Writer/Director team David Zucker and Jim Abrahams, producers of cult comedy classics Airplane! and Top Secret, team up once again to bring audiences The Naked Gun. A full-length film based on their earlier collaboration on the short-lived television series Police Squad, the movie (just like the TV show) stars Leslie Nielsen in his breakout role. With a plot and scene sequences that are far less absurd than its two sequels, The Naked Gun is one of the best comedies ever produced for the big screen. The Naked Gun follows the exploits of Lt. Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen), a longtime member of Police Squad, a special division of Los Angeles County law enforcement. Fresh off his return from a much needed vacation to Beirut, Frank is informed by Capt. Ed Hocken (George Kennedy) that his partner and best friend Nordberg (O.J. Simpson) remains in critical condition after being shot on duty. Frank and Ed visit Nordberg in the hospital where they try to extract information about the shooter. Unsuccessful, they promise Nordbergs wife Wilma (Susan Beaubian) that they will not rest for one second until they catch the man who did this to her husband, then they go off to grab a bite to eat... Frank and Eds search for the shooter eventually leads them to the office of Vincent Ludwig (Ricardo Montalban), owner of I Love U a Panamanian ship anchored in the harbor where Nordberg was shot. Ludwig directs his Secretary, Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley), to give Lt. Drebin whatever files hes looking for as well as to get to know him and find out what he knows. Jane and Frank strike up a relationship and all is well until Frank discovers that Ludwig is involved in a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth on her impending visit to Los Angeles. Believing his relationship with Jane to be a sham constructed by Ludwig, Frank breaks things off with Jane. But when she reveals Ludwigs plot is to have one of the ballplayers kill the Queen during the 7th inning stretch of the Angels/Mariners playoff game, she and Frank reconcile and two set off with the rest of Police Squad to foil Ludwigs plan Some of the more hilarious scenes in cinema history can be found in The Naked Gun, most of them attributable to Leslie Nielsens perfect comedic delivery and the serious face he displays throughout. From the moment Frank Drebin steps onto the baseball field, you wont be able to stop laughing. Whether hes belting out the national anthem as Enrico Perlazzo or calling strikes and balls as the home plate umpire, the screenwriters manage a perfect storyboard sequence with this film. It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day Loaded with some of the best comedy dialogue in cinema history, The Naked Gun is 85 continuous minutes of outright hilarity. A definite must-see among comedies |
