Christi Dodge  0:00  

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Brennan  0:30  

You’re listening to Dodge Movie Podcast. Your hosts are Christi and Mike Dodge the founders of Dodge Media Productions. We produce films and podcasts. So this is a podcast about films. Join them as they share their passion for filmmaking.

Christi Dodge  0:47  

Welcome back, everybody to the Dodge Movie Podcast. This is episode 139. And we are talking about night shift the 1982 film

Mike Dodge  1:01  

So has anybody else ever seen this but me?

Christi Dodge  1:05  

Oh, yeah, I saw it.

Mike Dodge  1:06  

Okay. 

Christi Dodge  1:06  

In the 80s. 

Mike Dodge  1:07  

Alright.

Christi Dodge  1:08  

Yeah, it’s a fun one. 

Mike Dodge  1:09  

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody else talk about I thought this might be one of those that I think I rented on video cassette. So sorry, Mr. Howard. I don’t think I paid for a movie seat. I don’t remember other people talking about this one. So.

Christi Dodge  1:23  

It’s interesting, because we you know, we know Ron Howard today, you know, very prolific, right? Yeah. But this was straight, in fact that I was gonna say this was straight from Happy days. But well, Henry Winkler was still I think Ron Howard had stepped away from Happy days. And maybe it was that Joanie Loves Chachi kind of era where they did a little bit of Happy Days, maybe it was, was routine, like at college or whatever. They because Henry Winkler would come sometimes from the set of Happy Days to the filming of this, and I’m going to jump ahead a little bit and then we’ll come back to all of it.

I want to say that some studios were a little nervous of giving this this, you know, the director the helm of this to Ron Howard, because he was so green. I don’t believe he had he had directed much.

Mike Dodge  2:20  

I think he did only did one B movie before before.

Christi Dodge  2:25  

So Ron Howard was the director and we know him from splash and ad for Parenthood in 89, Apollo 13, and 95. A Beautiful Mind in 2001, and many, many others. Yes, this was the first studio picture that he had directed. It stars Henry Winkler. And it was the first starring role for even Michael Keaton. So there’s a lot of firsts in this one, which is kind of fun. Shelley Long isn’t this Gina hight? Clint Howard of course, because Ron does not make a movie without hiring his brother, which I think is sweet. That’s kind Jade Barrymore, which is Drew Barrymore’s mother and Richard Belzer, which is kind of fun.

Later. Belzer goes on to do SBU Law and Order SVU and I believe Henry Winkler comes on as, like a serial killer or something. So I just think it’s hilarious this Richard Belzer is a bad guy in this then goes on to be a cop.

Mike Dodge  3:24  

Right? Well, and Henry Winkler goes on to have a recurring role on Arrested Development, which was created in by Ron Howard. 

Christi Dodge  3:33  

Yes, yes. The DP was James James crave who did Rocky in 76. The China I know The China Syndrome and 79 and Karate Kid part due for the in 86.

Mike Dodge  3:47  

So the studio paid for a good DP for Mr. Howard.

Christi Dodge  3:51  

Yes, they did. And they had amazing writers. I mean, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel…

Prolific 

…are well well known, you know a lot of their movies they also did Splash and Parenthood, Robots, the the animated movie, A League of Their Own, Multiplicity I mean, they are like a powerhouse in Hollywood.

Mike Dodge  4:12  

Ooo,  Multiplicity is also Michael Keaton joint right?

Christi Dodge  4:15  

I don’t know think I started that might be a major studio partners finances movie and Warner Brothers distributed it the synopsis for this film is a mild mannered morgue attendant is assigned to the night shift and his new coworker along with his prostitute neighbor convince him of running a prostitution ring out of the morgue.

Mike Dodge  4:37  

You know what was never established? Yeah, that I recall is why he ended up with that job given his his finance skills.

Christi Dodge  4:48  

I think they said it early on. It’s because the boss’s nephew got the day shift.

Mike Dodge  4:55  

Right got the day shift. He was moved from the from the day shift to the night shift yet We’d never heard why he had the day shift like he was in finance there. The stress got to him. But why would you take a job in a morgue?

Christi Dodge  5:11  

Maybe it was.

Mike Dodge  5:13  

Sorry, I just just thinking h&r block would be maybe lower stress. But anyway, right? Yeah, I don’t know. Yeah. It doesn’t matter by the premise. Right. Yeah.

Christi Dodge  5:22  

Okay. Let’s see. I have five taglines for you to choose. See if we hit it out of the park better than last week Cinco. Meet the mousy. Nobody who became a spunky somebody? Okay, not bad. I’ve never heard of a man called mousy. Usually, I’ve only heard the adjective used with a woman. 

