An Officer and a Gentleman
Life gave him nothing, except the courage to win...and a woman to love.
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
Production
Budget
$7 500 000
Revenue
$129 795 554
Director
Scenario
Douglas Day Stewart
Composer
Producer
Martin Elfand
Actors
Richard Gere
Zack Mayo
Debra Winger
Paula Pokrifki
Louis Gossett Jr.
Sergeant Emil Foley
David Keith
Sid Worley
Robert Loggia
Byron Mayo
Lisa Blount
Lynette Pomeroy
Lisa Eilbacher
Casey Seeger
Harold Sylvester
Perryman
Short description
Zack Mayo enrolls in a thirteen-week officer training course with the aim of becoming a navy pilot. At the camp he clashes with Sergeant Emil Foley, a hard-nosed instructor who pushes him relentlessly, convinced the young man has the makings of a good officer but is too wrapped up in himself. Mayo begins a relationship with Paula Pokrifki, a local woman, yet struggles to open up to her, and his friendship with a fellow candidate, Sid Worley, also shapes his time in training.
Taylor Hackford directed the film, his second feature following The Idolmaker in 1980, from an original screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart, with Martin Elfand producing. Richard Gere plays Mayo, Debra Winger plays Paula, and Louis Gossett Jr. plays Foley; David Keith, Robert Loggia and Lisa Blount appear in supporting roles. The production, backed by Paramount and Lorimar, cost about 8 million dollars and took roughly 130 million dollars worldwide, a strong return.
On IMDb the film holds 7.1/10 from around 67,000 votes, and on TMDB it has 7/10 from about 1,238 votes. A critics' rating of 7.5/10 from 33 reviews places it somewhat above the audience scores. The film runs 124 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- Filming took place from April 20 to July 1981.
- In the scene where David Keith's character swallows a wedding ring, the actor actually swallowed it, and then the ring was pulled out with a thread tied to it. In one interview, the actor said that the scene was filmed after approximately ten takes, and swallowing and then retrieving the ring from his stomach was not particularly pleasant.
- John Travolta, on the advice of his agent, declined the leading role offered to him in the film.
- Actress Lisa Eilbacher said after filming that the most challenging part for her was appearing clumsy and pretending to be out of shape while completing the obstacle course.
- R. Lee Ermey, a former Marine Corps drill instructor who later became an actor, trained Louis Gossett Jr. for his role as Sergeant Foley.
- Lisa Eilbacher (who played Casey Seeger) later admitted that the hardest part during the filming of the obstacle course scenes was portraying being out of shape. In reality, the film crew emphasized that she was in the best physical condition of all the actors.
- Richard Gere refused to film the final scene, where his character arrives at the factory where Debra Winger's character works in full dress uniform and takes her away with him. Gere believed that this ending was too sentimental. Director Taylor Hackford initially agreed with him, but was forced to film the finale, and after seeing the result, Gere was glad that he had insisted on it.
- The motel scenes were filmed at the Tides motel in Port Townsend, Washington. The room where the filming took place is marked with a special wooden plaque on the door, detailing this momentous event.
- Actor John Denver turned down the offered role, stating that the script he read seemed like a film from the 1950s.
- Debra Winger's character shows the character played by Richard Gere a photograph of her father, who also dreamed of becoming an officer. In reality, it was a picture of screenwriter Douglas Day Stewart.
- Richard Gere and Louis Gossett Jr. trained specifically for the karate scenes shown in the film. Gere mastered certain karate techniques, while they did not come easily to Gossett Jr. During filming, Gere accidentally struck Gossett Jr. in the groin with a kick, after which he left the set and did not appear for two days. To avoid interrupting filming, the filmmakers turned to a karate master who acted as Gossett Jr.'s stunt double. Nevertheless, this incident did not affect the friendly relationship between Gere and Gossett Jr.
- In the original script, the role of Zack's father, played by Robert Loggia, was much larger due to the fact that he visited his son during training.
- Director Taylor Hackford deliberately housed Louis Gossett Jr. separately from the rest of the cast to emphasize his alienation, an element of the drill sergeant character.
- Finding an actor for the role of the drill sergeant was not easy. The filmmakers approached several stars, but none of them expressed a desire to play the role. Mandy Patinkin (an American singer and actor) was liked by the producers during auditions, but his candidacy was rejected by director Taylor Hackford. Eventually, the producers moved their search to Florida, where they discovered that all drill sergeants were African American. This led them to Louis Gossett Jr., who was then cast in the role.
- The obstacle course was built specifically for the filming.
- The song playing when Paula and Zack are talking near the jukebox is "Tunnel of Love" by the famous band Dire Straits.
- The screenplay circulated through Hollywood for almost 8 years, but no one would take it on. Eventually, producer Don Simpson managed to convince Michael Eisner of Paramount Pictures, who was initially opposed to the project. The film's budget was $8 million, and the studio didn't expect much from the venture.
- Producer Don Simpson persistently, but unsuccessfully, demanded that the ballad “Up Where We Belong” be removed from the film, claiming that the song was unsuccessful and would never become a hit. Despite this, it rose to the top of the Billboard charts and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Don Simpson wanted to see another song instead, titled “On The Wings Of Love” by Jeffrey Osborne, which was released a few months later and only reached the 29th position on the music chart.
- According to naval tradition, a newly commissioned officer gives a silver dollar to the first person to salute him. In the scene where the drill sergeant, played by Louis Gossett Jr., is saluted for the first time by the graduating class, they themselves give him a dollar each. Also, in accordance with tradition, the drill sergeant puts the silver dollars received from the best students in his right pocket. The dollar that Gossett Jr.'s character received from the character played by Richard Gere went into his right pocket, while the dollar from Tony Plana’s character went into the left.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
