Trading Places


Trading Places is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. It stars Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film tells the story of an upper-class commodities broker and a poor street hustler whose lives cross when they are unwittingly made the subject of an elaborate bet to test how each man will perform when their life circumstances are swapped. Trading Places also features Kristin Holby and Paul Gleason in supporting roles.
Harris conceived the outline for Trading Places in the early 1980s after encountering two unpleasant, wealthy brothers who were engaged in a continuing rivalry with each other. He and his writing partner Weingrod developed the idea as a project to star Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. When they were unable to participate, Landis cast Aykroyd—with whom he had worked previously—and a young but increasingly popular Murphy in his second feature-film role. Landis also cast Curtis, against the intent of the studio, Paramount Pictures. Curtis was mainly famous for her roles in horror films, something that was looked down upon at the time. Principal photography took place from December1982 to March1983, entirely on location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York City. Elmer Bernstein scored the film, using Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera buffa The Marriage of Figaro as an underlying theme.
Trading Places was considered a box-office success on its release, earning over $90.4 million to become the fourth-highest-grossing film of 1983 in North America. It also received generally positive reviews. Reviewers were consistent in their praise for the central cast, and appreciated the film's revival of the screwball comedy genre prevalent in the 1930s and 1940s. Criticism focused on the film lacking the same moral message of the genre while promoting the accumulation of wealth. It received multiple award nominations including an Academy Award for Bernstein's score, and won two BAFTA awards for Denholm and Curtis. The film launched or revitalized the careers of its main cast who would all appear in several other films throughout the 1980s. In particular, Murphy became one of the highest-paid and most sought after comedians in Hollywood.
In the years since its release, the film has been reassessed in positive and negative terms. It has been praised as one of the greatest comedy films and Christmas films ever made, but retrospective assessments have criticized its use of racial jokes and language. In 2010, the film was referenced in Congressional testimony concerning the reform of the commodities trading market designed to prevent the type of insider trading demonstrated in Trading Places. In 1988, Bellamy and Ameche reprised their characters for Murphy's comedy film Coming to America.

Plot

Brothers Randolph and Mortimer Duke own a commodities brokerage firm, Duke & Duke Commodity Brokers, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Holding opposing views on the issue of nature versus nurture, they make a wager and agree to conduct an experiment—switching the lives of two people at opposite sides of the social hierarchy and observing the results. They witness an encounter between their managing director—the well-mannered and educated Louis Winthorpe III, engaged to the Dukes' grand-niece Penelope—and a poor street hustler named Billy Ray Valentine; Valentine is arrested at Winthorpe's insistence because of a suspected robbery attempt. The Dukes decide to use the two men for their experiment.
Winthorpe is framed as a thief, drug dealer and philanderer by Clarence Beeks, a man on the Dukes’ payroll. Winthorpe is fired from Duke & Duke, his bank accounts are frozen, he is denied entry to his Duke-owned home, and he is vilified by Penelope and his friends. He befriends Ophelia, a prostitute who helps him in exchange for a financial reward once he is exonerated. The Dukes bail Valentine out of jail, install him in Winthorpe's former job and grant him use of Winthorpe's home. Valentine becomes well-versed in the business using his street smarts to achieve success, and begins to act well-mannered.
During the firm's Christmas party, Winthorpe plants drugs in Valentine's desk attempting to frame him, and brandishes a gun to escape. Later, the Dukes discuss their experiment and settle their wager for $1, before plotting to return Valentine to the streets, but having no intention of taking back Winthorpe. Valentine overhears the conversation and seeks out Winthorpe, who has attempted suicide by overdosing on pills. Valentine, Ophelia, and Winthorpe's butler, Coleman, nurse him back to health and inform him of the experiment. From a television news broadcast, they learn that Beeks is transporting a secret USDA report on orange crop forecasts. Winthorpe and Valentine recall large payments made to Beeks by the Dukes, and realize that the Dukes will obtain the report early to corner the market on frozen concentrated orange juice.
On New Year's Eve, the four board Beeks' train, intending to switch the original report with a forgery that predicts low orange crop yields. Beeks uncovers their scheme, and attempts to kill them, but is knocked unconscious by a gorilla being transported on the train. The four disguise Beeks with a gorilla costume, and cage him with the real gorilla. After delivering the forged report to the Dukes in Beeks' place, Valentine and Winthorpe travel to New York City with Coleman's and Ophelia's life savings to carry out the plan.
On the commodities trading floor, the Dukes commit their holdings to buying frozen concentrated orange juice futures contracts; other traders follow their lead, inflating the price. Valentine and Winthorpe short sell frozen concentrated orange juice futures contracts at the inflated price. Following the broadcast of the actual crop report and its prediction of a normal harvest, the price of orange juice futures plummets. Valentine and Winthorpe start buying futures at the lower price from everyone except the Dukes, to fulfill the contracts they short sold earlier, turning an immense profit. After the closing bell, Valentine and Winthorpe explain to the Dukes that they made a wager on whether they could get rich and make the Dukes poor at the same time, and Valentine collects $1 from Winthorpe. The exchange manager and his assistants approach the Dukes to settle their margin call. When the Dukes make it clear they do not have the $394million due, the manager orders the Dukes' exchange seats sold, and their corporate and personal assets confiscated, effectively bankrupting them. Randolph collapses holding his chest, and Mortimer shouts angrily at the others, demanding the floor be reopened in a futile plea to recoup their losses. The now wealthy Valentine, Winthorpe, Ophelia, and Coleman vacation on a tropical beach, while Beeks and the gorilla are loaded onto a ship bound for Africa.

