Club Paradise
Encyclopedia
Club Paradise is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis
starring Robin Williams
, Peter O'Toole
, and Jimmy Cliff
. The film reunites director/co-writer Ramis with most of his SCTV
co-stars -- SCTV cast members Andrea Martin
, Eugene Levy
, Rick Moranis
, Joe Flaherty
, and Robin Duke
play supporting roles in the film, as does co-writer Brian Doyle-Murray
, a former SCTV staff writer.
) is a Chicago
firefighter who gets injured on the job. Using his disability money, he decides to retire and live the good life in a small Caribbean
island named Saint Nicholas. He buys a small amount of property there and lives among other washed-up personalities such as Anthony Cloyden Hayes (Peter O'Toole
). Appointed by the British crown as governor of St. Nicholas, Hayes is more concerned with vacationing than governing.
Jack befriends financially troubled reggae
musician Ernest Reed (Jimmy Cliff
), and they together form "Club Paradise," which they market as a Club Med
-style resort. This attracts a handful of tourists, including Barry and Barry (Rick Moranis
and Eugene Levy
), who are there for the pot and the women. Much of the film involves the tourists' comic misadventures adjusting to island life and the low-rent facilities of Club Paradise.
(Brian Doyle-Murray
) plays a key role, as a developer who wants to run Jack and Ernest off their property so he can build a massive high-end casino
on the beach. To do that, he uses the help of the local prime minister (Adolph Caesar
) and the prime minister's men to cause trouble and get Club Paradise to close "legally." When this doesn't work, the prime minister orders a military takeover of the island. Ernest builds up a resistance force, and St. Nicholas is soon threatened with the possibility of civil war.
During development, Bill Murray
turned down the film's lead role; his brother, Brian Doyle-Murray, ended up in the cast instead. British actor John Cleese
was also slated to star.
"Ed Roboto" is a pseudonym for Harry Shearer
, who was asked to do a rewrite with Tom Leopold
. Only two words of what they wrote ended up in the film (the title) and Shearer was "so appalled by the movie" that he removed his name from the credits.
Adolph Caesar
died of a heart attack four months before the film's release. It was his last completed role.
Although there is an extended sequence involving Robin Williams' character , in correspondence to the lyrics, "taking off his clothes and living in the jungle", the song Apeman
by The Kinks
was not included on the official soundtrack.
maintaing Club Paradise an 8% rating. Peter O'Toole's performance in the film earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actor.
Harold Ramis
Harold Allen Ramis is an American actor, director, and writer, specializing in comedy. His best-known film acting roles are as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters and Russell Ziskey in Stripes , both of which he also co-wrote...
starring Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
, Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
, and Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...
. The film reunites director/co-writer Ramis with most of his SCTV
Second City Television
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
co-stars -- SCTV cast members Andrea Martin
Andrea Martin
Andrea Louise Martin is an American and Canadian actress and comedienne. She has appeared in films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, on stage in productions such as My Favorite Year, Fiddler on the Roof and Candide, and in the television series, SCTV.-Personal life:Martin, the oldest of three...
, Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, television director, producer, musician, and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies, and television movies. He is the only actor to have appeared in all eight of the American Pie films, as Noah Levenstein...
, Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis
Frederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...
, Joe Flaherty
Joe Flaherty
Joe Flaherty is an American-Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV, from 1976 to 1984, and as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks...
, and Robin Duke
Robin Duke
Robin Duke is a Canadian actress and comedian. Duke is most famous for her work on the NBC comedy series Saturday Night Live. In the 2000s, Women Fully Clothed, a sketch comedy troupe which she co-founded, toured Canada...
play supporting roles in the film, as does co-writer Brian Doyle-Murray
Brian Doyle-Murray
Brian Doyle-Murray is an American comedian, screenwriter, actor and voice artist. He is the older brother of actor/comedian Bill Murray and has acted together with him in several films, including Caddyshack, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II, The Razor's Edge and Groundhog Day...
