The Addams Family (film)
Encyclopedia
The Addams Family is a 1991 American black comedy film
based on the characters from the cartoon of the same name
created by cartoonist Charles Addams
.
The movie was originally developed at Orion Pictures
(which at the time owned the rights to the television series on which the film was based due to its ownership of the Filmways
library). But due to the studio's financial problems, Paramount Pictures
stepped in to complete the film and handled North American distribution, with Orion retaining the international rights (these rights now belong to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
through their purchase of Orion). The film debuted in Los Angeles on November 16, 1991. It opened internationally on November 22, 1991, to mixed reviews. It was followed by a sequel, Addams Family Values
, in 1993.
(Raúl Juliá
) laments the 25-year absence of his brother Fester, who disappeared after the two had a falling-out. Gomez's lawyer Tully Alford (Dan Hedaya
) owes money to loan shark
Abigail Craven (Elizabeth Wilson
), and notices that her son Gordon (Christopher Lloyd
) closely resembles Fester. Tully proposes that Gordon pose as Fester to infiltrate the Addams household and find the hidden vault where they keep their vast riches. Tully and his wife Margaret (Dana Ivey
) attend a séance
at the Addams home led by Grandmama (Judith Malina
) in which the family tries to contact Fester's spirit. Gordon arrives, posing as Fester, while Abigail poses as psychiatrist Dr. Pinder-Schloss and tells the family that Fester had been lost in the Bermuda Triangle
for the past 25 years.
Gomez, overjoyed to have Fester back, takes him to the family vault to view home movies from their childhood. Gordon learns the reason for the brothers' falling-out: Gomez was jealous of Fester's success with women, and wooed the conjoined twins
Flora and Fauna Amore away from him out of envy. Gomez starts to suspect that "Fester" is an impostor when he is unable to recall important details about their past. Gordon attempts to return to the vault, but is unable to get past a booby trap
. Gomez's wife Morticia
(Anjelica Huston
) reminds "Fester" of the importance of family amongst the Addamses and of their vengeance against those who cross them. Fearing that the family is getting wise to their con, Abigail—under the guise of Dr. Pinder-Schloss—convinces Gomez that his suspicions are due to displacement
.
Gordon grows closer to the Addams family, particularly the children Wednesday
(Christina Ricci
) and Pugsley
(Jimmy Workman
), whom he helps to prepare a swordplay sequence for a school play. The Addamses throw a large party with their extended family and friends to celebrate Fester's return, during which Abigail plans to break into the vault. Wednesday overhears Abigail and Gordon discussing their scheme, and escapes them by hiding in the family cemetery. Tully learns that Fester, as the eldest brother, is the executor of the Addams estate and therefore technically owns the entire property. With the help of the Addamses' neighbor Judge Womack (Paul Benedict
), who Gomez has repeatedly angered by hitting golf balls at his house, he procures a restraining order
against the family banning them from the estate. Gomez attempts to fight the order in court, but Judge Womack rules against him out of spite.
While Abigail, Gordon, and Tully try repeatedly and unsuccessfully to get past the booby trap blocking access to the vault, the Addams family is forced to move into a motel
and find jobs. Morticia tries at being a preschool teacher, Wednesday and Pugsley sell toxic lemonade
, and Thing—the family's animate disembodied hand—becomes a courier
. Gomez, despondent, sinks into depression and lethargy.
Morticia returns to the Addams home to confront Fester and is captured by Abigail and Tully, who torture her in an attempt to learn how to access the vault. Thing observes this and informs Gomez, who gathers the family and rushes to Morticia's rescue. Abigail threatens Morticia's life if Gomez does not surrender the family fortune. Fed up with his mother's behavior and constant berating, Gordon turns against Abigail. Using a magical book which projects its contents into reality, he unleashes a hurricane in the house, which strikes his own head with lightning and launches Tully and Abigail out a window and into open graves dug for them by Wednesday and Pugsley.
Gordon turns out to actually have been Fester all along, having suffered amnesia
after being lost in the Bermuda Triangle and turning up in Miami, where Abigail had taken him in. The lightning strike has restored his memory and he is enthusiastically welcomed back into the Addams household. With the family whole again, Morticia informs Gomez that she is pregnant.
's film score. The complete version of "Mamushka" was cut from the film after a key audience demographic from test screenings complained the song brought the movie to a stand-still.
The film also features a video from rap artist MC Hammer
, called the "Addams Groove".
Rotten Tomatoes
gives The Addams Family a 60% "fresh" rating based on reviews from 40 critics.
Roger Ebert
gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying it was mildly entertaining but did not add up to much.
Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader called the film a "collection of one-liners and not much more".
Critic Steve Crum wrote a positive review, saying that it was a perfect translation of the 1960s sitcom, and was just as "ghoulishly hilarious."
