Going Ape!

Last updated
Going Ape!
Going Ape!.jpg
Directed by Jeremy Joe Kronsberg
Written byJeremy Joe Kronsberg
Produced byRobert L. Rosen
Starring Tony Danza
Bobby Berosini's Orang-Utans
Jessica Walter
Stacey Nelkin
Danny DeVito
Cinematography Frank V. Phillips
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • April 10, 1981 (1981-04-10)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$5,504,218 [1]

Going Ape! is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Jeremy Joe Kronsberg and produced by Paramount Pictures. The film starred Tony Danza, Danny DeVito, and three orangutans. [2]

Contents


Plot

Struggling slacker Foster Sabatini is the only member of his circus family who left the life, greatly disappointing his wealthy father Max. When Max dies, Foster and his sisters (who all hate Foster) are shocked to hear that Max left his entire estate to Foster, but only on the condition that Foster must care for his father's beloved trio of orangutans. Along with the orangutans, Foster also inherits the services of Lazlo, Max's manservant & protege. The arrival of the orangutans and Lazlo turn Foster's life upside-down, all while he attempts to win back his disgruntled girlfriend and impress her high-society mother.

Things are further complicated by a trio of bungling assassins hired by the local zoological society, which will inherit both the money and the orangutans if any of the apes die. Once aware of the danger to the apes, Foster and his friends must save the newly accepted primates from the assassins.

Main cast


Reception

The film was poorly reviewed by Janet Maslin of the New York Times, who called it a "completely unimaginative romp, standard to the point of being waxen" and referred to director Kronsberg's "messy directorial debut". [2]

The film was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor for DeVito. [3]

Home video

The film was released on VHS in the 1980s, but was never released on DVD and remained out of print on home video for many years until it was released in January 2022 on Blu-ray. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Xanadu</i> (film) 1980 film by Robert Greenwald

Xanadu is a 1980 American musical fantasy film written by Richard Christian Danus and Marc Reid Rubel and directed by Robert Greenwald. The film stars Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, and Gene Kelly in his final film role. It features music by Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra, Cliff Richard and the Tubes. The title is a reference to the nightclub in the film, which takes its name from Xanadu, the summer capital of Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty in China. The city appears in Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an 1816 poem quoted in the film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Danza</span> American actor (born 1951)

Tony Danza is an American actor and retired professional boxer. He is known for co-starring in the television series Taxi (1978–1983) and Who's the Boss? (1984–1992), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and four Golden Globe Awards. In 1998, Danza won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Performer in a New Television Series for his work on the 1997 sitcom The Tony Danza Show. He has also appeared in films such as The Hollywood Knights (1980), Going Ape! (1981), She's Out of Control (1989), Angels in the Outfield (1994), Crash (2004), and Don Jon (2013).

<i>Babe: Pig in the City</i> 1998 film

Babe: Pig in the City is a 1998 comedy-drama adventure film, the sequel to the 1995 film Babe. It was co-written, produced and directed by George Miller, who co-wrote and produced the original film. Magda Szubanski and James Cromwell reprise their roles from the first film, with Mickey Rooney joining the cast.

<i>Cannonball Run II</i> 1984 film by Hal Needham

Cannonball Run II is a 1984 American action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds and an all-star cast, released by Warner Bros. and Golden Harvest. The film is the second installment of the Cannonball Run trilogy and a sequel to The Cannonball Run (1981). Like the first film, it is set around an illegal cross-country race.

<i>Death to Smoochy</i> 2002 film directed by Danny DeVito

Death to Smoochy is a 2002 satirical black comedy crime film directed by Danny DeVito and written by Adam Resnick. Starring Robin Williams, Edward Norton, Catherine Keener, DeVito, and Jon Stewart, the film centers on "Rainbow" Randolph Smiley (Williams), a disgraced former children's television host who attempts to sabotage his replacement, Sheldon Mopes (Norton), and his character, Smoochy the Rhino.

Michael Beck is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Swan in The Warriors (1979) as Sonny Malone in Xanadu (1980), and as Koda in Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983).

<i>Every Which Way but Loose</i> 1978 film by James Fargo

Every Which Way but Loose is a 1978 American action comedy film released by Warner Bros. starring Clint Eastwood in an uncharacteristic and offbeat comedy role. It was produced by Robert Daley and directed by James Fargo. Eastwood plays Philo Beddoe, a trucker and bare-knuckle brawler roaming the American West in search of a lost love while accompanied by his brother/manager Orville and his pet orangutan Clyde. Philo encounters a wide assortment of characters, including a pair of police officers and a motorcycle gang who pursue him for revenge.

<i>Broadway Danny Rose</i> 1984 film by Woody Allen

Broadway Danny Rose is a 1984 American black-and-white comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. It follows a hapless theatrical agent who, by helping a client, gets dragged into a love triangle involving the mob. The film stars Allen as the titular character, as well as Mia Farrow and Nick Apollo Forte.