Mike Dodge  5:45  

Um, I would say is maybe more common with women. But I think it makes sense.

Christi Dodge  5:51  

Ever since two enterprising young men turned the city Morgan to his swinging business people had been dying to get in. Nope. too. Too cute, too clever? 

Mike Dodge  6:02  

Nobody dies to get with a hooker. Okay, that’s, well, that’s their business. So it doesn’t make any sense to any words doesn’t make any sense.

Christi Dodge  6:14  

It makes the day seem dead. Oh, that doesn’t even make sense. Together. They’re going to make the day pay off all night long.

Mike Dodge  6:27  

Okay, now very good either 

Christi Dodge  6:28  

The oldest profession in a new look comedy. 

Mike Dodge  6:33  

Hmm. 

Christi Dodge  6:34  

So the first one? Yeah, I think first that was our best. So this was based on a story that I believe Baba Liu heard about somebody running a prostitution ring out of the morgue is clever because no one really wants to go there. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, so they wouldn’t be investigating. So a little bit of trivia. This is early screen roles for Kevin Costner and Shannon Doherty. Kevin Costner plays the frat boy in the morgue party scene. It’s a non speaking part, but he can balance a solo cup on his forehead and dirty plays the Bluebell kind of like a girl scout in the elevator scene with one line.

Mike Dodge  7:15  

Similar to be legally distinct from the Girl Scout. 

Christi Dodge  7:18  

Yes, let’s make that clear Girl Scout says Henry Winkler took this role of the wimpy mortgage director to play opposite is macho Fonzie character. He said he thought he’d play Richie Cunningham for once. He also spoke in an interview about Ron and Michael and and they talked about how they all love the Howard Hawks films. And and you can imagine that some of the morgue scenes they kind of have they were seeing that sped up 40s kind of accent kind of like in His Girl Friday. 

Mike Dodge  7:52  

Yeah. So what to say there? Yeah.

Christi Dodge  7:55  

This was the very first collaboration with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.

Mike Dodge  7:59  

This worked out to be lucrative.

Christi Dodge  8:01  

I think, Oh, this is what I was talking about. Richard bills are plays one of the thugs and is Oh, and in real life is Henry Winkler’s cousin and they didn’t know this until they got on the set of Night Shift.

Mike Dodge  8:11  

That they were cousins or that they’re on the same film.

Christi Dodge  8:15  

That they were cousins. Wow. And then bells are goes on to be part of Law and Order Special Victims Unit UPS specifically trained squad of detectives in New York City Police Department that investigates sexually related crimes, and he got his start in a movie about sexually related crimes.

Mike Dodge  8:35  

I’m just going back to how can you because it’s a no no.

Christi Dodge  8:40  

No, no. And then if you guys keep your eyes peeled one of the women in the prostitution ring her the actresses name is Ola Ray and she is the girl that plays Michael Jackson State in the video thriller Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Mike Dodge  8:56  

So she was busy in the 80s

Christi Dodge  8:58  

She was she had a good career. Alright, what’s the pickup line for Night Shift?

Mike Dodge  9:03  

“Hey, you’re going the wrong way?”

Christi Dodge  9:05  

Oh, well that kind of tracks a little bit bad. So the reason that Mike for any new listeners says the pickup line is he has a theory that it and it’s not just your theory, right this is?

Mike Dodge  9:18  

As far as I know. It’s my theory. Okay. I probably learned from John Wooden or somebody.

Christi Dodge  9:24  

But I thought when we had Dustin on he said that your first line should kind of kickoff what the feel of the movies gonna be.

Mike Dodge  9:35  

Well, in general in storytelling, that’s true, but i don’t know i love it if Truffaut or somebody like said this and I is parallel evolution, but more likely somebody bright said it and I read it and then forgot to give them attribution. But yeah, the idea here behind it is just you want to get into the action as fast as possible and so you can establish your theme your your A thesis statement immediately.

Christi Dodge  10:01  

So speaking of that, that it got into your head I watched an interview with lol and Baba Liu. Right? He said that he was watching an episode of The as at The Mary Tyler No, The Dick Van Dyke Show, the one where Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke are married. You remember that one? That’s probably the big Van Dyke Show. He said, and there’s a scene where they’re called to the principal’s office, and they’re talking to the principal, and they’re kind of you know, they’re feeling bad that their kid did something wrong and got themselves in trouble. I think Dick says something kind of, like, blames Mary for something. 

And he was like, I had no idea that probably I’d watched that when I was younger. That got embedded into the back of my head. And then when he does parenthood, Oh, okay. I could tell you didn’t know where it was.

