The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

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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:: [ The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear ] ::

When The Naked Gun airs on broadcast, basic cable, and premium cable channels it is often edited for content and running time like other movies. However, over the years the film has been re-edited to force it to conform the current ideal of "decency". Most films are edited once and then dumped into syndication et al, making the continued attention to The Naked Gun quite curious. Examples of various scenes that have been edited over the years:

• The entire opening scene with Frank Drebin versus the world's terrorist leaders (circa 1988) in Beirut was cut after the events of September 11, 2001. The removal of this material means that the film suddenly begins with the words "PARAMOUNT PICTURES PRESENTS" over a black screen and accompianied by Drebin's (now purposeless and unexplained) scream as he falls from the window at the terrorist conference. Ed Hocken's later comments about "what you did in Beirut" now no longer refer to anything onscreen, too. The scene was restored in early 2004 for some showings.
• During the events of the O.J. Simpson murder trial the scene where Nordberg stalks around in the dark at the pier with a large knife was cut from the film on broadcast and basic cable. After the trial ended, the scenes were restored for later showings.
• Some people consider the "Nice beaver" / "Thanks, I just had it stuffed" exchange between Drebin and love interest Jane to be the funniest moment of the film. Some edits change Drebin's line to "Nice one", weakening the joke.
• While attending a press conference to discuss Police Squad's security plans for the Queen of England, Drebin forgets to turn off his wireless microphone before visiting the restroom. The gag is that the mayor attempts to continue the conference but is drowned out by the sounds of Drebin urinating and singing. Depending on which edit of the film you see, the scene may contain both the urination and singing soundtrack, only the singing soundtrack, or neither.
• After breaking into Vincent Ludwig's office to search for clues, Drebin accidentially sets fire to the office and destroys all of the valuable objects inside while attempting to escape from the inferno. Broadcast and basic cable edits of the film omit the sequence in which he climbs out onto the building's ledge, winds up clinging to a statue, and clumsily advances on a woman. This omission leaves Drebin's escape from the fire and the complete explanation for his dismissal from Police Squad to the viewers' imaginations.
• Near the end of the film Ludwig and Drebin have a final confrontation. In the severely edited broadcast version of the film there is an additional scene included to pad out the film's running time. The scene where Ludwig shoots Drebin in a piece of chest padding stolen from the baseball supply closet is not in any other version of the film. The padding deflates and the scene continues as in the theatrical version of the film, explaining why in the original version of the film the padding had suddenly deflated. This is not the only piece of cutting room floor edited back into the film, but the odd thing is that this shooting scene is the only gunplay in the film that is not part of a madcap joke; Ludwig actually tries to openly shoot Drebin here. While other "indecent" material is edited from the film, an actual murder attempt has been inserted into the film. And who says there are no double standards in Hollywood?

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References:
The Naked Gun DVD
http://www.imdb.com