Variety
magazine wrote, "Despite inspired casting and nifty visual trappings, the eagerly awaited Addams Family figures a major disappointment."
. Carel Struycken
appeared at the award ceremony to receive the award on behalf of the cast.
Huston was nominated for the 1991 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her performance as Morticia.
Additionally, the pinball machine based on the film is, according to an episode of Pawn Stars
, the best-selling pinball machine of all time.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for achievement in costume design.
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
based on the characters from the cartoon of the same name
The Addams Family
The Addams Family is a group of fictional characters created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. As named by Charles Addams, the Addams Family characters include Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Grandmama, Wednesday, Pugsley, and Thing....
created by cartoonist Charles Addams
Charles Addams
Charles "Chas" Samuel Addams was an American cartoonist known for his particularly black humor and macabre characters...
.
The movie was originally developed at Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
(which at the time owned the rights to the television series on which the film was based due to its ownership of the Filmways
Filmways
Filmways, Inc. was a television and film production company founded by American film executive Martin Ransohoff in 1958...
library). But due to the studio's financial problems, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
stepped in to complete the film and handled North American distribution, with Orion retaining the international rights (these rights now belong to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
through their purchase of Orion). The film debuted in Los Angeles on November 16, 1991. It opened internationally on November 22, 1991, to mixed reviews. It was followed by a sequel, Addams Family Values
Addams Family Values
Addams Family Values is a 1993 sequel to the 1991 comedy The Addams Family. The film was written by Paul Rudnick and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and many cast members from the original returned for the sequel, including Raúl Juliá, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd, and Christina Ricci...
, in 1993.
Plot
Gomez AddamsGomez Addams
Gomez Addams is the fictional patriarch of The Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s....
(Raúl Juliá
Raúl Juliá
Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
) laments the 25-year absence of his brother Fester, who disappeared after the two had a falling-out. Gomez's lawyer Tully Alford (Dan Hedaya
Dan Hedaya
Daniel G. “Dan” Hedaya is an American character actor. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individuals; three of his best-known roles are as Italian Mafia boss Tony Costello in Wise Guys, a cuckolded husband in the Coen brothers' crime thriller Blood Simple, and the scheming...
) owes money to loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
Abigail Craven (Elizabeth Wilson
Elizabeth Wilson
Elizabeth Welter Wilson is an American actress. She was elected to the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2007.-Life and career:Wilson was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the daughter of Marie Ethel and Henry Dunning Wilson, who was an insurance agent...
), and notices that her son Gordon (Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
) closely resembles Fester. Tully proposes that Gordon pose as Fester to infiltrate the Addams household and find the hidden vault where they keep their vast riches. Tully and his wife Margaret (Dana Ivey
Dana Ivey
Dana Robins Ivey is an American character actress, who has performed on Broadway and other stage roles, in film and on television.-Early life and family:Ivey was born in Atlanta, Georgia...
) attend a séance
Séance
A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
at the Addams home led by Grandmama (Judith Malina
Judith Malina
Judith Malina is an American theater and film actress, writer, and director, who was one of the founders of The Living Theatre.-Early life:...
) in which the family tries to contact Fester's spirit. Gordon arrives, posing as Fester, while Abigail poses as psychiatrist Dr. Pinder-Schloss and tells the family that Fester had been lost in the Bermuda Triangle
Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances....
for the past 25 years.
Gomez, overjoyed to have Fester back, takes him to the family vault to view home movies from their childhood. Gordon learns the reason for the brothers' falling-out: Gomez was jealous of Fester's success with women, and wooed the conjoined twins
Conjoined twins
Conjoined twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined in utero. A rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 100,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa. Approximately half are stillborn, and a smaller fraction of...
Flora and Fauna Amore away from him out of envy. Gomez starts to suspect that "Fester" is an impostor when he is unable to recall important details about their past. Gordon attempts to return to the vault, but is unable to get past a booby trap
Booby trap
A booby trap is a device designed to harm or surprise a person, unknowingly triggered by the presence or actions of the victim. As the word trap implies, they often have some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. However, in other cases the device is placed on busy roads or is...
. Gomez's wife Morticia
Morticia Addams
Morticia A. Addams is the fictional matriarch of "The Addams Family", created by cartoonist Charles Addams and based on his first wife Barbara .Morticia is the wife of Gomez Addams and mother of Wednesday Addams and Pugsley Addams...
(Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
) reminds "Fester" of the importance of family amongst the Addamses and of their vengeance against those who cross them. Fearing that the family is getting wise to their con, Abigail—under the guise of Dr. Pinder-Schloss—convinces Gomez that his suspicions are due to displacement
Displacement (psychology)
In Freudian psychology, displacement is an unconscious defense mechanism whereby the mind redirects effects from an object felt to be dangerous or unacceptable to an object felt to be safe or acceptable...