Mike Dodge  11:02  

I didn’t know where you’re going.

Christi Dodge  11:05  

Yes, yeah. And so he was like, I didn’t mean to copy that. But just stuff happens. stuff gets put in.

Mike Dodge  11:13  

Yeah, that very well. Could be. Yeah, so I mentioned John Wooden, because there’s an aphorism I came up with, and I was very proud of myself. And then years later, I read that John Wooden said it. So I’m sure I read that in high school, and just forgot where I read it. And then one day, many years later, thought I was being intelligent. So kind of like Racer X is brother. Oh, gosh, yes. For the listener, the basically through nine years, I’m not nearly as bright as I think I am.

Christi Dodge  11:44  

Not true, not true. You’re very bright. And then I felt like this was very cliche in the 80s women when maybe this is all time but it just very much felt like women just working really hard to work out and break a sweat and lose weight. 

Mike Dodge  12:01  

Oh, but in particular with the ridiculous exercise equipment. So in this one, it’s one of those stationary bicycles where the handles go forward and backward. And I don’t know if he you’re supposed to like work I thought moved or something. Yeah, your abdomen or something. But it sets up a great scene when Henry Winkler’s character tries to lean in for a kiss. Like that’s how I kind of dopey he is that she’s wiggling back and forth and he’s trying to get a kiss she’s Wait, wait till she finishes 

Christi Dodge  12:30  

Yeah. And then I wrote that I said, they tried to kiss funny sight gag. Yeah, yeah. There’s the your ubiquitous crowded subway scene montage. When as he’s going to work, I think.

Mike Dodge  12:42  

And I believe they shot that on the actual subway it looked like which, again, only in New York, because you move a film crew onto a subway car. And no one cares, right.

Christi Dodge  12:56  

Leonard Carbone? I love the name. Yeah, that’s the boss’s nephew.

Mike Dodge  13:02  

Oh, yeah. There’s a great line in there. He says, oh, yeah, I think he’s my nephew. He’s your nephew.

Christi Dodge  13:09  

But under writing I have. He comes to work on that first day that he’s on the night shift. He’s setting up his desk. Pulling plants out of lockers. Putting his pictures on his desk. It just so reminded me of that scene from Joe Versus the Volcano when he’s setting up his desk to make it personal because since he shares a desk with Leonard carbone, he has to any brings the plants out, and he’s setting it up and it’s like quiet and peaceful and then incomes Michael Keaton as Bilbo Blazejowski.

Mike Dodge  13:46  

That I have a note here under sets at the morgue office reminds me of Joe Versus the Volcano. Yes. And I also made a note of the old Ficus in a locker gag. I don’t see that as much anymore. But from a writing perspective, right, the fact that he just you know goes along with being transferred to the night shift. And that he knocks quietly on the door when he has to tell the neighbor to be quiet. Both established that check is very meek character, which at the time was playing against type as we mentioned that he’s playing Fonzie. However, knowing Henry Winkler and all of his work since this doesn’t seem too far out. This seems exactly kind of in his oeuvre, because he is a sweet person. He’s not, you know, the Fonz. That’s just acting.

Christi Dodge  14:38  

He is known, like, I defy you to pick the find someone in Hollywood that says he was a dick.

Mike Dodge  14:44  

Right. It’s just and we just saw on on a documentary show where a professional football player he’d invited him to his house. He was going to make him like I think it was like some sort of chicken dish or something and than watching this player interact with him, you’re just like, oh my gosh, she really is just the sweetest person. So the thought of him like this kind of really is closer to who I think he is walking around. And the thought of the Henry Winkler that we’ve come to know and love. Being a pimp is hilarious, right? Like, that’s just naturally funny.

Christi Dodge  15:17  

Well, he didn’t. I mean, this wasn’t his idea. He didn’t come to it. This was definitely Bill’s idea. And he kind of drugged him along. Right. But I think they both took joy in that they were doing it in a different way that, you know, I love the profit sharing.

Mike Dodge  15:36  

Well see that’s what I remembered from this film is, you know, it is a comedy, and it’s kind of broad in some places. But the fundamental conceit of Wait a second, there’s a lot of money changing hands here, and the people doing the work are getting so little of it, that itself is naturally an opportunity for oh, gosh, what are the startup? People say it, there’s some term they have to, you know, revolutionize the market or disrupt, that’s it, they call disrupt the market. This is ripe for disruption, someone could come in. And then you might say, Oh, well, it’s illegal. And hence, it would be difficult to disrupt it. Okay, but even just locally, right, even if you don’t make a franchise, if one individual gives the girls twice as much money, he would then acquire the best talent. 

