Blue Chips (1994)

Director:

William Friedkin

Writer (WGA):

Ron Shelton (written by)

Release Date:

18 February 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Plot:

A college basketball coach is forced to break the rules in order to get the players he needs to stay competitive.

Plot Keywords:

College | Basketball | Rural | Single Parent | Gratuities

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Nick Nolte	...	Pete Bell
Mary McDonnell	...	Jenny Bell
J.T. Walsh	...	Happy
Ed O'Neill	...	Ed
Alfre Woodard	...	Lavada McRae
Bob Cousy	...	Vic
Shaquille O'Neal	...	Neon
Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway	...	Butch McRae
Matt Nover	...	Ricky Roe
Cylk Cozart	...	Slick
Anthony C. Hall	...	Tony
Kevin Benton	...	Jack
Bill Cross	...	Freddie
Marques Johnson	...	Mel
Robert Wuhl	...	Marty
Bobby Knight	...	Himself
Rick Pitino	...	Himself (as Richard Pitino)
George Raveling	...	Himself
Sam Armato	...	Lecturer
Larry Bird	...	Himself
Nigel Miguel	...	Dolphins
Kevin Walker	...	Dolphins
Steve Guild	...	Dolphins
Mitchell Butler	...	Dolphins
Ricky Collier	...	Dolphins
Phil Glenn	...	Dolphins
Dwayne Hackett	...	Dolphins
Byron Jensen	...	Dolphins
Richard Petruska	...	Dolphins
Dennis Tracy	...	Dolphins
Sean Williams	...	Dolphins
Jim Beaver	...	Ricky's Father
Debbie Young	...	Ricky's Mother
Tony Gonzalez	...	Dolphins Mascot
Todd Donoho	...	Himself
Dick Vitale	...	Himself
Frank Rossi	...	Charlie (as Frank Anthony Rossi)
Qiana Petty	...	McRae Daughter
Alicia N. Jones	...	McRae Daughter
Britney Mitchell	...	McRae Daughter
Dorothy McCann	...	Grandmother
Allan Malamud	...	Reporter
Siv Svendsen	...	Herself
Wayne K. LeBeaux	...	Equipment Manager
Eric Harmon	...	Referee
James Jackson	...	Man with Lexus
Michael Johnson	...	Cash Man
Mark Murray	...	Restaurant Sports Fan
Andre L. Jones	...	Restaurant Sports Fan
Gary Vitti	...	Trainer
Jim Boeheim	...	Himself
Dick Baker	...	Himself
Marty Blake	...	Himself
Lou Campinelli	...	Himself
Jerry Tarkanian	...	Himself
Ryan Berning	...	The Coast Team
Kiambu Fisher	...	The Coast Team
Keith Gibbs	...	The Coast Team (as Keith J. Gibbs)
Thomas Hill	...	The Coast Team
Allan Houston	...	The Coast Team
Sasha Hupman	...	The Coast Team
Adonis Jordan	...	The Coast Team
Matt Painter	...	The Coast Team
Mark Raveling	...	The Coast Team
Craig R. Riley	...	The Coast Team
Rodney Rogers	...	The Coast Team
Ed Zello	...	The Coast Team
Eric Anderson	...	The Indiana Team
Calbert Cheaney	...	The Indiana Team
Dan Godfried	...	The Indiana Team
Greg Graham	...	The Indiana Team
Joe Hillman	...	The Indiana Team
Bobby Hurley	...	The Indiana Team
Geert Hammink	...	The Indiana Team
Jamal Meeks	...	The Indiana Team
Chris Reynolds	...	The Indiana Team
Eric Riley	...	The Indiana Team
Scott Shreffler	...	The Indiana Team
Keith Smart	...	The Indiana Team
Darin D. Archbold	...	The Texas Western Team
Demetrius Calip	...	The Texas Western Team
Sam Crawford	...	The Texas Western Team
Billy Douglass	...	The Texas Western Team
Rick Fox	...	The Texas Western Team
Carlos Jackson	...	The Texas Western Team
Daric Keys	...	The Texas Western Team
Matt Lien	...	The Texas Western Team
George D. Lynch III	...	The Texas Western Team
Chris Mills	...	The Texas Western Team
Ed Stokes	...	The Texas Western Team
Rex Walters	...	The Texas Western Team
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Randy Algoe	...	Crowd Member (uncredited)
Melinda Allen	...	Cheerleader (uncredited)
Tracy Anderson	...	Cheerleader (uncredited)
John E. Blazier	...	Alumnus (uncredited)
James Caviezel	...	Basketball player extra (uncredited)
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Father Dawkins (uncredited)
Veronica Grey	...	Student (uncredited)
Troy Moore	...	Cheerleader (uncredited)
Christine A. Pechera	...	Journalist (uncredited)
Rebecca Ryiz	...	(uncredited)
Keith Schrader	...	Alumnus (uncredited)
Tedd Taskey	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Wendy Goodman Thum	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Aliza Washabaugh	...	Sports Bar Hostess (uncredited)
Persia White	...	(uncredited)
Rayder Woods	...	Press Photographer (uncredited)