Cast

As well as the main cast, Trading Places features Robert Curtis-Brown as Todd, Winthorpe's romantic rival for Penelope; Alfred Drake as the Securities Exchange manager; and Jim Belushi as Harvey, a party-goer on New Year's Eve. The film has numerous cameos, including singer Bo Diddley as a pawnbroker; Curtis' sister Kelly Curtis as Penelope's friend Muffy; The Muppets puppeteers Frank Oz and Richard Hunt as, respectively, a police officer and Wilson, the Duke's broker on the trading floor; and Aykroyd's former Saturday Night Live colleagues, Tom Davis and Al Franken, as train baggage handlers.
Other minor roles include Ron Taylor as "Big Black Guy", American football player J. T. Turner as "Even Bigger Black Guy" who only says "Yeah!", and Giancarlo Esposito as a cellmate. Trading Places also features the final theatrically released performance of Avon Long who plays the Duke's butler Ezra. The gorilla is portrayed by mime Don McLeod.

Production

Writing and development

In the early 1980s, writer Timothy Harris often played tennis against two wealthy—but frugal—brothers who were regularly engaged in a competitive rivalry and bets. Following one session, Harris returned home exasperated with the pair's conflict and concluded that they were "awful" people. The situation gave him the idea of two brothers betting over nature versus nurture in terms of human ability. Harris shared the idea with his writing partner Herschel Weingrod who liked the concept. Harris also drew inspiration for the story from his own living situation; he lived in a rundown area near Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. He described the area in grim terms as crime-ridden, and where everyone had either had a gun pointed at them or been raped.
Harris and Weingrod researched the commodities market for the script. They learned of financial market incidents including attempts by Russians to corner the Wheat market, and the Hunt brothers efforts to corner the silver market on what became known as Silver Thursday. They thought that trading orange juice and pork bellies would be funnier because the general public would be unaware such mundane items would be traded. Harris also consulted with people in the commodities business to understand how the film's finale on the trading floor would work. The pair determined that the commodities market would make for an interesting setting for a film, as long as that film was not about the financial market itself. They needed something to draw the audience in. It was decided to set the story in Philadelphia because of its connections to the founding of the United States of America, the American dream and idealism, and the pursuit of happiness. This was tempered by introducing Billy Valentine as a legless black man begging on the street. The pair knew that the method of Winthorpe's and Valentine's financial victory may be confusing to audiences, but the hope was that they would be too invested in the characters' success to care about the details.
The script was sold to the Paramount Pictures film studio under the title Black and White. Then-Paramount executive Jeffrey Katzenberg offered the project to the director John Landis. Landis considered the working title to be bad. Landis positively compared it to older screwball comedies of the 1930s by directors like Frank Capra, Leo McCarey, and Preston Sturges that often satirized social constructs and social classes, reflecting the cultural issues of their time. Landis wanted to update their films for the 1980s; he said the main updates were the swearing and nudity. Landis admitted that it took him a while to understand how Trading Places finale worked.