, a former SCTV staff writer.
Plot details
Jack Moniker (Robin WilliamsRobin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
) is a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
firefighter who gets injured on the job. Using his disability money, he decides to retire and live the good life in a small Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
island named Saint Nicholas. He buys a small amount of property there and lives among other washed-up personalities such as Anthony Cloyden Hayes (Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
). Appointed by the British crown as governor of St. Nicholas, Hayes is more concerned with vacationing than governing.
Jack befriends financially troubled reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
musician Ernest Reed (Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...
), and they together form "Club Paradise," which they market as a Club Med
Club Med
Club Méditerranée , commonly known as Club Med, is a French corporation of vacation resorts found in many parts of the world, usually in exotic locations. It is considered the original all-inclusive resort.-Foundation:...
-style resort. This attracts a handful of tourists, including Barry and Barry (Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis
Frederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...
and Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, television director, producer, musician, and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies, and television movies. He is the only actor to have appeared in all eight of the American Pie films, as Noah Levenstein...
), who are there for the pot and the women. Much of the film involves the tourists' comic misadventures adjusting to island life and the low-rent facilities of Club Paradise.
(Brian Doyle-Murray
Brian Doyle-Murray
Brian Doyle-Murray is an American comedian, screenwriter, actor and voice artist. He is the older brother of actor/comedian Bill Murray and has acted together with him in several films, including Caddyshack, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II, The Razor's Edge and Groundhog Day...
) plays a key role, as a developer who wants to run Jack and Ernest off their property so he can build a massive high-end casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
on the beach. To do that, he uses the help of the local prime minister (Adolph Caesar
Adolph Caesar
Adolph Caesar was an American actor.-Biography:Born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, he is best remembered for his role in director Norman Jewison's film, A Soldier's Story for which he received a nomination for "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" from both the Academy Awards and the...
) and the prime minister's men to cause trouble and get Club Paradise to close "legally." When this doesn't work, the prime minister orders a military takeover of the island. Ernest builds up a resistance force, and St. Nicholas is soon threatened with the possibility of civil war.
Cast
- Robin WilliamsRobin WilliamsRobin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
.... Jack Moniker - Peter O'ToolePeter O'ToolePeter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
.... Governor Anthony Cloyden Hayes - Rick MoranisRick MoranisFrederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...
.... Barry Nye - Jimmy CliffJimmy CliffJimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...
.... Ernest Reed - TwiggyTwiggyLesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....
.... Phillipa Lloyd - Adolph CaesarAdolph CaesarAdolph Caesar was an American actor.-Biography:Born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, he is best remembered for his role in director Norman Jewison's film, A Soldier's Story for which he received a nomination for "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" from both the Academy Awards and the...
.... Prime Minister Solomon Gundy - Eugene LevyEugene LevyEugene Levy, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, television director, producer, musician, and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies, and television movies. He is the only actor to have appeared in all eight of the American Pie films, as Noah Levenstein...
.... Barry Steinberg - Joanna CassidyJoanna CassidyJoanna Cassidy is an American film and television actress. She is known for her role as the replicant Zhora in the Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner...
.... Terry Hamlin - Andrea MartinAndrea MartinAndrea Louise Martin is an American and Canadian actress and comedienne. She has appeared in films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, on stage in productions such as My Favorite Year, Fiddler on the Roof and Candide, and in the television series, SCTV.-Personal life:Martin, the oldest of three...
.... Linda White - Brian Doyle-MurrayBrian Doyle-MurrayBrian Doyle-Murray is an American comedian, screenwriter, actor and voice artist. He is the older brother of actor/comedian Bill Murray and has acted together with him in several films, including Caddyshack, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II, The Razor's Edge and Groundhog Day...
.... Voit Zerbe - Joe FlahertyJoe FlahertyJoe Flaherty is an American-Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV, from 1976 to 1984, and as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks...