So that’s a fundamentally, I’m sure there are other factors at play. But it makes sense. Like, logically it holds together that a person like him in finance, would look at this and say, Oh, well, there’s a ton of money. You guys are leaving on the table? Let’s fix that.

Christi Dodge  16:42  

Yeah. And they think it very much it was a little bit of an empowerment. Yeah, not saying that this could maybe actually be the living in the world of the film. Let’s just say that, you know, who was I just listening to? Oh, it was was John Landis. I was doing so much research for all our films. They’re bleeding together. But somebody or it was, oh, it was Eddie Murphy. It was Eddie Murphy, because we have training places coming up. And he was saying, I don’t think film should try to speak to is kind of like what Barkley said, right? I don’t look to films to look for a message. We’re just trying to entertain you. I’m trying to make you laugh or smile, or cry or have an emotion over the next two hours. 

We’re not trying to and this was in the 80s. And so maybe some filmmakers, you know, I would say a Darren air, or I can’t say his last name Aronofsky enough? Yeah, he definitely is trying to put forth a message. But he was saying, like, I’m not trying to give you a message or a lesson, or I’m not trying to teach you anything or enlighten you. I’m just trying to entertain you. And so in this world of the, it’s very empowering for these women to now be making, probably eight times what they used to.

Mike Dodge  18:05  

And as we establish, they purchase a burger franchise, right. And I would argue that I think the mob has laundered money through fast food franchises, too. So.

Christi Dodge  18:16  

But that’s not why they were doing it, weren’t they trying to better that like, guess what, you don’t have to lay in your back anymore, you can actually run this franchise.

Mike Dodge  18:23  

Yes. But I think it still is money laundering, because they invested the money from their criminal activities into and now it’s legal money. So nonetheless, my point is just that it’s actually kind of empowering in that universe, right, I think. And so you see that, that the women that work for this organization, they are happier and better off. And one of the things that they don’t really address is providing safety for these individuals who are in essence working without a place of business. They’re kind of, I guess, independent contractors, but security would be a big deal, especially if there’s money involved. But that’s important right now, like you said, we’re not we’re not trying to, to put together a blueprint on how to do this. It’s just a movie. 

Christi Dodge  19:13  

It’s just a movie. There’s montage when they are making all of the money and the the song that’s playing as girls know how to do so kind of that just furthers the, you know, kind of that they’re being empowered. Oh, I love all of Bill’s inventions like edible garbage. Feeding mayo to tuna to make making tuna salad easier.

Mike Dodge  19:43  

Let’s just like making foie gras.

Christi Dodge  19:45  

This was all done in New York City and that very much you get the feel from downtown New York and all the sex shows in Times Square because this was the 80s it was before Times Square got kind of cleaned up. Is there anything else you have? I have one thing in Sound I was gonna say.

Mike Dodge  20:04  

Well, from a writing perspective, there’s another thing that’s not quite explained, which and maybe the answer is this is New York in the 80s. But why is there a, like bellicose, belligerent, violently aggressive dog just wandering the hallways of this apartment building? A small dog, right? And just everybody’s like, Oh, you know, there’s a dog.

Christi Dodge  20:27  

It’s like a Rottweiler. Some is a big dog.

Mike Dodge  20:29  

There’s a big dog and he seems pretty angry. 

Christi Dodge  20:31  

Yeah, yeah. That was never explained. 

Mike Dodge  20:34  

Yeah, yeah. Okay.

Christi Dodge  20:36  

Sorry.

Mike Dodge  20:37  

Yeah. It’s also interesting that the giant cowboy who is a patron of Shelly Long’s character is wearing some tighty whities that have a high waist that would have been in fashion in 1776. Perhaps not in 1981 those suckers were tall. Yeah, it was quite a quite a bit underpants.

Christi Dodge  21:00  

Well, we get a return of Burt Bacharach.

Mike Dodge  21:04  

Get out do was he busy during the 80s or was what.

Christi Dodge  21:06  

He was very busy. He was living it up. We have a friend who helped him home one drunken evening. Well, I wonder if it was in the 80s?

Mike Dodge  21:16  

he was probably partying pretty good. He’s movies.

Christi Dodge  21:20  

So in this film, you hear the first recorded version of That’s what friends are for by Burt and his I believes they were married, but maybe I’m getting this confused. She was marrying somebody else. Um, Carole Bayer Sager. It was first recorded in 1982 by Rod Stewart for this soundtrack. But then it was made globally famous three years later by Dionne Warwick with a collection of known vocalists, including Gladys Knight, Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder. And their version went to number one for three weeks on the Billboard charts in 1986. It was recorded as a benefit for the American Foundation for AIDS research. The sale of that record made $3 million for that cause.

