cult film freak: army

Written by James M. Tate / 2/24/2014 / 1 Comment / army , bill murray , comedy , eighties , harold ramis , interview , ivan reitman , john candy , pj soles , warren oates

BILL MURRAY & HAROLD RAMIS WITH PJ SOLES IN STRIPES

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Harold Ramis as Zitsky</u></td></tr>
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<i>"That’s my favorite kind of acting," PJ Soles said in a Cult Film Freak interview, "when something’s real and the responses are real and, you know, Bill led the way and I followed."<b> </b></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>Bill Murray as Winger</u></td></tr>
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After
 MEATBALLS, director Ivan Reitman and Bill Murray filmed 
STRIPES, starring Murray and Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the summer camp 
comedy and between both films directed Bill in the now legendary golfing
 venture CADDYSHACK…<br />
<br />
In STRIPES, when Bill Murray’s 
John Winger, attempting to prove to his best friend Russell Ziskey, 
played by Harold Ramis, that he isn’t too old and/or out of shape to 
join the military, after completing only several trudging sit-ups, Ramis
 quips: "I think you're ready for the Special Olympics!” Well
 if not that, the Army, where Winger decides to go after having enough 
of a nowhere existence, and being dumped by his hot blonde girlfriend, 
who feels John’s antics just aren’t “cute anymore.” One of the funniest 
scenes (embedded below) involves the two friends in the recruitment 
office, awkwardly answering a particular question long before the <i>Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell</i> era… "We're not homosexual... But we are willing to learn."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Damn we love PJ</u></td></tr>
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Since
 Bill Murray is usually the endearing, independent rogue, it’s often 
missed that STRIPES really is a bonafide buddy comedy. Throughout the 
boot camp classic, Ramis is right by Murray’s side – they even hook up 
with two lady MPs together. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>PJ Soles recalls STRIPES with Bill Murray</u></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><u>Winger’s girl, Stella, is played by ROCK N' ROLL HIGH
 SCHOOL and HALLOWEEN starlet PJ SOLES, who recalls a sequence with 
Murray, along with Sean Young and Harold Ramis, when they use the 
general’s house for their own personal enjoyment… </u></span><br />
<br />
<i>Our
 scene that ended up being in the kitchen was outside, on a hill, 
looking at fireworks, and we were supposed to be going into the big kiss
 but instead, it was three o’ clock in the morning… </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>We were in Westwood. It was getting late. They shot Harold and Sean’s
 scene… their little love scene. And Ivan was, “Uh, I don’t know, we 
have to show somehow that you guys like each other. We’re gonna have to 
do something inside because we can’t go outside now, it’s too late. We 
can’t have lights outside. It’s a neighborhood.”  </i><br />
<br />
<i>We
 were talking in the kitchen… And Bill opens the refrigerator and takes 
out a carrot. And I just looked at him and said, “What are you gonna do 
with that?” And Ivan just said, “Bring the camera in here. Let’s roll 
it.” And we shot that in literally twenty minutes. With coverage and 
everything. And I love that. It’s one of my favorite all-time scenes and
 because of the fact it just happened so automatically.</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Conrad Dunn at Psycho</u></td></tr>
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And yet, STRIPES is not all fun and games. The opening twenty minutes, 
showing Murray’s downfall as a taxi driver, his breakup and the 
enevitable game-changing decision, has the somber cadence of a movie 
that’s not relying on joke-a-minute laughs. Winger is a real guy with 
real troubles, and has no idea what he’s getting into…<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>HulkaMania!</u></td></tr>
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Some great performances came out of the dire 
situation of two completely inept friends stuck in the hellish Boot 
