Police Academy
December 6th 2008 05:29
Steve Guttenberg week wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t include Police Academy now would it?
This low-brow underdog movie was unbelievably and surprisingly popular in its day, The Gutte starred in the first four films, but that didn’t stop them from making another three – and now there is an 8th one in the works, with Steve back in action! But...we’ll talk about that next time.
The first film was actually a break-away success and grossed over $146 million worldwide!
I haven’t seen it, and apparently very few have, but Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow only grossed... $126,247 in the U.S. Ouch!
The first four were moderately successful, and although the fifth didn’t have Mahoney, it did have Miami beach!
The series also spawned a successful cartoon series and a not so successful sitcom.
The franchise is best known for its colourful cast of characters, and everyone had their favourite:
Mahoney – The hero of the first four films, and played by none other than BTTE staple Steve Guttenberg. He wisely left the series in '87 after the third sequel Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol, although perhaps that was already three films too late.
Jones – Michael Winslow's character of Sgt Jones is the only character to appear in all the instalments of Police Academy. Essentially, Jones was able to make a range of realistic sound effects using only his mouth. Jones also did martial arts, while pretending to be speaking as if he was Chinese but dubbed into English. Classic.
Callahan – Callahan was the macho blonde drill instructor with the big knockers. That's it. Her most classic scene being, when she jumped in the pool and surfaced in a see-through shirt and shouted “Now, who’s gonna save me?” Naturally – every man in shouting distance dives in the pool. Class.
Hightower – Bubba Smith, a former pro football player in the 70s, basically played the 'token big black guy' in all the Police Academy films – super strong giant with the heart of gold.
Tackleberry –Tackleberry was the nutter military dude. Sadly, Graf won’t be joining the cast for the new film, as he died of a sudden heart attack at a family wedding in 2001. He was 50. His personal catchphrase was: "...NOW, Mister!"
Harris – The a-typical bumbling bad guy who always seemed to end up in the now infamous Blue Oyster Bar. Ah, the good ‘ol 80s – pre-p.c.
Lassard – Class act all the way. When I was a kid, I thought Jones and Tackleberry were the coolest, but as a more refined individual you cannot go past Gary Gaynes. The dude was born in 1917 – and he’s still kicking it today in movies from time to time! Legend.
There were many others in the revolving cast, such as: Sweetchuck, Fackler, Proctor, Kirkland (Tackleberry’s Mrs.), Mauser (Harris’ replacement for the ones he wasn’t in), Nick (Mahoney’s replacement and Lassard’s nephew) and several other ‘memorable’ characters
'Thank you, sir. I make everybody sick.'
Other posts from Steve Guttenberg Week:
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Comment by Undercover Brother
Hightower was definitely my fav.
Comment by DMX
ha ha ha
Wonder what that dude is doing now???