Casting

Trading Places was developed with the intent to cast comedy duo Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder as Billy Ray Valentine and Louis Winthorpe III respectively. The pair were in high-demand following the success of their comedy film Stir Crazy. When Pryor was severely injured after setting fire to himself while freebasing cocaine, the decision was made to cast someone else. Paramount Pictures suggested Eddie Murphy. The studio was initially unhappy with Murphy's performance in his first film, the as-yet-unreleased action-comedy 48 Hrs. —a film also conceived as a Pryor project. However, that film was well-received by preview test audiences, causing the studio to reverse its opinion. Landis was unaware of Murphy—who had been gaining fame as a performer on Saturday Night Live. After watching Murphy's audition tapes, Landis was impressed enough to travel to New York City to meet with him. Murphy said that he was paid $350,000 for the role; it was reported that the figure was as high as $1million.
Landis wanted Dan Aykroyd to serve as Murphy's co-star. He had previously worked with Aykroyd on the musical comedy film The Blues Brothers ; the experience had been positive. Landis said "he could easily play ... you tell him what you want, and he delivers. And I thought he'd be wonderful." Paramount Pictures was less enamored with Aykroyd. It was believed that he served better as part of a duo, as he had with John Belushi, akin to Bud Abbott working without Lou Costello as part of Abbott and Costello. Aykroyd's recent films had also fared poorly at the box office. He agreed to take a pay cut for the role.
The studio similarly objected to the casting of Jamie Lee Curtis. At the time she was seen as a "scream queen", someone primarily associated with the horror genre which was seen as comprising low-quality B movies. Landis had worked with Curtis previously on the horror documentary Coming Soon, for which she served as the host. She wanted to move away from horror films as she was conscious that the association would limit her future career prospects. She had turned down a role in the horror film Psycho II because of this—a film series which had famously starred her mother Janet Leigh in Psycho. Curtis had recently performed in the slasher film Halloween II as a favor to director John Carpenter and producer Debra Hill; she was paid $1million for that role, but received only $70,000 for Trading Places. When asked if she did research for her role as a prostitute, Curtis jokingly remarked "I'd love to say I went out and turned a couple of tricks on 42nd Street, but I didn't." Curtis had long hair when she was cast; the costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis suggested cutting her hair shorter for the film.
For the greedy Duke brothers, Ralph Bellamy was the first choice for Randolph. For Mortimer, Landis wanted to cast an actor famous in the 1930s or 1940s who was not associated with playing a villain. His first choice was Ray Milland, but the actor was unable to pass a physical test to qualify for insurance while filming. As the commencement date for filming loomed, Landis thought of Don Ameche. The casting director said that Ameche was dead; Landis did not believe that to be true. He contacted the Screen Actors Guild in an attempt to locate him. Theey confirmed that Ameche had no agent, and his royalty payments were being forwarded to his son in Arizona; Landis considered that to be indicative that Ameche was actually deceased. After hearing of Landis' search, one of the Paramount Studios secretaries mentioned that they regularly saw Ameche along San Vicente Boulevard in Santa Monica, California. Landis called the directory assistance service to locate a "D. Ameche" in the area and made contact. Ameche had not featured in a film for over a decade; when asked why he said that no one had offered him film work. The studio did not want to pay Ameche what Milland had been offered. As Ameche was financially independent and in no need of work, he refused to take the part until he received equal pay. Landis claimed that the studio reduced the film's budget out of frustration at Ameche's casting because of his long absence from film work.
John Gielgud and Ronnie Barker were considered for the role of Winthorpe's butler Coleman. Barker refused to act if it involved filming more than 7 miles from his home in the United Kingdom. G. Gordon Liddy, a central figure in the Watergate political scandal of the early 1970s, was offered the role of corrupt official Clarence Beeks. Liddy was interested in the offer until he learned that Beeks becomes the romantic partner of a gorilla. Paul Gleason took the role; his character reads a copy of Liddy's autobiography Will while riding the train. Don McLeod portrayed the gorilla. He became popular in the early 1980s for his performances as a gorilla in popular American Tourister commercials, which led to appearances in film.

