Themes: Arrested Adolescence, Wedding Bells, Party Film
Main Cast: Tom Hanks, Tawny Kitaen, Adrian Zmed, George Grizzard, Barbara Stuart
Release Year: 1984
Country: US
Run Time: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Tom Hanks stars in this raunchy teen comedy from veteran screenwriters Pat Proft and Neil Israel, who had previously collaborated on the amusing sketch film Tunnelvision (1976) and the disappointing Americathon (1980). Bus-driver Rick Gasko (Hanks) is engaged to wealthy Debbie Thompson (Tawny Kitaen), much to the chagrin of her father (George Grizzard), who considers Rick a loser. To keep an eye on her future groom, Debbie and her friends dress as prostitutes to attend his bachelor party, which quickly turns into a bacchanal of smutty debauchery. Familiar faces in the cast include action stars Michael Dudikoff and Ji-Tu Cimbuka, pin-ups Monique Gabrielle and Rosanne Katon, and teen-movie regulars Adrian Zmed and Wendie Jo Sperber. It's an occasionally hilarious excursion into bad taste, although one which two-time Oscar winner Hanks would probably like to forget. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Review
Tom Hanks and his flippant party animal cohorts make Bachelor Party seem like a descendent of Animal House in its better moments. A bunch of self-satisfied guys going to great lengths in the pursuit of flesh and jubilant rule-breaking, all while winking to each other and laughing, give them a certain kinship to Otter, Bluto, Boon et al. But without the sublime comic performances and dialogue to keep things moving, Bachelor Party is more often a succession of puerile practical jokes with no bounds to their tastelessness. Even the bride's disapproving father gets gagged and dressed up in dominatrix attire, an outcome the film invites us to cheer. More legitimate levity comes from watching the ongoing tortures of Hanks' rival, the smarmy Robert Prescott, who gets dangled naked from buildings among other such embarrassments. Those expecting this type of lowbrow comic irreverence from beginning to end will probably have no problem with Bachelor Party. However, anyone curious about what Tom Hanks did before Philadelphia will undoubtedly grimace -- including Hanks himself. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Robert Prescott - Cole Whittier; Angela Aames - Mrs. Klupner; Toni Alessandrini - Desiree; Elizabeth Arlen - Garage Customer; Bradford Bancroft - Brad; Billy Beck - Patient; Ji-Tu Cumbuka - Alley Pimp; Brett Baxter Clark - Nick; Barry Diamond - Rudy; Michael Dudikoff - Ryko; Martina Finch - Phoebe; Monique Gabrielle - Tracey; Anne Gaybis - Hooker; Gary Grossman - Gary; Deborah Harmon - Ilene; Tad Horino - Japanese Businessman; Jim Hudson - Neighbor; Cynthia Kania - Sue; Rosanne Katon - Bridal Shower Hooker; Ken Kimmins - Hotel Manager; Milt [Lewis] Kogan - Restaurant Customer; Coleen Maloney - Jean Store Customer; Rebecca Perle - Screaming Woman; Arlee Reed - Jean Store Customer; Ben Slack - Suitcase Man; Tracy Smith - Bobbi; Wendie Jo Sperber - Dr. Tina Gassko; Sumant - Rajah; William Tepper - Dr. Stan Gassko; Donald Thompson - Schoolboy; Michael Yama - Japanese Businessman; Bruce A. Block; Greg Norberg - Restaurant Customer; Pat Proft - Screaming Man; Sheri Short - Hooker; Gerard Prendergast - Michael; Hugh McPhillips - Father O'Donall; Kim Robinson - Party Crasher; George Sasaki - Japanese Businessman; Florence Schauffler - Sister Mary Francis; Dorothy Bartlett - Candy Counter Lady; Peaches Johnson - Hooker; John Bloom - Milt; Gregory Brown - Schoolboy; Christopher Morley - She/Tim
Credit
Mark Billerman - Art Director, Martin Price - Art Director, Gautam Das - Associate Producer, Buddy Cone - Costume Designer, Nina Padovano - Costume Designer, Jerry Sobul - First Assistant Director, Neal Israel - Director, Tom Walls - Editor, Sharad Patel - Executive Producer, Joe Roth - Executive Producer, Robert Folk - Composer (Music Score), Tomi Jenkins - Composer (Music Score), Robert Folk - Musical Direction/Supervision, Timothy R. Sexton - Musical Direction/Supervision, Richard Sawyer - Production Designer, Hal Trussell - Cinematographer, Robert Israel - Producer, Ron Moler - Producer, Raju Patel - Producer, Bob Israel - Producer, Mark Billerman - Set Designer, Martin Becker - Special Effects, Frank Inez - Special Effects, Susumu Tokunow - Sound/Sound Designer, Neal Israel - Screenwriter, Pat Proft - Screenwriter, Bob Israel - Screenwriter
Party-animal Rick Gassko (Tom Hanks) decides to settle down and marry his girlfriend Debbie Thompson (Tawny Kitaen), so his friends throw him one final debauchery-laden bash. Debbie suspects Rick of cheating on her at this bachelor party and, with the help of her friends and the spouse of her future brother-in-law, Debbie hatches a plan to catch him in the act. A notorious scene in the film involves a quaalude-popping, cocaine-snorting donkey who dies of a drug overdose.
In 1981, Tawny Kitaen threw a bachelor party for her friend Bob Israel. Inspired by the occasion, Israel and fellow advertising specialist Ron Moler decided to produce a comedy about the ritual.[citation needed] As first-time producers, they needed to secure financial backing for the film. Normally, this would be accomplished by presenting potential backers a finished script. For Bachelor Party, Israel and Moler instead created a mock ad campaign that so impressed Twin Continental Films that they provided the producers with the necessary funds to develop the project. Israel brought in his brother Neal to direct, and together they worked out a storyline, that Neal and Pat Proft expanded into a final script. Realizing the project’s commercial potential, executive producer Joe Roth sent the screenplay - accompanied by the poster campaign - to 20th Century Fox, who agreed to distribute the film upon its completion.
Principal photography
Filming of Bachelor Party began on August 15, 1983, and production was completed on November 11, 1983. Two days into production, filming was suspended and Bachelor Party went on hiatus for one month while the filmmakers recast the parts. Production resumed in September with the new cast. The following actors were replaced:[citation needed]