Directed by
William Friedkin

Writing credits (WGA)
Ron Shelton		(written by)

Produced by
Wolfgang Glattes	....	executive producer
Michele Rappaport	....	producer
Ron Shelton	....	executive producer
Catherine Meyers	....	bay producer: EPK (uncredited)

Original Music by
Jeff Beck
Jed Leiber
Nile Rodgers

Cinematography by
Tom Priestley Jr.

Film Editing by
Robert K. Lambert
David Rosenbloom

Casting by
Louis DiGiaimo		(as Louis Di Giaimo)

Production Design by
James D. Bissell		(as James Bissell)

Art Direction by
Ed Verreaux

Set Decoration by
Thomas L. Roysden

Costume Design by
Bernie Pollack

Makeup Department
Sterfon Demings	....	hair stylist
Ben Nye Jr.	....	makeup artist
Nina Paskowitz	....	hair stylist
Gail Rowell-Ryan	....	hair stylist: Mr. Nolte
Robert Ryan	....	makeup artist: Mr. Nolte

Production Management
Wolfgang Glattes	....	unit production manager
George Goodman	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Newt Arnold	....	first assistant director
Eric Jones	....	second second assistant director
Mark Mamalakis	....	second second assistant director: Indiana/Chicago
David McWhirter	....	dga trainee
Robin R. Oliver	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Scott M. Anderson	....	assistant property master
William Arnold	....	art director: Indiana-Chicago
Barry Bedig	....	property master
John Berger	....	set designer (as John H.M. Berger)
Eric Bilson	....	assistant art director (as Eric J. Bilson)
Chris Buchinsky	....	illustrator
Ernest Depew	....	construction coordinator (as Ernest G. Depew)
Harry N. Haase	....	scenic painter: Indiana-Chicago
Francis I. Hendrick	....	set dresser: New Orleans (as Francis Hendrick Jr.)
Frank Hendrick	....	set dresser
Michael Hendrick	....	set dresser: New Orleans (as Michael E. Hendrick)
Ronald C. Jacobs	....	leadperson
Lauren E. Polizzi	....	set designer (as Lauren Polizzi)
Paul M. Rohrbaugh III	....	paint foreperson (as Paul Milton Rohrbaugh III)
Henry Schaub	....	production painter (as Henry V. Schaub II)
Jay Siroy	....	construction foreperson (as Jay H. Sircy)
Andrew Zawacki	....	construction coordinator: Indiana-Chicago
Gail Briant	....	signwriter: New Orleans (uncredited)
Sean Haworth	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
David Beadle	....	dialogue editor
James Beshears	....	adr supervisor
Kay Colvin	....	cable person
Dean Drabin	....	adr mixer
Dean Drabin	....	foley mixer
Kirk Francis	....	sound mixer
John Haeny	....	supervising sound effects editor
Allan Hartz	....	foley editor (as Allen Hartz)
Rob Hill	....	adr artist
J. Paul Huntsman	....	supervising sound editor
Adam Jenkins	....	sound re-recording mixer
Chris Jenkins	....	sound re-recording mixer
Sean K. Lambert	....	assistant sound editor
Gary Lewis	....	dialogue editor
Sarah Monat	....	foley artist
Christopher Moriana	....	foley artist
Myron Nettinga	....	sound effects editor
Jeff Rosen	....	foley editor (as Jeffrey Rosen)
Monique Salvato	....	assistant sound editor
Adam Sawelson	....	dialogue editor
Matt Sawelson	....	dialogue editor (as Matthew G. Sawelson)
Mark Smith	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mychal Smith	....	boom operator (as Mychal D. Smith)