Filming

began on December13, 1982. The budget was estimated to be $15million. Filming took place on location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York City.
The script underwent minor changes throughout filming; some improvisation was also encouraged. Changes were normally discussed in advance, but on other occasions, an unscripted piece of ad-libbed dialogue would be considered funny enough to keep. Examples of retained ad-libs include Valentine comparing Randolph to Randy Jackson of The Jackson 5, and demonstrating his "quart of blood" technique in jail.
Murphy described Trading Places script as good; he felt it was unlike the one for 48 Hrs., which he said had been saved by director Walter Hill. Even so, he modified many of his own lines because he said that a white writer writing for a black person would use dialogue like "jive turkey" and "sucker"; he could write himself to sound less like a stereotype. Weingrod said that studio objected to Murphy's line "Who put their Kools out on my Persian rug?" They believed it to be racist because the Kool cigarette brand was targeted mainly at African Americans; Murphy re-added the line. Another improvisation occurs when Ophelia pretends to be a European exchange student to fool Beeks. Curtis' mix of German attire and Swedish accent was because she could not perform a German accent.
The first fifteen days of filming were spent in Philadelphia. Landis described the weather at the time as freezing. While filming the scene where Randolph and Mortimer collect Valentine from jail, Landis was positioned in a towing vehicle that pulled the Rolls-Royce carrying Ameche, Bellamy, and Murphy. Landis wore a thick parka coat to stay warm, and the actors had a space heater in their vehicle; Landis listen to their dialogue via radio. During an intermission, Bellamy said that Trading Places was his 99th film; Ameche said it was his 100th. Murphy informed Landis that "between the three of us we've made 201 films!" Filming locations in Philadelphia included townhouses in Center City that served as the Winthorpe home exterior, and the Philadelphia Mint which served as the police station exterior. The exterior and lobby of the Wells Fargo Building serve as the respective exterior and lobby of Duke and Duke.
The Duke and Duke upstairs offices were filmed inside the upstairs of the Seventh Regiment Armory in New York. The Curtis Institute of Music is the exterior of the Heritage Club seen adjacent to Rittenhouse Park in the film's opening. The interior was filmed at the then-abandoned New York Chamber of Commerce Building. The park at Rittenhouse Square is the location where Murphy's character is introduced, pretending to be crippled. Independence Hall is also featured. During filming in Philadelphia, Murphy was so popular that a police officer had to be stationed outside of his trailer to control the crowds; Aykroyd had no one waiting outside his.
in the United States Virgin Islands
Filming moved to New York City in January 1983; many interior scenes were filmed there. In late January, filming took over two holding cells on the 12th-floor of the New York Supreme Court building on 100 Centre Street. Empty lockups in police administration buildings would normally be used, but because of the financial investment the production had made by filming in the city, the mayor's office agreed to accommodate Landis' request; the studio paid for any expenses incurred. The New York Times reported that while for years corrections department had failed to arrive on time for trials and arraignments, they moved nearly 300 prisoners through the 12th-floor that day.
The scene where Valentine and Winthorpe enact their plan against the Dukes was filmed at the COMEX commodity exchange located inside 4 World Trade Center. The lack of windows gives the appearance of the floor being situated below ground, but it was on a high floor. The scene was scripted to take place at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange but the filmmakers were unable to secure permission to film there. The scene was shot over approximately 3–4 hours a day over two days. It was scheduled to take place during a weekday but Aykroyd's and Murphy's presence on the floor distracted the active traders and over $6billion of trading had to be halted; filming was rescheduled for a weekend. A majority of the people on screen were real traders, alongside some extras. Landis said the traders on film were less physically rough with each other than they were during normal trading. Landis also performed some guerrilla filmmaking there for additional footage. Ameche was opposed to using foul language and often apologized in advance to his crewmates for what he was scripted to say; he only performed one take of his final scene where he shouts "fuck him" toward Randolph.
The final scene shot was of the main characters celebrating on a beach; this was filmed on Saint Croix island in the United States Virgin Islands. Principal photography concluded on March1, 1983, after 78 days.

