A Fish Called Wanda

A Fish Called Wanda
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Charles Crichton John Cleese (Uncredited)
Produced by	Michael Shamberg
Written by	John Cleese
Story by	John Cleese Charles Crichton
Starring	John Cleese Jamie Lee Curtis Kevin Kline Michael Palin
Music by	John Du Prez
Cinematography	Alan Hume
Editing by	John Jympson
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	July 15, 1988 (1988-07-15)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English Italian Russian
Box office	$62,493,712[1]

A Fish Called Wanda is a 1988 crime-comedy film written by John Cleese and Charles Crichton. It was directed by Crichton and an uncredited Cleese, and stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin. The film is about a jewel heist and its aftermath. Kline won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Otto.

Plot

London-based gangster George Thomason (Tom Georgeson) and his right-hand man, Ken Pile (Michael Palin), a beleaguered animal lover with a bad stutter, plan a jewel heist. They bring in two Americans to help: an alluring con artist, Wanda Gershwitz (Jamie Lee Curtis) and their "weapons man" Otto West (Kevin Kline), an Anglophobe who fancies himself as an intellectual. Wanda and Otto are lovers, but hide this fact from George and Ken, pretending to be brother and sister, so Wanda can work her charms on them.

The robbery goes well, with the thieves getting away with a large sum in diamonds. The only problem is that they are briefly spotted during their getaway by an old lady walking her dogs. The group then hide the loot in a safe in an old warehouse. Soon after, Wanda and Otto betray George to the police and he is arrested. They return to collect the loot, only to find that George and Ken have moved it to an unknown location. Wanda, who was planning to double-cross Otto as well, decides to seduce George's unhappily married lawyer, Archie Leach (John Cleese), to find out where the diamonds are located. Otto becomes insanely jealous, and his interference, combined with incidences of bad luck, lead Wanda and Archie's liaisons to go disastrously wrong. Archie eventually calls off their attempted affair.

Meanwhile, George gives Ken the task of killing the old lady, the Crown's only eye witness. During his various attempts to kill her, the animal-loving Ken accidentally kills off her three Yorkshire Terriers one by one. This causes him grief, as well as grave bodily harm as each attempt goes wrong. However, the witness suffers a fatal heart attack when her last Terrier is killed, and Ken is ultimately successful in his mission.

Wanda and Otto want George to remain in jail, but with no witness he may get off. During the course of George's trial, Wanda gives evidence that will lead to a conviction rather than an acquittal. Archie, stunned by the unexpected turn in her evidence, flubs his cross-examination and inadvertently calls her "darling". Enraged, George starts a brawl that leads to everyone fleeing the courtroom. Archie's wife Wendy (Maria Aitken) is sitting in the observer's area, and Archie's antics confirm her suspicions of his affair (though it has never been consummated). After George is taken into custody, she confronts Archie and states that she plans to divorce him. With his career ruined and his marriage about to end, Archie resolves to cut his losses, find the loot, and flee with Wanda to South America. Promised less jail time, George tells Archie that Ken knows the location of the diamonds. As he is leaving to question Ken, Archie picks up Wanda while she attempts to flee the courthouse. Archie tells her he knows that Ken is aware of the hiding spot, and Wanda counters by noting she has the key to the safe deposit box.

While the courtroom drama is unfolding, Otto has been trying to get Ken to reveal the location of the diamonds. He tortures Ken by eating the fish in his aquarium one-by-one, leaving the fish called Wanda until the end. In the process, Ken accidentally mentions the location of the diamonds at a hotel near Heathrow Airport. Otto is leaving just as Archie runs into the building; Otto steals Archie's car, taking Wanda with him. Ken tells Archie, as quickly as he can given his stutter, where they are going. The two give chase.

The protagonists all end up in Heathrow. Otto and Wanda recover the diamonds, but Wanda quickly double-crosses Otto and locks him in a cupboard. Otto escapes and is briefly captured by Archie, only to turn the tables. He is about to kill Archie, but Archie manages to distract Otto by pointing out that Americans are not always winners - as shown by their loss to North Vietnam in the Vietnam war. While they are arguing, Otto is run over by a steamroller driven by Ken, seeking vengeance for the live fish Otto ate. Archie joins Wanda on board the plane, which taxis for takeoff. Through the plane window, Otto (who has survived due to being pushed into wet concrete by the steamroller) curses them until, as the plane takes off, he finally drops off.

Cast

• John Cleese as Archie Leach
• Jamie Lee Curtis as Wanda Gershwitz
• Kevin Kline as Otto West
• Michael Palin as Ken Pile
• Maria Aitken as Wendy Leach
• Tom Georgeson as George Thomason
• Patricia Hayes as Mrs. Coady
• Geoffrey Palmer as Judge
• Cynthia Caylor as Portia Leach
• Stephen Fry as Hutchison

Reception

The film was an enormous critical and commercial success. Kline received wide acclaim and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work.^[2] Cleese and Crichton received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Crichton was also nominated for Best Director, and Curtis received nominations for Leading Actress at the Golden Globes and BAFTA awards. Michael Palin won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Role.

In 2000, the readers of Total Film magazine voted A Fish Called Wanda the 37th greatest comedy film of all time. In 2004 the same magazine named it the 41st greatest British film of all time. In 2000, the American Film Institute ranked the film 21st on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs, its list of the 100 funniest movies ever made. This film is number 27 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies". It is also included in the Reader's Digest "100 Funniest Films" list.^[3] The movie currently holds a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sequels and adaptations

The principal cast reunited in 1997 for Fierce Creatures (dubbed an "equal" rather than a sequel or prequel, by Kline), playing different roles and meeting less success.

In 2008, it was reported that John Cleese and his daughter, Cynthia (who played his screen daughter, Portia), had started to work on a stage musical version of the film.^[4]

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: A Fish Called Wanda

• A Fish Called Wanda at the Internet Movie Database
• A Fish Called Wanda at AllRovi
• A Fish Called Wanda at Rotten Tomatoes

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