<i>Color of Night</i> 1994 American erotic thriller film

Color of Night is a 1994 American erotic mystery thriller film produced by Cinergi Pictures and released in the United States by Buena Vista Pictures. Directed by Richard Rush, the film stars Bruce Willis and Jane March.

<i>King Kong Lives</i> 1986 American monster film directed by John Guillermin

King Kong Lives is a 1986 American monster adventure film directed by John Guillermin. Produced by the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group and featuring special effects by Carlo Rambaldi, the film stars Linda Hamilton and Brian Kerwin.

<i>Brain Donors</i> 1992 American film directed by Dennis Dugan

Brain Donors is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and released by Paramount Pictures, loosely based on the Marx Brothers comedies A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races. The film co-stars John Turturro, Mel Smith, and Bob Nelson in the approximations of the Groucho, Chico, and Harpo roles, with Nancy Marchand in the Margaret Dumont dowager role. It was executive produced by David and Jerry Zucker, through their Zucker Brothers Productions.

<i>The Lonely Lady</i> 1983 film by Peter Sasdy

The Lonely Lady is a 1983 American drama film directed by Peter Sasdy, adapted from Harold Robbins' 1976 novel of the same name, believed to have been based on Robbins' memories of Jacqueline Susann. The film stars Pia Zadora in the title role, Lloyd Bochner, Bibi Besch, Jared Martin and Ray Liotta in his film debut. The original music score was composed by Charlie Calello.

<i>City Heat</i> 1984 film by Richard Benjamin

City Heat is a 1984 American buddy-crime comedy film starring Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds, written by Blake Edwards and directed by Richard Benjamin. The film was released in North America in December 1984.

<i>The Freshman</i> (1990 film) 1990 film by Andrew Bergman

The Freshman is a 1990 American crime comedy film written and directed by Andrew Bergman, and starring Marlon Brando, Matthew Broderick, Bruno Kirby, Maximilian Schell, Penelope Ann Miller, and Frank Whaley. The plot revolves around a young New York film student's entanglement in an illicit business of offering exotic and endangered animals as specialty food items, including his being tasked with delivering a Komodo dragon for this purpose. The film received positive reviews from critics.

<i>Camp Nowhere</i> 1994 film by Jonathan Prince

Camp Nowhere is a 1994 American adventure comedy film directed by Jonathan Prince, written by Andrew Kurtzman and Eliot Wald, and stars Christopher Lloyd, Jonathan Jackson in his film debut, Wendy Makkena and M. Emmet Walsh.

<i>She</i> (1935 film) 1935 film by Irving Pichel

She is a 1935 American adventure film produced by Merian C. Cooper. Based on the 1887 novel of the same name by H. Rider Haggard, the screenplay draws on all the books in the series: the first aforementioned book, She and Allan, The Return of She and Wisdom's Daughter.

Tattoo is a 1981 erotic thriller film directed by Bob Brooks, and starring Bruce Dern and Maud Adams. It depicts the relationship between a fashion model and an eccentric tattoo artist that quickly turns evil.

<i>The Sluggers Wife</i> 1985 film by Hal Ashby

The Slugger's Wife is a 1985 romantic comedy film about a baseball star who falls for a singer. Written by Neil Simon, directed by Hal Ashby and produced by Ray Stark, the film stars Michael O'Keefe, Rebecca De Mornay, and Randy Quaid. It was distributed by Columbia Pictures and released on March 29, 1985.

Jeremy Joe Kronsberg is an American film director, producer and screenwriter who appeared in such films as Every Which Way but Loose, Any Which Way You Can and Going Ape!.

<i>The Emoji Movie</i> 2017 animated comedy film by Tony Leondis

The Emoji Movie is a 2017 American animated comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film was directed by Tony Leondis from a screenplay he co-wrote with Eric Siegel and Mike White, based on a story by Leondis and Siegel. It stars the voices of T.J. Miller, James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Steven Wright, Jennifer Coolidge, Jake T. Austin, Christina Aguilera, Sofía Vergara, Sean Hayes, and Sir Patrick Stewart. Based on emojis, the film centers on a multi-expressional emoji, Gene (Miller), who exists in a digital city called Textopolis, for a smartphone owned by Alex (Austin), embarking on a journey to become a normal emoji capable of only a single expression, accompanied by his friends, Hi-5 (Corden) and Jailbreak (Faris). During their travels through the other apps, the trio must save their world from total destruction before it is reset for functionality.

References

  1. Going Ape! at Box Office Mojo
  2. 1 2 Maslin, Janet (1981-04-17). "'GOING APE,' TALE OF AN INHERITANCE". The New York Times . Retrieved 2008-03-29.
  3. Wilson, John (2005). The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN   0-446-69334-0.
  4. "Going Ape! Blu-ray".