The Kentucky Fried Movie

The Kentucky Fried Movie is an American movie from 1977 directed by John Landis and the writing team David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams.

It is a comedy that consists entirely of a number of skits and parodies of movie trailers, news broadcasts, commercials and television programs. The film was a great success worldwide and spent over $ 20,000,000,-on.

Story

Design

The film has no continuous story but consists of a compilation of sketches, announcements for non-existing parts of fictional feature films, news broadcasts, equally fictional commercials and parodies on television series. Most components do not last longer than a few minutes, sometimes divided about the film.

The central part of the film and the longest fragment is formed by A Fistful of Yen; a parody of the kungfu-movies that had a lot of success in the 1970s. Here we follow a kungfu-specialist who commissioned the British Government behind the evil Dr. Klahn. Dr. Klahn is a Chinese criminal mastermind, with its own Castle (where even guided tours are given for tourists), and a large arsenal of henchmen and weapons of mass destruction. He is so cruel that he sends his enemies to Detroit . Does this prospect alone even the strongest men collapse (' No, not Detroit '). He organizes a kung fu tournament where the hero participates. Finally ends A Fistful of Yen as a parody of The Wizard of Oz, in which the hero defeats Dr. Klahn with water and then wakes up in bed at home.

Other highlights are the parodies of movie trailers. For example, the disaster film ridiculed in that's Armageddon. Also the movie in on the efforts of filmmakers to introduce new film techniques. For example, sensurround was introduced In the 1970s. Visitors to the film Earthquake an earthquake could ' feel '. In Kentucky Fried Movie Feel-A-Round is introduced. With this ' technique ', the visitor can feel what is happening on the screen. Every moviegoer has someone behind him that for example non-blows if a cigarette is pinned up or the visitor in the face strikes if that happens on the screen. The moviegoer who undergoes flight all this not for nothing away as the movie Deep Throat is announced.

Further crosses the film the Dragon with commercials. Thus, we see a group of followers of Hare Krishna at the end of their day get together in the pub for a round of Willer bear, a clear parody of the "it's Miller time"-beer commercials. Zinc Oxide and You "is a parody of the film information from the Government. For example, suppose that there would be no zinc oxide, then ... and then shoot at the woman from the movie her son is dead because the safety catch on a rifle is missing, her art leg off and goes her husband death because his pacemaker refuses.

Get a reality series also wipe out the pan. In ' Rex Kramer, Danger Seeker ' parodies the movie the program ' Thrill Seekers ' from 1973-1974. With a safety helmet on and with a protective overall is Rex Kramer yells to a group of African-Americans and a racist slogan. It ends with Kramer that ' have to run for his life '.

Scenes

The following scenes are in the movie:

• 1.11 O'Clock News (part 1) (0: 04)
• 2. Argon Oil (1: 13)
• 3. A.M. Today (6: 05)
• 4. His New Car (0: 24)
• 5. Catholic High School Girls In Trouble (2: 00)
• 6. See You Next Wednesday at the Feel-A-Round (4: 52)
• 7. Nytex P.M. (: 35)
• 8. High Adventure (3: 01)
• 9.11 O'Clock News (part 2) (: 05)
• 10. Headache Clinic (0: 40)
• 11. Household Odors (: 40)
• 12. The Wonderful World of Sex (with Big Jim Slade) (4: 55)
• 13. A Fistful of Yen (31: 34)
• 14. Willer Beer (0: 58)
• 15.11 O'Clock News (part 3) (0: 05)
• 16. Scot Free (0: 58)
• 17. that's Armageddon (2: 17)
• 18. United Appeal For the Dead (1: 42)
• 19. Court room (part 1) (4: 35)
• 20. Nesson Oil (0: 14)
• 21. Court room (part 2) (3: 02)
• 22. Cleopatra Schwartz (1: 24)
• 23. Zinc Oxide and You (1: 59)
• 24. Danger Seekers (1: 02)
• 25. Eyewitness News (4: 24)
• 26.11 O'Clock News (part 4) (0: 09)

Division Of Roles

By the large amount of sketches, there are so many characters that the roles the thickness of a telephone book would approach. The writers and creators of the film, Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams and Director John Landis play various roles in the film. In addition to lesser-known actors such as Robert Starr (Rex Kramer, Danger Seeker), Boo Soo Han (Dr. Klahn) and Evan Kim (A Fistful of Yen), also famous actors gave their cooperation. Donald Sutherland plays a clumsy waiter in that's Armageddon, Bill Bixby and the host in the Headache Clinic. Many employees and former employees of Second City Theatre and The Groundlings Theatre gave their cooperation.