.
Gordon grows closer to the Addams family, particularly the children Wednesday
Wednesday Addams
Wednesday Friday Addams is a member of the fictional Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker.-Wednesday:In Charles Addams's cartoons, Wednesday and other members of the family had no names...
(Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
) and Pugsley
Pugsley Addams
Pugsley Addams is a member of the fictional Addams family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams.Pugsley is the oldest child of Morticia and Gomez Addams. He is a pre-teen boy who is almost always seen wearing a striped T-shirt and shorts...
(Jimmy Workman
Jimmy Workman
James Martin "Jimmy" Workman, Jr. is an American actor, known for playing the role of Pugsley Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values .-Early life:...
), whom he helps to prepare a swordplay sequence for a school play. The Addamses throw a large party with their extended family and friends to celebrate Fester's return, during which Abigail plans to break into the vault. Wednesday overhears Abigail and Gordon discussing their scheme, and escapes them by hiding in the family cemetery. Tully learns that Fester, as the eldest brother, is the executor of the Addams estate and therefore technically owns the entire property. With the help of the Addamses' neighbor Judge Womack (Paul Benedict
Paul Benedict
Paul Benedict was an American actor who made numerous appearances in television and movies beginning in the 1960s...
), who Gomez has repeatedly angered by hitting golf balls at his house, he procures a restraining order
Restraining order
A restraining order or order of protection is a form of legal injunction that requires a party to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. A party that refuses to comply with an order faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
against the family banning them from the estate. Gomez attempts to fight the order in court, but Judge Womack rules against him out of spite.
While Abigail, Gordon, and Tully try repeatedly and unsuccessfully to get past the booby trap blocking access to the vault, the Addams family is forced to move into a motel
Motel
A motor hotel, or motel for short, is a hotel designed for motorists, and usually has a parking area for motor vehicles...
and find jobs. Morticia tries at being a preschool teacher, Wednesday and Pugsley sell toxic lemonade
Lemonade
Lemonade is a lemon-flavored drink, typically made from lemons, water and sugar.The term can refer to three different types of beverage:...
, and Thing—the family's animate disembodied hand—becomes a courier
Courier
A courier is a person or a company who delivers messages, packages, and mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times, which are optional for...
. Gomez, despondent, sinks into depression and lethargy.
Morticia returns to the Addams home to confront Fester and is captured by Abigail and Tully, who torture her in an attempt to learn how to access the vault. Thing observes this and informs Gomez, who gathers the family and rushes to Morticia's rescue. Abigail threatens Morticia's life if Gomez does not surrender the family fortune. Fed up with his mother's behavior and constant berating, Gordon turns against Abigail. Using a magical book which projects its contents into reality, he unleashes a hurricane in the house, which strikes his own head with lightning and launches Tully and Abigail out a window and into open graves dug for them by Wednesday and Pugsley.
Gordon turns out to actually have been Fester all along, having suffered amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
after being lost in the Bermuda Triangle and turning up in Miami, where Abigail had taken him in. The lightning strike has restored his memory and he is enthusiastically welcomed back into the Addams household. With the family whole again, Morticia informs Gomez that she is pregnant.
Cast
- Anjelica HustonAnjelica HustonAnjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
as Morticia AddamsMorticia AddamsMorticia A. Addams is the fictional matriarch of "The Addams Family", created by cartoonist Charles Addams and based on his first wife Barbara .Morticia is the wife of Gomez Addams and mother of Wednesday Addams and Pugsley Addams... - Raúl JuliáRaúl JuliáRaúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
as Gomez AddamsGomez AddamsGomez Addams is the fictional patriarch of The Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s.... - Christopher LloydChristopher LloydChristopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
as Uncle FesterUncle FesterGordon Craven, Uncle Fester, or Fester Addams, is a member of the fictional Addams Family. He was played by Jackie Coogan in the original television series, by Christopher Lloyd in the first two feature films, and by Patrick Thomas in the third, Addams Family Reunion. Finally, Michael Roberds...