Music

composed the score for Trading Places. He and Landis had previously collaborated on several films including The Blues Brothers and the horror-comedy An American Werewolf in London. Landis conceived of the idea to use the opera buffa The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as the underlying theme for the score. He had used classical music in his previous films to represent the upper social classes and felt that it would be fitting for the pompous financially elites of the financial industry. The Marriage of Figaro concerns the story of a servant who is wronged by his wealthy employer Count Almaviva, and takes his revenge by unraveling the count's own machinations.
Bernstein created his own arrangements of classical music to reflect the differing emotions of each scene. The overture of Marriage of Figaro plays over the film's opening. The score also includes arrangements of Pomp and Circumstance Marches by Edward Elgar, and Mozart's Symphony No. 41. Trading Places also features various songs including: "Do You Wanna Funk" by Sylvester and Patrick Cowley, "Jingle Bell Rock" by Brenda Lee, "The Loco-Motion" by Little Eva, and "Get a Job" by The Silhouettes.

Release

The summer of 1983 was predicted to surpass the previous year's own record-breaking $1.4billion in theater tickets sold. The season featured expected hits such as the third instalment in the Star Wars series, Return of the Jedi, Superman III, and the latest James Bond film Octopussy. Over 40 films were scheduled for release over the 16-week period. Studios had to stategize their releases to avoid damaging their own films' performances by pitting them against better-performing competition. Paramount Studios opted to position Trading Places at the start of the summer season, as those films expected to do well would benefit from being in theaters longer during the busy period. The comedy film was also considered to serve as counterprogramming, attracting those audiences that had already seen, or were not interested in the major film releases that were mainly focused on science-fiction and superheroes; it was released between Return of the Jedi in May and Superman III in mid-June. While sequel films were expected to do well from the advantage of having a built-in audience, Trading Places was predicted to be successful based on its star cast.

Box office

In North America, Trading Places received a wide release on Wednesday, June 8, 1983, across 1,375 theaters. The film earned $1.7million leading into its opening weekend when it earned a further $7.3million—an average of $5,344 per theater. Trading Places finished as the number three film of the weekend behind Octopussy, also making its debut that weekend, and Return of the Jedi, which was in its third week of release. The film retained the number three position in its second weekend with a further gross of $7million, behind Return of the Jedi, and the debuting Superman III. In its third weekend, it fell to fifth place with $5.5million, behind the debuting science-fiction horror ' and sex comedy ', Superman III, and Return of the Jedi.
While the film never claimed the number one box office ranking, it spent seventeen straight weeks among the top ten-highest-grossing films. By September, it was the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year with $80.6million. By the end of its theatrical run, Trading Places earned an approximate box office gross of $90.4million. It finished as the fourth-highest grossing film of 1983, behind Paramount Studio's surprise hit, the romantic drama Flashdance, the comedy-drama Terms of Endearment, and Return of the Jedi. Estimates by industry experts suggest that as of 1997, the box office returns to the studio—minus the theaters share—was $40.6million. Figures are not available for the film's performance outside of North America.

