The Toy is a 1982 comedy film starring Richard Pryor, Jackie Gleason, Ned Beatty, Scott Schwartz, Teresa Ganzel and Virginia Capers. It is an adaptation of the 1976 French film Le Jouet. The film is directed by Richard Donner.
Plot summary
Richard Pryor plays Jack Brown, a thirty-something African-American man living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Brown is an unemployed writer looking for work, and in danger of losing his house to the bank. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to get a job working for the local newspaper, the Bugle, he becomes desperate for a job and ends up taking one as a part-time hostess and "cleaning lady" for U.S. Bates (Jackie Gleason), who owns the paper and many other local businesses. Brown is humiliated as he clumsily attempts to serve food at a luncheon. He is quickly fired, but stubbornly stays in a department store owned by Bates to clean up that night.
Enter "Master" Eric Bates (Scott Schwartz), the young son of the boss. Eric is told earlier by his father that he can have anything in the store. As Jack Brown goofs around late at night in the store's toy section, Bates' right hand man Sydney Morehouse (Ned Beatty) enters with other Bates employees and Eric. Eric chooses Jack (which gets Morehouse and all the men in a tizzy as they try and convince Eric human beings cannot be bought or sold). In exchange for a generous financial settlement, Jack agrees to be Eric's live-in friend (or as they put it, his "toy") during Eric's one-week spring break from military school.
Eric, emotionally estranged from his father, takes a liking to Jack but still manages to humiliate him with numerous pranks. Jack finally grows tired of Eric's antics and leaves the mansion. He agrees to return only when U.S. Bates (with Morehouse as his proxy) offers Jack enough money to not only pay the bank but the mortgage on his house as well. When he returns, he is determined to teach Eric how a friend is supposed to be treated.
The pair decide to start a newspaper of their own for fun. After witnessing multiple examples of U.S. Bates' cruelty towards his employees, they dig up dirt on him, such as a story of how he won his butler, Barkley (Wilfrid Hyde-White), in a game of billiards. They publish their paper, called "The Toy," and distribute it throughout the city. U.S. Bates is expectedly humiliated and angered.
Surprisingly, Bates offers Jack a reporting job with his newspaper, which is what Jack wanted all along. When he accepts, Eric is upset because he thinks Jack is selling out. Jack tells Eric that most men (especially disenfranchised African-American men such as himself) need jobs, and he needs to work at the paper to support himself and his wife.
The movie's climax takes place at a swanky party being held at Bates' home. The party is attended by big-name businessmen and politicians under the auspices that it is a fundraising event for the Ku Klux Klan and political campaigns, respectively. Ultimately, Jack and Eric, teaming up one last time, disrupt the party and expose the real purpose behind it, an attempt to blackmail the senator who is among those leading a Federal indictment against Bates. Bates chases after Jack in a golf cart but ends up crashing into his own pool. Jack saves him from drowning, and it seems all is forgiven.
While driving Eric to the airport to return to military school, Bates tries desperately to have a heart-to-heart talk with his son. Once the car stops, Eric runs off, making his way to Jack's house. Jack gently admonishes Eric to give his father a chance just as he drives up, and father and son finally reconcile. Bates offers Jack a job working for him and promises Eric that next year he can spend one week with him and one with Jack, much to Eric's joy. Bates thanks Jack for all he has done and drives away.
Reaction
Upon its release, The Toy was roundly panned by critics. At best, some felt that the movie was a waste of the comedic talents of Pryor and Gleason. At worst, others viewed Pryor's portrayal of an essentially modern-day slave as degrading.
Nevertheless, the film fared much better with audiences. It earned roughly $47 million at the box office, making it the 14th-highest grossing movie of 1982 (when adjusted for inflation this equates to roughly $95 million in 2005 amounts). Since that time, it has grossed another $24 million plus in rentals.
See also
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