Night Shift (1982)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers:

Lowell Ganz (written by) and
Babaloo Mandel (written by)

Release Date:

30 July 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Ever since two enterprising young men turned the City Morgue into a swinging business, people have been dying to get in.

Plot:

A nebbish of a morgue attendant gets shunted back to the night shift where he is shackled with an obnoxious...

Plot Keywords:

Morgue | Pimp | Prostitute | Morgue Attendant | Female Nudity

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win

Cast

Henry Winkler	...	Chuck Lumley
Michael Keaton	...	Bill Blazejowski
Shelley Long	...	Belinda Keaton
Gina Hecht	...	Charlotte Koogle
Pat Corley	...	Edward Koogle
Bobby Di Cicco	...	Leonard (as Bobby DiCicco)
Nita Talbot	...	Vivian
Basil Hoffman	...	Drollhauser
Tim Rossovich	...	Luke
Clint Howard	...	Jefferey
Joe Spinell	...	Manetti
Cheryl Carter	...	Tanya
Becky Gonzalez	...	Lupe
Corki Corman	...	Sylvia
Jaid Barrymore	...	Joyce (as Ildiko Jaid)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:AA (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (re-rating) (1999) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:12 | Sweden:15 | New Zealand:R16 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Ladd Company, The

Trivia:

Kurt Russell and Mickey Rourke are among the actors that auditioned for Bill.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the beginning of the movie, the pimp's arms are tied to the chair along with his body. As the body begins to fall, his arms are tied. As he progresses in the fall, his arms are up in the air (untied). When the pimp and the chair crash through the basketball hoop, his arms are tied to the chair again.

Quotes:

Bill: Wanna know why I carry this tape recorder? To tape things. See, I'm an idea man, Chuck. I got ideas coming at me all day... I couldn't even fight 'em off if I wanted. Wait a second... hold the phone! Hold the phone!
[speaking into tape recorder]
Bill: Idea to eliminate garbage. Edible paper. You eat it, it's gone! You eat it, it's outta there! No more garbage!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Ron Howard/The Clash (#8.3)" (1982)

Soundtrack:

Someday, Someway

Keaton steals this

Ron Howard has always been a consistantly talented director, never making a bad or even mediocre film. Even a film such as Ransom that opened to lukewarm reviews from both audience and critics is still better than your average thriller. He has a way of making lines and scenes memorable even when the script itself is only so-so. After following his career, I went back to one of his first, Night Shift which still has the magic I remember it did when I saw it way back when.

The story isn't the greatest and Shelly Long has never been an actress I've enjoyed watching but if you only want one reason to see Night Shift, Micheal Keaton is it. Here he creates what is probably one of the funniest characters I have ever seen in a movie. He is an idea man, constantly speaking them into his taperecorder and thus to his morgue co-worker Henry Winkler. Winkler "the fonz" is the total opposite of what he was in Happy Days, and therefor a perfect anchor for Keaton. If it was just Keaton, it wouldn't work, but Winkler is annoyed at Keaton, we laugh because of it.

If you do decide to watch this movie, be on the lookout for the single most hilarious scene: Keaton's analysation of the word "prostitute."