Based on the ill-fated 6 episode comedy series Police Squad! that was developed for ABC in 1981 by Zucker Abrahams Zucker (ZAZ), The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (The Naked Gun) followed the cheap gags, jokes, and utter nonsense is the trademark of ZAZ productions and was the first in a trilogy revolving around spoofing the Los Angeles Police Department. In The Naked Gun Leslie Nielsen reprised his role as the incompetent Lt. Frank Dreben.
The 1988 movie revolved around a consipracy by Vincent Ludwig (Ricardo Montalban) to kill Queen Elizabeth II on a visit to Los Angeles. Of course Drebin is assigned to the case, and thwarts Vincent's attempts to kill him, at one point having one of Vincent's men fall into a vat of hot dogs which Vincent eats later on in the movie. The movie climaxes with a baseball game at Dodger Stadium where Drebin masqueades as Enrico Polozzo, who was supposed to sing the national anthem (which Dreben ums and ahs his way through), and then the home plate umpire, as he searches for the assassin hired by Vincent who meets his demise after falling over the railing at the stadium and into the parking lot, then getting run over by a bus, a steamroller, and then marched over by the USC Band playing Louie, Louie.
This movie would not be complete without mentioning the goofy love story entangled along with it which can be summed up in this:
Drebin: Say, nice beaver!
Jane: (hands him a taxidermied beaver) Why thank you... I just had it stuffed.
Quotes
- Drebin: I think Ludwig's involved in this right up to his pretty important shirt collar!
- Spectator at Baseball Game: Kick him in the balls!
- Drebin: Like a midget at a urinal...I was going to have to stay on my toes.
- The mayor of Los Angeles: Sexual assault with a concrete dildo?!
- Drebin: Like a blind man at an orgy, I was going to have to feel my way through.
Cast
- Leslie Nielsen: Lt. Frank Drebin
- Priscilla Presley: Jane Spencer
- George Kennedy: Captain Ed Hocken
- Ricardo Montalban: Vincent Ludwig
- O.J. Simpson: Nordberg
- Raye Birk: Mr. Papsmear
- Susan Beaubian: Wilma Nordberg
- Nancy Marchand: Mayor
- Jeannette Charles: Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II
- Ed Williams (II): Ted Olsen
- Tiny Ron: Al
- "Weird Al" Yankovic: Himself
- Leslie Maier: Herself
- Winifred Freedman: Stephanie
- Joe Grifasi: Pier 32 Dockman
- Tony Brafa: Enrico Pallazzo
- Lorali Hart: Fat Woman on Stadium Ledge
- Nicholas Worth: Thug #1
- Ronald G. Joseph: Thug #27
- Doris Hess: Nurse #2
- Charlotte Zucker: Dominique
- Larry Pines: Drug Dealer #1
- Tom Dugan (II): Drug Dealer #2
- Burton Zucker: Airport Photographer
- David Katz (I): Yasser Arafat
- Bob Lujan: Khadafi
- Charles Gherardi (I): Khomeini
- Prince Hughes: Idi Amin
- David Lloyd Austin: Mikhail Gorbachev
- Ken Minyard: Ken
- Robert Arthur (II): Bob (As Bob Arthur)
- Greg Breslau: Man Deleted from Fireworks Scene
- Sharon Breslau: Woman Deleted from Fireworks Scene
- Reggie Jackson (I): Angel Right Fielder
- Michael J. Montes: Angel Shortstop
- Charles Fick: Angel Catcher
- Lawrence Tierney: Angel Manager
- Hank Robinson: First Base Umpire
- Joe West (III): Third Base Umpire
- Jay Johnstone: Seattle First Up
- Randy Harvey: Seattle Pitcher
- Brett Bartlett (I): Seattle Centerfielder
- Dennis Packer: Baseball P.A. Announcer
- Dick Vitale: Baseball Announcer
- Dick Enberg: Baseball Announcer
- Jim Palmer (II): Baseball Announcer
- Mel Allen: Baseball Announcer
- Curt Gowdy: Baseball Announcer
- Tim McCarver: Baseball Announcer
- Dr. Joyce Brothers: Baseball Announcer
- Don Woodard: Airport Reporter
- Christopher J. Keene (I): Dock Policeman
- Mary Norman: Press Conference Panelist
- Susan Breslau: Woman at Police Station
- Rick Seaman: Truck Driver
- Fredric Arnold: Man at Queen's Reception
- Ron Tank: Press Conference Reporter
- Mallory Sandler: Nurse #1
- Edwina Moore: Stadium Official
- Jeff Wright (I): Stadium Head Usher
- Jim Smith (I): Stadium Janitor
- Mark Holton: Man in Stadium Crowd
- Jane Couris: Woman at Stadium
Rest of Cast Listed Alphabetically
- Sydney Urshan: Man Pushing Nordberg's Wheelchair
- Arthur Lamont Berger: Woman Hugger at Stadium (Uncredited)
- Maureen Flaherty: (Uncredited)
- John Houseman: Driving Instructor (Uncredited)
- Stuart Lancaster : Press Conference Toilet Voiceover (Uncredited)
- Conrad E. Palmisano: Hi-jacked Taurus Driver (Uncredited)
- Brinke Stevens: Woman in Shower (Uncredited)
- USC Trojan Marching Band: Themselves (Uncredited; Dubbed over by Rice University Marching Owl Band)
- Robert K. Weiss: Park Hot Dog Vendor (Uncredited)
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