Camp, including one scene leading up to the romantic tryst PJ Soles 
recollected...<br />
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When Winger attempts to go AWOL and 
Ramis’s Russell chases him outside the barracks, the two have it out, 
arguing intensely surrounded by ominous tanks...<br />
<br />
Murray
 and Ramis are quite funny together, but they can get down and dirty 
too. There’s a real edge to their chemistry here... And in films before 
and after, Ramis wrote many of the characters that made Bill Murray an 
icon.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhmp4HP9eFvreV-kQbKxldJSIpwQ-uUpJ3E0hiXeT5Xdhs8jBug86ufCdD5-RSgCVGjuaUiWLLyqr7y3JcLcyjc-U9GKDwy2Qa-DVNA0yx05qwjpI8JwkKku8wXuIU1yjdI7ITqc5Os6U/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-10-26+at+12.21.28+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1031" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhmp4HP9eFvreV-kQbKxldJSIpwQ-uUpJ3E0hiXeT5Xdhs8jBug86ufCdD5-RSgCVGjuaUiWLLyqr7y3JcLcyjc-U9GKDwy2Qa-DVNA0yx05qwjpI8JwkKku8wXuIU1yjdI7ITqc5Os6U/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-10-26+at+12.21.28+PM.jpg" width="173" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>This should be real!</u></td></tr>
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One of the great character-actors from the 
1970’s, Warren Oates, playing the gruff Sgt. Hulka, inserts an edgy 
brand of realism throughout the comedic proceedings. One scene that 
brings out intense acting on Murray's part has Hulka and Winger meeting 
alone in the barracks bathroom... Hulka takes off his helmet and 
challenges Winger to punch him in the gut, off the record. In this scene
 a subliminal connection occurs between the two loggerheads. Meanwhile, 
Oates' edgy dynamic is countered by John Larroquette who, playing the 
doofus Captain Stillman, is truly the unlikable antagonist and plays 
more for the zaniness of the picture.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>RIP for Harold Ramis on 2/24/2014</u></td></tr>
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John Candy’s Ox is the endearing scene-stealer, and 
winds up, during the troop's night out, mud wrestling a bevy of babes...
 But let’s shed some light on a few wonderful character actors, 
including John Diehl as the dimwitted Cruiser, who has played everything
 from a vice cop to a psychotic… Speaking of which, one of the most 
memorable rants comes from Conrad Dunn's Francis <i>Psycho</i> Sawyer: 
“Now, any of you homos touch me, and I’ll kill ya,” he growls during the
 troop's initial introduction. Leading to Hulka’s now iconic reply, 
“Lighten up, Francis.” <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>StripesScore: ****</u></td></tr>
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While a majority of the film occurs at Boot Camp, the film suffers <i>after</i>
 the troop passes a last-minute drill test, and, being sent overseas, 
Winger and Ziskey, along with Stella and Sean Young's Louise, steal an 
all-terrain recreational vehicle and wind up having to rescue their 
fellow soldiers, who had gone after them (mind you, Hulka <i>never</i> 
gets captured). This segment is awkward, way too long and not very 
funny, but STRIPES is the quintessential military comedy no matter… Even
 the flaws pass muster… And “That’s the fact, Jack!”<br />
<br />
Like
 ANIMAL HOUSE, Elmer Bernstein's music plays for theme more than 
laughs. The piano bar riff embodying Winger's lazy countenance aside, a triumphant score blares throughout, as if part of a genuine 
gung ho war feature (yet also reminiscent of Berstein's patriotic marching romp from 
Steven Spielberg's zany 1941)...<br />
<br />
This allows the humor to subtly intrude 
upon the gritty location, which is a character in itself: Harboring two 
buddies (and real life creative partners continuing in GHOSTBUSTERS and 
GROUNDHOG DAY) who will always be remembered within the high ranks of 
cinematic glory.

army, bill murray, comedy, eighties, harold ramis, interview, ivan reitman, john candy, pj soles, warren oates

BILL MURRAY & HAROLD RAMIS WITH PJ SOLES IN STRIPES

Harold Ramis as Zitsky "That’s my favorite kind of acting," PJ Soles said in a Cult Film Freak interview, "when somethi...

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