Doctor Detroit
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Doctor Detroit is a 1983 comedy film, written by Bruce Jay Friedman and Carl Gottlieb. This film stars Dan Aykroyd, Howard Hesseman, Lynn Whitfield, Fran Drescher, Donna Dixon and a special appearance by James Brown. The film was directed by Michael Pressman.
Plot summary
A shy but gentle man named Clifford Skridlow is a professor of comparative literature at the financially-strapped fictional Monroe College in Chicago. A chance encounter with four beautiful women at a restaurant changes his life forever when it's revealed that they are actually high-class prostitutes. Smooth Walker, the girls' pimp, is in financial (and physical) danger due to his enormous debt with the gruff "Mom," a Chicago mob boss. Smooth invents a fictitious business partner, the flamboyant and no-nonsense "Doctor Detroit," in an attempt to save himself from Mom's wrath. Through a series of comical misunderstandings, Cliff is conned into becoming Smooth Walker's patsy, this Doctor Detroit, and embarks on a dangerous mission to protect the girls from Mom while keeping his secret from his strait-laced parents while simultaneously attempting to secure a large endowment for the struggling university.Cast
- Dan Aykroyd — Clifford Skridlow/Doctor Detroit
- Howard Hesseman — Smooth Walker
- Donna Dixon — Monica McNeil
- Lydia Lei — Jasmine Wu
- T.K. Carter — Diavolo Washington
- Lynn Whitfield — Thelma Cleland
- Fran Drescher — Karen Blittstein
- Kate Murtagh — Mom
- George Furth — Arthur Skridlow
- Nan Martin — Margaret Skridlow
- Peter Aykroyd — Mr. Frankman
- Glenne Headly — Miss Debbylike
- Annabel Armour — Airline Clerk
- Robert Cornthwaite — Professor Blount
- Parley Baer — Judge
- John Kapelos — Rush Street Dude
- James Brown — Bandleader (himself)
- Steven Williams — Junior Sweet
- Andrew Duggan — Harmon Rausehorn
- Peter Elbling — Guptor
Trivia
- The Illinois license plate on Dan Aykroyd's car ("BDR-529"), is the same plate that was on the "Bluesmobile" in the 1980 film Blues Brothers.
- The end of the film promises Doctor Detroit II, the Wrath of Mom which was in the works. But Doctor Detroit was a box office flop, prompting the studio to pull the plug. It's also possible it was merely a joke, parodying The Wrath of Khan, a highly-regarded Star Trek movie.
- James Brown performed the songs "Living in America", and the Doctor Detroit theme song "Get up Offa That Thing/Dr. Detroit".
- Devo performed the "Theme From Doctor Detroit" and had another track in the film, "Luv-Luv". There was an EP with the "Theme from Doctor Detroit", "Luv-Luv", and a remix of the theme released, as well as a music video for the theme incorporating footage from the film.
- Dan Aykroyd married Donna Dixon after working with her on this project.
- Futurama's villainous "Mom" appears to reference the "Mom" in Doctor Detroit, in that her henchmen are all-clad in grey, double breasted, chauffers uniforms, much like the henchmen in Doctor Detroit.
External links
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