Caddyshack
It stars Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe and Bill Murray. Doyle-Murray also has a supporting role.
This was Ramis' first feature film and was a major boost to Dangerfield's film career; previously, he was known mostly for his stand-up comedy.
alone (16th highest of the year), it was the first of a series of similar comedies. A sequel, Caddyshack II, followed in 1988, although it was not nearly as successful or well-received.
In 2000, Caddyshack was placed at number 71 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 funniest American films.
In 2005, a line from the movie was chosen by AFI for their list of the top 100 movie quotes from U.S. This film is also second on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".
Cast
Chevy Chase - Ty Webb
Rodney Dangerfield - Al Czervik
Ted Knight - Judge Elihu Smails
Michael O'Keefe - Danny Noonan
Bill Murray - Carl Spackler
Sarah Holcomb - Maggie O'Hooligan
Scott Colomby - Tony D'Annunzio
Cindy Morgan - Lacey Underall
Dan Resin - Dr.
- Spaulding Smails
Brian Doyle-Murray - Lou Loomis
Jackie Davis - Smoke Porterhouse
Hamilton Mitchell - Motormouth
Also, Chuck Rodent was credited as playing the part of "Mr. Plot summary
Danny Noonan is the eldest child (of many) in a working class Irish Catholic family.
Danny aspires to attend college but his parents can't afford it and his grades were unremarkable in high school, which makes obtaining a traditional academic scholarship difficult. Danny often caddies for Ty, who teaches Danny about the finer points in life, usually while showing off random trick shots.
Judge Smails notices the handiwork of a gopher on his way to the course.
Smails confronts Bushwood's greenskeeper Sandy McFiddish, who entrusts the task of removing the gopher to Carl Spackler (Bill Murray), his unkempt, unhinged assistant.
Later that day, the flamboyant nouveau riche real estate tycoon Al Czervik arrives as a guest of another member. Although obnoxious and immature, Czervik is affable and endears himself to the caddies.
Danny's caddyshack boss Lou informs the caddies that the country club's caddy scholarship has become available, and that academic achievement is a rather flexible prerequisite.
Danny decides to caddy for Judge Smails in hopes of earning his favor when Smails awards the next scholarship. Beeper, Bishop Pickering and Smails' grandson, Spaulding, begins their round, and is joined by Smails' sensuous niece, Lacey Underall, who is visiting for the summer.
Czervik wastes no time in needling Smails on the course.
Al loudly wagers $1,000 that Smails will miss his relatively short putt, which draws a crowd of onlookers. Smails mentions to Danny that the caddy scholarship has become available again, and encourages him to apply.
At a Fourth of July banquet.
Ty Webb arrives and catches the eye of Lacey.
Danny all but seals the scholarship by winning the Caddy Day golf tournament, earning the praise of the Judge, along with an invitation to mow his lawn and drop by a party at the Judge's yacht club. Lacey visits Ty at his home, where the two enjoy tequila shots and a naked moonlight swim.
At the yacht club, Lacey suggests that she and Danny slip away for some private time at the Judge's house.
Al Czervik literally crashes the party, destroying Smails' tiny wooden sloop with his enormous yacht by dropping the anchor into the cargo hold. Danny grabs his clothes and flees, steps ahead of a club-wielding Judge.
Next day, Danny is called into the Judge's office.
Smails and Czervik encounter each other in the club's private bar, where they agree on a winner-take-all $20,000 golf match pitting Smails and Dr. The force of the explosions is enough to cause the ball to drop, thereby winning the $80,000 bet for Ty and Al.
The now legendary scene involving a Baby Ruth candy bar being thrown into the swimming pool was based on a real-life incident at Brian Doyle-Murray's high school. The scene in which Al Czervik hits Judge Smails in the genitals with a struck golf ball happened to Ramis on what he quipped was the second of his two rounds of golf, on a nine-hole public course.
Initially, Ted Knight's and Scott Collomby's characters were the central characters of the movie. However, the improvisational atmosphere surrounding the other cast members (specifically Dangerfield, Chase, and Murray) led to Dangerfield's, Chase's and Murray's roles expansion from cameos to starring roles, much to the annoyance of Knight and Colomby.
Additionally, Knight, who was regarded as a genuinely nice person in real life, became fed up with the constant improvisation.
The pool scene was filmed at Plantation Country Club in Plantation, Florida. The pool had not been used for several years prior to filming and was considerably revamped and then filled for the production. The dinner and dancing scene was filmed at the Boca Raton Hotel and Club in Boca Raton, Florida.
The film was shot over 11 weeks during the autumn of 1979. It was added by director Harold Ramis after realizing that two of his biggest stars, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray (who did not get along due to a feud dating back to their days on Saturday Night Live), did not have a scene together.
The flowers were his idea. Murray was with the production only six days, and all of his lines were unscripted.
In interviews, Cindy Morgan stated that the scene she shared with Chevy Chase, in which he pours massage oil on her, was completely improvised, and her reaction to Chase dousing her back with the massage oil, where she exclaimed "You're crazy!", was genuine. Due to the fact she is legally blind without glasses or contacts, as well as afraid of heights, there was concern about the scene where she had to dive into the pool. Also, Murray's famous "Cinderella story" line was included in the countdown of greatest quotes.
American Film Institute recognition
2000: AFI's 100 Years...