The Toy (1982)

Director:

Richard Donner

Writers:

Carol Sobieski (writer)
Francis Veber (book)

Release Date:

10 December 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

When Jackie Gleason told his son he could have any present he wanted, he picked the most outrageous gift of all... Richard Pryor.

Plot:

An underemployed reporter finds himself literally purchased as a toy for a rich spoiled brat.

Plot Keywords:

Toy | Wealthy | Department Store | Millionaire | Rich Kid

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Richard Pryor	...	Jack Brown
Jackie Gleason	...	Ulysses Simpson 'U.S.' Bates
Ned Beatty	...	Sydney Morehouse
Scott Schwartz	...	Eric Bates
Teresa Ganzel	...	Fancy Bates
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	David Barkley
Annazette Chase	...	Angela
Tony King	...	Clifford
Don Hood	...	O'Brien
Karen Leslie-Lyttle	...	Fräulein Hilda Hans
Virginia Capers	...	Ruby Simpson
B.J. Hopper	...	Geffran
Linda McCann	...	Honey Russell
Ray Spruell	...	Senator Newcomb
Stocker Fontelieu	...	D. A. Russell

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In his E! True Hollywood Story bio, Scott Schwartz says that the hardest part of making this movie was working with Jackie Gleason. Because Schwartz was trained to memorize his lines, he would always get thrown off by Gleason's improvisations, resulting in his getting yelled at repeatedly by Gleason.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Jack Brown is on the phone in Master Bates's room, you can see that the phone has no cord going into the phone jack

Quotes:

Personnel Director: We're looking for a part-time woman.
Jack Brown: I can be a part-time woman.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "I Love the '80s Strikes Back" (2003)

Soundtrack:

I Just Want To Be Your Friend

Too Many Strings Attached.

"The Toy" is a guilty pleasure more than anything else. It is fun to watch Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason work together, but overall the film is way too disjointed and skewered in its messages to be a success. Unemployed news reporter Pryor is bought literally by Gleason to be a friend to Gleason's young son (Scott Schwartz). The boy is a brat, but soon Pryor befriends him and they begin to uncover Gleason's corruptive ways. Really hilarious at times, but still a few too many attempted messages to work by the final act. 2 stars out of 5.