/ Gordon Craven - Dan HedayaDan HedayaDaniel G. “Dan” Hedaya is an American character actor. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individuals; three of his best-known roles are as Italian Mafia boss Tony Costello in Wise Guys, a cuckolded husband in the Coen brothers' crime thriller Blood Simple, and the scheming...
as Tully Alford - Elizabeth WilsonElizabeth WilsonElizabeth Welter Wilson is an American actress. She was elected to the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2007.-Life and career:Wilson was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the daughter of Marie Ethel and Henry Dunning Wilson, who was an insurance agent...
as Abigail Craven / Dr. Greta Pinder-Schloss - Christina RicciChristina RicciChristina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
as Wednesday AddamsWednesday AddamsWednesday Friday Addams is a member of the fictional Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker.-Wednesday:In Charles Addams's cartoons, Wednesday and other members of the family had no names... - Paul BenedictPaul BenedictPaul Benedict was an American actor who made numerous appearances in television and movies beginning in the 1960s...
as Judge George Womack - Jimmy WorkmanJimmy WorkmanJames Martin "Jimmy" Workman, Jr. is an American actor, known for playing the role of Pugsley Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values .-Early life:...
as Pugsley AddamsPugsley AddamsPugsley Addams is a member of the fictional Addams family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams.Pugsley is the oldest child of Morticia and Gomez Addams. He is a pre-teen boy who is almost always seen wearing a striped T-shirt and shorts... - Judith MalinaJudith MalinaJudith Malina is an American theater and film actress, writer, and director, who was one of the founders of The Living Theatre.-Early life:...
as Grandmama - Carel StruyckenCarel StruyckenCarel Struycken is a Dutch film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for playing Mr. Homn on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and Lurch in the films The Addams Family and Addams Family Values...
as Lurch - Christopher Hart's Hand as Thing
- Dana IveyDana IveyDana Robins Ivey is an American character actress, who has performed on Broadway and other stage roles, in film and on television.-Early life and family:Ivey was born in Atlanta, Georgia...
as Margaret Alford - John FranklinJohn Franklin (actor)John Franklin is an American actor.-Personal life:John Franklin was born in Blue Island, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago on June 16, 1959. He has three older brothers, an older sister and a younger brother and grew up in a close knit, loving family. In 1977, John graduated from Dwight D...
as Cousin IttCousin IttCousin Itt is a member of the fictional Addams Family. Unlike the other characters, Cousin Itt was not originally created by cartoonist Charles Addams, but by producer David Levy, though he did appear as an unnamed character in Addams's cartoons.- Character :...
Music
The soundtrack for The Addams Family was released on December 3, 1991, and features most of Marc ShaimanMarc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman is an American composer, lyricist, arranger, and performer for films, television, and theatre. He is perhaps best known for writing the music and co-writing the lyrics for the Broadway musical version of the cult John Waters film Hairspray, for which Shaiman won Tony and Grammy...
's film score. The complete version of "Mamushka" was cut from the film after a key audience demographic from test screenings complained the song brought the movie to a stand-still.
- "Deck the Halls & Main Titles"
- "Morning"
- "Seances & Swordfights"
- "Playmates"
- "Family Plotz"
- "Mooche"
- "Evening"
- "Party...For Me?"
- "Mamushka"
- "Thing Gets Work"
- "Fester Exposed"
- "Rescue"
- "Finale"
The film also features a video from rap artist MC Hammer
MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell , better known by his stage name MC Hammer , is an American rapper, entertainer, business entrepreneur, dancer and actor. He had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s...
, called the "Addams Groove".
Box office
With a box office gross of $113,502,246 in the United States and a worldwide gross of $191,502,246, The Addams Family proved to be a financial success, as it eventually became the seventh highest grossing film of 1991.Critical response
The review aggregatorReview aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services . This system stores the reviews and then uses them for purposes such as: creating a website for users to view the reviews, selling information to third parties about consumer tendencies and creating databases for...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten 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...
gives The Addams Family a 60% "fresh" rating based on reviews from 40 critics.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying it was mildly entertaining but did not add up to much.
Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader called the film a "collection of one-liners and not much more".
Critic Steve Crum wrote a positive review, saying that it was a perfect translation of the 1960s sitcom, and was just as "ghoulishly hilarious."
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine wrote, "Despite inspired casting and nifty visual trappings, the eagerly awaited Addams Family figures a major disappointment."
Accolades
The Addams Family was awarded Best Horror Film of the Year in 1991 by the Horror Hall of FameHorror Hall of Fame
The Horror Hall of Fame was an annual Oscars-style award show hosted by Robert Englund which honored the best horror films, television series, actors, producers and special-effects designers. It ran for three years from 1989 to 1991...
. Carel Struycken
Carel Struycken
Carel Struycken is a Dutch film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for playing Mr. Homn on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and Lurch in the films The Addams Family and Addams Family Values...
appeared at the award ceremony to receive the award on behalf of the cast.
Huston was nominated for the 1991 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her performance as Morticia.
Additionally, the pinball machine based on the film is, according to an episode of Pawn Stars
Pawn Stars
Pawn Stars is an American reality television series on the History Channel, produced in Manhattan by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24-hour family business operated by patriarch Richard...
, the best-selling pinball machine of all time.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for achievement in costume design.