Background

Creation

The film was created and written by David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams. The trio was inspired by the work of The Groundlings Theatre sketch and improvised and Second City. In their own Kentucky Fried Theatre they played their work for an enthusiastic audience. The enthusiasm the trio in their intention to strength the best sketches to turn it into a feature-length film. There followed a long and fruitless trip along studios and producers. Ever got the three told that there was no audience for movies with just sketches. Eventually they got support from a wealthy investor. The man wanted to make the film, however, only if there is a script would come. The Zuckers and Abraham wrote a screenplay for a short film, but this did not have the desired effect.

The investor saw it sit to produce and saw the movie only end up of the project. The Threesome, however, had the hang of it and produced a 10-minute version of the film. They were paying the fee ($ 35,000) from its own resources. A new tour of the studios followed. Everything proved fruitless. The only thing the tour was brought to the attention of the young director John Landis. It was cinema operator Kim Jorgenson that was. When the trio asked for the short film as for film in its cinemas to record nearly fell off his chair of the Jorgenson laugh when he saw the movie. Jorgenson knew various financiers to raise the $ 650,000 to be interested to make the movie. John Landis film went direct. Along with the post production the film would eventually come true on a budget of approximately $ 1 million. In total the movie would yield a multiple, namely $ 20,000,000,-.

Production

In the small Kentucky Fried Theatre (140 seats) were the auditions held for the film. Although many actors and actresses needed, was nevertheless a number of rejected. So did Bob Letterman in vain audition for the role of news reader. Most of the actors was willing to work for nothing or very little. After the rollers were forgiven, started the shots. Because the budget was so low, there had to be quite improvised. Thus, the inclusion of the Feel-O-Rama-scene made with one camera, which gave big problems later in the editing and overdubbing the sound. There was in any case with different rented cameras worked, while one used locations that happen were available.

To prevent the financiers would pull the plug early in the project, the first one took the least objectionable scenes on. the more sexually suggestive scenes were last saved or will be shown at the last minute. To save money, they tried to many scenes (also the interior scenes) outside the studio in order to be able to take advantage of the daylight. For the same reason we went to with the creative decors. So are most scenes of the headquarters of Dr. Klahn from A Fistful of Yen recorded in a Japanese restaurant in Hollywood. The owner was a friend of John Landis. Otherwise almost all actors and extras from A Fistful of Yen from the same kungfu-training school.

Title

In the us are various fast food chains such as McDonalds and Burger King. A third major chain is Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Zuckers and Abraham were looking for a name for their theatre group that played all kinds of short skits and banal, (fast food in the theatrical world) and arrived at Kentucky Fried Theatre. However, it was also not the case that the film Kentucky Fried Movie went. The first title was ' Free Popcorn ' and later ' was ' Closed for remodeling. Cinema operators have to say about this but nothing and were afraid of confusion. So kept the makers finally made it on The Kentucky Fried Movie.

After the movie

The film can be seen as the starting point of the careers of various employees. David Zucker, Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, the line that they had deployed with Kentucky Fried Movie by with films like Airplane!,The Naked Gun and Top Secret!. John Landis would become an important Director of films such as The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London and Trading Places. Makeup artist Rick Baker, who in the film occurs as a gorilla, would achieve triumphs with his makeup for movies like An American Werewolf in London and the video clip Michael Jackson 's Thriller.

Trivia

See You Next Wednesday In the sketch at the Feel-A-Round one hears the sound of scenes from the movie See You Next Wednesday. This fictional movie title is a separate film joke of John Landis. In virtually all of his movies comes the title for a time. Landis got the idea for the title when he the saw film 2001: A Space Odyssey . One of the protagonist says in a telephone call to his parents: "See You Next Wednesday" (I see you next Wednesday). The title has starred in:

• Schlock (1973) on two different movie posters
• The Blues Brothers (1980) on a movie poster with a gorilla
• An American Werewolf in London (1981). here it is a porn movie that is screened
• Trading Places (1983) as movie poster
• Spies Like Us (1985), as a recruteringsposter for the army.
• Into the Night (1985), as a movie poster
• Coming to America (1988), as a movie poster