The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh | |
---|---|
Directed by | Gilbert Moses |
Screenplay by | Jaison Starkes Edmond Stevens |
Story by | David Dashev Gary Stromberg |
Produced by | David Dashev Gary Stromberg |
Starring | Julius Erving Jonathan Winters Meadowlark Lemon Jack Kehoe Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Margaret Avery James Bond III Michael V. Gazzo Peter Isacksen Nicholas Pryor M. Emmet Walsh Stockard Channing Flip Wilson |
Cinematography | Frank Stanley |
Edited by | Frank Mazzola Peter Zinner |
Music by | Thom Bell |
Production company | |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh is a 1979 American sports/fantasy comedy film directed by Gilbert Moses and coproduced by David Dashev and Gary Stromberg. It was produced by Lorimar and distributed by United Artists.
The film was shot on location in Pittsburgh and at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena, as well as in suburban Moon Township, Pennsylvania.
The film has attracted a cult following, most notably for its disco-inspired setting and soundtrack, as well as the appearances of many NBA stars (including lead actor Julius Erving) and early roles for Debbie Allen, Stockard Channing and Harry Shearer. The film also contains a cameo by longtime Pittsburgh mayor Richard Caliguiri.
The Pittsburgh Pythons are a struggling professional basketball team whose continuous losing streak and lack of talent has made them the laughing stock of the city. Several players ask to be traded to other teams because of the bad publicity and the presence of difficult but highly paid star player Moses Guthrie.
Believing that the team needs a miracle, ballboy Tyrone Millman turns to astrology to improve the team's fortunes. He brings his idea to astrologer Mona Mondieu, and they devise the perfect concept: a team composed entirely of players born under Guthrie's astrological sign of Pisces. The team is reborn as the Pittsburgh Pisces.
Although Tyrone's sister and Guthrie think that the idea is absurd, they ultimately embrace the concept. The plan succeeds because of the new team's eccentric skills, teamwork and Mona's astrological readings, culminating in a championship opportunity.
Los Angeles:
New York:
Boston:
Detroit:
Singer/actress Cher was originally cast as Mona Mondieu, but she withdrew at the last minute. Singer/actress Dee Dee Bridgewater, who plays Brandy, previously won a Tony Award for her role as Glinda in The Wiz on Broadway also under the direction of Gilbert Moses, whom she later married.
The Spinners recorded two songs for the film. [1] Actress/choreographer Debbie Allen and athlete Norm Nixon, who married in 1984, both appear in the film.
Despite popular belief, Julius Erving's character's name of Moses was not chosen in reference to teammate Moses Malone, as Erving and Malone would not become teammates until four years later. [2]
A novelization written by Richard Woodley, based upon an early draft of the screenplay by Jaison Starkes and Edmond Stevens, was released in 1979. The novel differs in several respects from the film. In the film, the Pisces win every game, but in the novel, the team loses twice. The novel describes a group of people in wheelchairs causing havoc at a Pisces game, a scene that appears in the film's preview trailer but not in the final release.
In 2010, Warner Home Video (home video arm of Warner Bros., current owners of the Lorimar library) released the film on DVD and digital download as part of its Warner Archive Collection. [3]
In addition, the film is also made available for streaming online on Plex, The Roku Channel, and Tubi.
Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Television. It was founded by Irwin Molasky, Merv Adelson, and Lee Rich. The company's name was a portmanteau of the name of Adelson's then wife, Lori, and Palomar Airport.
Julius Winfield Erving II, commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player in that league when it merged into the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the 1975–1976 season.
Stockard Channing is an American actress. She played Betty Rizzo in the film Grease (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing (1999–2006). She also originated the role of Ouisa Kittredge in the stage and film versions of Six Degrees of Separation; the 1993 film version earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
The Civic Arena, formerly the Civic Auditorium and later Mellon Arena, was an arena located in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Civic Arena primarily served as the home to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the city's National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, from 1967 to 2010.
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Pisces (♓︎) is the twelfth and final astrological sign in the zodiac. It is a mutable sign. It spans 330° to 360° of celestial longitude. Under the tropical zodiac, the sun transits this area between about February 19 and March 20. In classical interpretations, the symbol of the fish is derived from the ichthyocentaurs, who aided Aphrodite when she was born from the sea.
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