Special Effects by
Robert Cole	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Gerald H. Boatright	....	chief lighting technician
Ralph Brandofino	....	first assistant camera
Jerry G. Callaway	....	additional camera operator
William Coleman	....	additional camera operator
Edwin Effrein	....	second assistant camera
John Farmer	....	dolly grip
Cary Fisher	....	camera operator
Bob Greene	....	still photographer
Dennis Grow	....	rigging lighting technician
Richard C. Kratina	....	additional camera operator
Gary Muller	....	first assistant camera (as Gary A. Muller)
Walter Nichols	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Richard Ocean	....	lighting designer: Indiana-Chicago
Douglas Pellegrino	....	assistant Steadicam operator (as Doug Pellegrino)
Lee Rose	....	lighting designer: Indiana-Chicago
Terry Ruffner	....	first company grip (as Terrence J. Ruffner)
Joseph F. Valentine	....	additional camera operator (as Joseph Valentine)
Mark Van Loon	....	Steadicam operator
Chuck Whelan	....	second assistant camera (as Charles E. Whelan II)
Christopher Whitman	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Bobby Brown	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera (uncredited)
David French	....	grip (uncredited)
Don McCall	....	best boy (uncredited)
Mark Meyers	....	grip (uncredited)
David Moenkhaus	....	additional camera loader (uncredited)
Randy Nolen	....	Steadicam operator (uncredited)
Neil Toussaint	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Dennis Fitzgerald	....	extras casting: Frankfort (as Dennis G. Fitzgerald)
Karen Lecorgne	....	extras casting: New Orleans (as Karen LeCorgne)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Amy Andrews	....	costumer (as Amelia C. Andrews)
Gregory B. Peña	....	costumer
Hugo Peña	....	wardrobe supervisor
Ray Summers	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Augie Hess	....	editor: lightworks
Chip Masamitsu	....	editor: lightworks
Bob Putynkowski	....	color timer
Theresa Repola Mohammed	....	negative cutter
Richmond Riedel	....	assistant film editor
Eric O. Schusterman	....	assistant film editor
Amy De Souza	....	post-production editorial assistant (uncredited)
Michael H. Friedlander	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Neil Greenberg	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Steve Kraus	....	editing systems technician (uncredited)
John Lafferty	....	first assistant editor (uncredited)
John M. Taylor	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Kathy Nelson	....	music supervisor
John E. Oliver	....	music production set supervisor
Allan K. Rosen	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Don Basset	....	transportation captain (as Don Bassett)
Wayne R. Campbell	....	transportation coordinator (as Wayne Campbell)
George DiLeonardi	....	transportation captain: Indiana-Chicago (as George J. DiLeonardi)
Alan Kaminsky	....	transportation co-captain
Robert Wallace	....	driver