Mike Dodge  22:08  

So I would say that I had never heard the Rod Stewart version, but I saw this film, so I obviously heard it at least once. But I thought the Dionne Warwick version was the only version.

Christi Dodge  22:18  

Agreed. All right, any head trauma in the film Night Shift?

Mike Dodge  22:22  

Well, as we mentioned, Chuck gets us in my head but when he tries to kiss Charlotte when she’s on the exercycle gets a Glasgow kiss. Yeah, right. Very much. Good. Good. Call back. And then check throws the limo keys into Bill’s eye. So that’s kind of like head trauma. Yeah, ouch. Yeah, that’ll leave a mark.

Christi Dodge  22:42  

So we kind of smoochy there was a little bit Smoochie Smoochie Smoochie revealed in the head trauma. Was there another smoochy?

Mike Dodge  22:50  

Yes, then Belinda, kisses check in her apartment on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas.

Christi Dodge  22:56  

Happy Boxing Day. And how are they driving review?

Mike Dodge  23:01  

Well, you know nothing says pimp quite like a white 1980 Cadillac sedan. Deville Yeah, that was a pimp car. And then it was interesting that the morgue uses a 74 Cadillac ambulance. I didn’t know that this deep into the 80s. We are still using conversions of sedans for ambulances. I thought we had already moved to vans. And the reason for that I think, and I invite any of our EMTs to help me out on this one is because the van format with the box on the back, it’s easier for the EMT to work you can stand up and move around whereas in the back of this, basically yeah, ambulance and and hearse were basically the same chassis there. That was a little odd. 

At one point. He says it’s a limo, ain’t it? And then it’s a limo for dead people. So that’s an important distinction. I feel like Bill said that yeah, and then that silver 78 Buick Regal for the pinto bill that the guys drive has really been heavily modified. That’s not how it came from the factory. That the real key is those exposed side pipes along the car. Now why I mentioned that is that’s a great way to burn your leg get a car that’s it’s a tough tough thing you generally don’t want to do that.

Christi Dodge  24:21  

Yeah, a lot of people probably that worked around those had those like oval shaped yeah right have

Mike Dodge  24:27  

actually know a person who had exposed sight pipes on their vehicle and their date on their first day she burned her leg on in the side pipes not cool. There wasn’t a second date.

Christi Dodge  24:41  

All right, shall we go to the numbers.

Mike Dodge  24:42  

Let’s go the numbers. 

Christi Dodge  24:44  

All righty this? We watched this on Apple TV. I will say that but it was only 299. A probably because of how old it is. It had a budget of $8.1 million and it made $21 million. So it did quite well and adjusted for Today that would be like a film making 65 point 5 million. It got a score of 6.5 out of 10 on IMDb critics loved this film 93% audiences surprisingly not as much 63% I felt this film was pretty funny, so I don’t Yeah, I liked it. I’m not sure what they what they didn’t like about it audiences. It was an hour and 46 minutes in length, it was rated R or is rated R, and it is listed as a comedy. 

Michael Keaton won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award, which I think it’s deserved. And it’s kind of he speaks very, I don’t wanna say lovingly, he’s fondly Yeah, fondly of this film. And he enjoyed working with Henry Winkler, you found out that Henry Winkler didn’t Aurora. Shelley Long did not like working with Henry Winkler though.

Mike Dodge  25:56  

But I think it was the other way around. Henry didn’t like working Shelly Long.

Christi Dodge  25:59  

Oh, okay, I said it right the first time. So that’s a shame. He did mention it on one video I saw and he just said that she was a classically trained actor. And then he had Michael, who was kind of improving quite a bit. And that kind of was tricky to work between the two.

Mike Dodge  26:25  

So now I think we see why she was cast as Diane and cheers.

Christi Dodge  26:29  

Right? Little pinch faced a little bit. Okay. Join us next week when we are going to talk about trading places and then we will wrap up the month with Leaving Las Vegas. If you have not gotten your guests as to what the theme of this month is, please send it in to Christie at Dodge media productions.com And you can find that email link in the show notes. And never ever, ever forget.

Mike Dodge  26:56  

Dodges never stop and neither do the movies.

Brennan  26:59  

Thanks for listening to Dodge Movie Podcast with Christi and Mike Dodge of Dodge Media Productions. To find out more about this podcast and what we do. Go to dodgemediaproductions.com. Subscribe, share, leave a comment and tell us what we should watch next. Dodges never stop and neither do the movies.