.... Pilot - Steven KampmannSteven KampmannSteven Kampmann is an American actor, writer, and director. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his role as Kirk Devane on the first two seasons of Newhart....
.... Randy White - Robin DukeRobin DukeRobin Duke is a Canadian actress and comedian. Duke is most famous for her work on the NBC comedy series Saturday Night Live. In the 2000s, Women Fully Clothed, a sketch comedy troupe which she co-founded, toured Canada...
.... Mary Lou - Mary GrossMary GrossMary Gross is an American comedian and actress, perhaps best known for her four-year stint on Saturday Night Live from 1981 to 1985. Her credits also include minor roles on Animaniacs, Boston Legal and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch...
.... Jackie - Simon JonesSimon Jones (actor)Simon Jones is an English actor, most famous for his appearances in the television and radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which he played the lead role of Arthur Dent from 1978 to 2005...
... Toby Prooth - Louise Bennett ... Portia
- Ansel "Double Barrel" CollinsDave and Ansell CollinsDave and Ansell Collins were a Jamaican vocal/instrumental duo .-History:...
... Flamboyant (Ernest Reed's band) - Earl "Chinna" Smith ... Flamboyant (Ernest Reed's band)
- Carey LowellCarey LowellCarey Lowell is an American actress and former model.-Early life:Lowell was born in Huntington, New York and spent much of her childhood traveling with her father, James Lowell, who was a geologist. Immediately after graduating from Bear Creek High School in Lakewood, CO., she was signed by the...
... Fashion Model - Louis ZorichLouis ZorichLouis Zorich is an American actor. He is well-known for his portrayal of Paul Reiser's father "Burt Buchman" in the NBC series Mad About You. He played the role from 1993 to 1999.-Life and career:...
... Swiss Businessman - Bruce McGillBruce McGillBruce Travis McGill is an American actor who has an extensive list of credits in film and television. He is perhaps best known for his role as Jack Dalton on the television series MacGyver and as Daniel Simpson "D-Day" Day in National Lampoon's Animal House.-Early life:McGill was born in San...
... Dave, Jack's fireman buddy
- Anne Ramis, wife of director Harold RamisHarold RamisHarold Allen Ramis is an American actor, director, and writer, specializing in comedy. His best-known film acting roles are as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters and Russell Ziskey in Stripes , both of which he also co-wrote...
... Travel Agent
Production
Shooting for Club Paradise took place from April to July 1985. Production company Warner Bros. planned to release it in early 1986, but held it back until July.During development, Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
turned down the film's lead role; his brother, Brian Doyle-Murray, ended up in the cast instead. British actor John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
was also slated to star.
"Ed Roboto" is a pseudonym for Harry Shearer
Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...
, who was asked to do a rewrite with Tom Leopold
Tom Leopold
Tom Leopold is an American comedy writer, performer and novelist. He has written episodes of Seinfeld and Cheers and several books. He has often been associated with Chevy Chase, Harry Shearer and Paul Shaffer in various projects...
. Only two words of what they wrote ended up in the film (the title) and Shearer was "so appalled by the movie" that he removed his name from the credits.
Adolph Caesar
Adolph Caesar
Adolph Caesar was an American actor.-Biography:Born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, he is best remembered for his role in director Norman Jewison's film, A Soldier's Story for which he received a nomination for "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" from both the Academy Awards and the...
died of a heart attack four months before the film's release. It was his last completed role.
Although there is an extended sequence involving Robin Williams' character , in correspondence to the lyrics, "taking off his clothes and living in the jungle", the song Apeman
Apeman
"Apeman" is an unscientific term that can allude to several things that generally have some of the traits of both other apes and humans:* Tarzan is sometimes referred to as an "Apeman."...
by The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
was not included on the official soundtrack.
Reception
The film was given mostly negative reviews from critics with Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
maintaing Club Paradise an 8% rating. Peter O'Toole's performance in the film earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actor.