego, San Diego, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Cameo: [Robert K. Weiss]The film's producer is the hot dog vendor in the montage sequence.

Goofs:

Continuity: Frank's hair changes appearance while in the car outside Ludwig's apartment.

Quotes:

Ed: [after Ludwig has been hit with a poison Dart, fallen off a building, run over by a car and a steam roller and trampled by a marching band] Oh, Frank! It's horrible. It's so horrible!
Frank: [comforts Ed] I know...
Ed: My father went the same way...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kopps (2003)

Soundtrack:

Louie, Louie

In praise of Leslie Nielsen....

The movie itself is funny. "The Naked Gun" is without a doubt the best skewering of all cop movie cliches available in this day and age. It works on every conceivable level and a few that haven't been conceived yet.

But what puts it over the top is Leslie Nielsen.

It's amazing: he was great in "Airplane!", another classic from the ZAZ team (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker), and in the lamentably short TV series "Police Squad!". But here, he spreads his wings and flies to new heights of insanity and delerium. With jaw set square and tongue firmly in cheek, Neilsen makes the role of Lt. Frank Drebin all his own and the movie-going public's collective life is all the more enriched because of it.

He's aided and abetted by greats like Kennedy, Presley and Montalban (who knew?) and the movie even finds good moments for John Houseman and Reggie Jackson.

As I said, the movie takes off and finds great things to do with police cars with a mind all their own and goes on from there to take on such cliches as car chases, illegal searches, the cleaning out of the desk, the trip to the police lab, shoot-outs, the lax housework of a single police detective, etc., etc., etc.....

And what other cop movie in the history of the world has a music video in the middle, courtesy of Herman's Hermits?

Just one.

Ten stars and a Dugout Dog for "The Naked Gun", the film that answers once and for all - can Leslie Nielsen do comedy?

I think you know the answer.