The hole truth in ‘Caddyshack’
5 fascinating facts from a new making-of book.
“Hey everybody! We’re all gonna get laid!”
Those are the immortal final words of Caddyshack, the irreverent 1980 comedy that has become an endlessly quotable cult classic after bogeying at the box office.
Directed by National Lampoon alum Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Ted Knight, the film follows a teenage caddie named Danny Noonan (Michael O’Keefe) who works at an exclusive golf course that has been shaken up by obnoxious new member Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) and a destructive dancing gopher.
But as we discover in Chris Nashawaty’s new book, Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story (Flatiron), the circumstances of making the movie were often more bizarre than what we see onscreen. Here are some of the more intriguing tidbits Nashawaty learned about the film’s crazy, cocainefueled production, through interviews with its stars and creators:
1 Mickey Rourke and Michelle Pfeiffer could have starred.
Bushwood Country Club could have looked very different. To play Al, Ramis initially considered Don Rickles but opted for Dangerfield after his gut-busting run of appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Rourke was one of two final candidates for Danny before it went to O’Keefe, and Pfeiffer turned down the role of blond bombshell Lacey (played by Cindy Morgan) because of the onscreen nudity. Pink Floyd also said no to writing original songs for the film, which Kenny Loggins later contributed.
2 Carl Spackler wasn’t in early drafts of the script.
The first 200-page draft was more of a coming-of-age movie than a comedy, centering on a love triangle between Danny, Irish club employee Maggie (Sarah Holcomb) and fellow caddie Tony (Scott Colomby). But as the story shifted to showcase the comedy all-stars in the cast, the Carl character came to life. The writers kept adding more scenes for the loopy greenskeeper during shooting as Murray improvised most of his dialogue, including Carl’s “Dalai Lama” exchange with Angie (Peter Berkrot) and his “Cinderella Story” monologue.
3 The gopher also became more prominent later.
Much of Carl’s hunt for the golfcourse-destroying varmint was added in post-production, after producer Jon Peters watched a 41⁄ 2- hour cut of the movie and brainstormed ways to structure the story. To add more scenes of the gopher, an animatronic puppet was filmed on a flatbed trailer covered in dirt, with recycled dolphin sounds from the 1960s TV show Flipper.
4 Chevy Chase and Bill Murray didn’t feud on the set.
The unspoken question throughout shooting was whether the Saturday Night Live veterans could keep the peace after a screaming match backstage at the NBC sketch show over Chase’s rising star and bruised egos. But when the studio requested a scene between Ty and Carl, the actors kept it strictly professional, playing off each other and even shooting another scene of their characters riding a lawnmower, which didn’t make it into the film.
5 Cindy Morgan says she felt exploited.
The actress agreed to appear topless for a sex scene between Lacey and Danny. But she wasn’t aware Peters had booked a Playboy photographer to come to the set to shoot her for a promotional spread in the magazine, which she initially had declined to do. She reluctantly agreed to go through with it when Peters threatened to end her career, but Ramis stepped in and canceled the shoot.