Other crew
Dana Armonda	....	production assistant: Indiana-Chicago
Roland Armstorff	....	production assistant (as Karel Roland Armstorff)
Marius Balchunas	....	production assistant
Kevin Benton	....	assistant basketball coordinator
Eric Berg	....	assistant: Mr. Nolte (as Eric C. Berg)
Susan Bradley	....	title designer
Jamie Cohen	....	production assistant
Tony Criscione	....	assistant production accountant
Dan Curry	....	title designer
Kellie Davis	....	assistant: Mr. Shelton (as Kellie A. Davis)
Margo Day	....	assistant production coordinator (as Margo F. Day)
Tony Dinizo	....	crowd coordinator: Indiana-Chicago
Michele Dixon	....	production assistant
Stephanie Dupuy	....	location manager: New Orleans (as Stephanie Brett Samuel)
Adam M. Duthie	....	production assistant
Jori Espinosa	....	payroll accountant (as Jori Espinoza)
Larry Felix	....	assistant: Mr. Friedkin
Denise Giddens	....	assistant: Ms. Rappaport
Karen Golden	....	script supervisor
Tony Gonzalez	....	choreographer
Linda Gordon	....	assistant: Mr. Friedkin (as Linda L. Gordon)
Rob Harris	....	unit publicist
Elston Howard	....	assistant location manager: New Orleans (as Elston James Howard)
Maureen Kleinman	....	assistant to producers
Michael J. Levy	....	production assistant: Indiana-Chicago
Grace Mann	....	first aid: Indiana-Chicago
Virginia McClum	....	assistant location manager: New Orleans
Lee Millay	....	assistant: Ms. Rappaport
Howard Payne Miller	....	production assistant (as Howard P. Miller)
Pete Newell	....	technical advisor
Peter J. Novak	....	assistant location manager
William Nuzzo	....	craft service (as William A. Nuzzo)
Rosemary Orlando	....	assistant production coordinator: Indiana-Chicago
Tim L. Pearson	....	production accountant (as Tim Pearson)
George Raveling	....	technical advisor
Rob Ryder	....	basketball consultant (as Robert Ryder)
David Salven Jr.	....	location manager (as David M. Salven)
Michael Salven	....	production assistant (as Michael M. Salven)
Michelle Schluter-Ford	....	assistant production office coordinator: New Orleans (as Michelle Schluter)
David Eric Shanks	....	production assistant: Indiana-Chicago
Russell Steele	....	accounting clerk (as Russell A. Steele)
Linda Warren	....	production coordinator
Michael Williams	....	production secretary
William M. DeLuca	....	mechanic (uncredited)
Flip Filippelli	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Peter Hollocker	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Jack Messitt	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Marie Nashold	....	medic (uncredited)
Jack Rooney	....	stand-in: Nick Nolte (uncredited)

Thanks
Michael Black	....	grateful acknowledgment
Joseph D. Peckerman	....	grateful acknowledgment (as Joseph Peckerman)
Geoffrey Sanford	....	grateful acknowledgment

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1994) (USA) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1994) (France) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (1994) (Argentina) (VHS)
• CIC Vídeo (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1995) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Fox Network (1997) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Paramount Home Video (video)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (Spain)

Other Companies

• MCA Records  soundtrack
• Sportsrobe  costumes

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby SR

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:M | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Peru:14 | Spain:T | UK:15 (video premiere) | USA:PG-13 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Frankfort Senior High School - 1 S. Maish Road, Frankfort, Indiana, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The crew, including Shaquille O'Neal stayed at the Howard Johnson in Lafayette, Indiana for two weeks during filming.

Goofs:

Factual errors: After the losing season at the start of the movie, Coach Bell travels to see Butch play a high school game. The college season outlasts the high school season by weeks to months. There is no chance that Butch's team is playing a home game after the college's regular season is over. There is a small chance that the coach could have gone to a State Tournament game to see Butch play, but even those tournaments are over before the college season ends. In addition, most high school players have signed a letter of intent early in their senior year making a recruiting trip in the early spring unrealistic. It is understandable from a pacing perspective why the film was shot this way. The coach has another losing season and decides not to let it happen again and goes after the Blue Chip players to be better next year. In the real world, he would have been making the recruiting trips (or his assistant coaches would have) much earlier, during the season and not after it.

Quotes:

Pete Bell: Boys, the rules don't make much sense. But I believe in the rules. Some of us broke them. I broke them. I can't do this. I can't win like this.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Directors: The Films of William Friedkin (#2.13)" (????)

Decent Movie, Good Sports Movie

Blue Chips, for a sports movie, was very well done and well put together. Pete Bell, played by Nolte, is a Bob Knight style coach at Western University, a fictitous university in LA (think UCLA). After a few sub-par seasons, he has his first losing season as head coach and to keep up with the other big programs (think Kentucky and Michigan), he needs to recruit some top players, or blue chips, to come to Western. Strictly against under the table recruiting, Bell is forced to make a tough decision. Recruit good but not great players and perhaps lose his job due to losing as head coach, or go after the top 10 recruits to keep his job and start winning again. The movie plays out well and supporting actors, JT Walsh and Shaq, give solid performances. As for the basketball action itself, this movie probably has the best game sequences I have ever seen in a movie, with real college players filling as extras. There is also a load of cameos, including Rick Pitino, Dick Vitale and Larry Bird to name a few. Blue Chips is a solid movie and a very good sports movie.