Reception

Critical response

Trading Places received generally positive reviews from critics. Reviewers compared it to the socially-conscious comedies of the 1930s and 1940s, like My Man Godfrey, Easy Living, Christmas in July, and Sullivan's Travels by directors like Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, and Gregory La Cava. Janet Maslin said that the "likable" film owed a debt to the screwball comedy genre. She continued, "Preston Sturges might have made a movie like Trading Places - if he'd had a little less inspiration and a lot more money." Gary Arnold said that the film was too inconsistent to be compared to those older films. Vincent Canby said that the screwball style had been updated for the "existential hipness" of the 1980s but the film lacked the same morality tale that often espoused that money is not important. Instead the characters do not dismantle or expose the corruption of the financial system, they just take revenge on the Dukes, obtaining extreme wealth in the process. Even so, he concluded that the film was one of the best American comedies released in a long time. Maslin agreed that the film was too enamored with the wealthy institutions it satirized to provide a true criticism of the system and its failings. She called it the American Dream in film form.
Dave Kehr said that though the film pays homage to screwball comedies, it stripped the concept of all but the "crudest audience-gratification moments" and avoided exploration of the genre's moral conflicts. In Varietys review, they concluded that the middle segment of the film lacked humor. People said that the ending was perfectly presented, but Arnold considered it to be confusing and reliant on the audience's knowledge that the "heroes" were being heroic to compensate for a lack of clarity in their actions. He continued that even as a farcical film, the events were too unbelievable. Roger Ebert said the ending was inventive for not involving a "manic chase". He appreciated that Trading Places did not rely on obvious racial plot points or employ sitcom tropes for the social-status swaps of Winthorpe and Valentine. He commended the focus on developing each character so that they were funny because of their individual quirks and personalities. He concluded that this required a deeper script that would normally be developed for a comedy.
The cast were all generally praised. Maslin called it a strange, but well casted film representing multiple Hollywood generations. Ebert said that what could have been stereotypical characters were elevated by the actors and writing. He continued that Murphy and Aykroyd made a "perfect" team. Canby said that Murphy demonstrated that he was the most successful comedian in the last decade. Several reviewers compared his role to his 48 Hrs. one; Arnold said that Trading Places evidenced that Murphy's successes were not a fluke. He continued that Murphy demonstrated an "exhilarating comic authority". Canby said that Trading Places gave Murphy an opportunity to demonstrate the wider range of his abilities in a "lithe, graceful, uproarious" performance.
Reviewers agreed that the film featured Aykroyd's best performance to date. People said that if audiences had given up on Aykroyd following the failures of Neighbors and Doctor Detroit, his career was revitalized by Trading Places. Canby said that Aykroyd gave a more consistent performance than in his previous roles. He said that Aykroyd had demonstrated that his success was not synonymous to his partnership with John Belushi. Arnold said that Aykroyd worked best when sharing a central role with another star. Rita Kempley said that his relationship with Murphy was just as enjoyable as his one with Belushi.
Variety said that the supporting cast in Bellamy, Ameche, Elliott, and Curtis, were essential to the film. Reviewers said that Curtis brought a deft comic ability to the role. Arnold called the role "stale" and "predictable" but countered that Curtis offered an "infectious" humor that earns the audience's support. People said that she had a significant appeal, and Kempley called her both "curvaceous" and "vivacious". Canby said that in her first major non-horror role, Curtis performed with "marvelous good humor". Kehr criticized Landis for often turning his heroines into "busty bunnies", and said that he had treated Curtis the same way. Ebert called the casting of Bellamy and Ameche a "masterstroke". Canby said that the pair had well written roles that were supported by their comic performances. He continued that Ameche was as funny in Trading Places as he was always meant to be.
People said that the film works because Landis demonstrated a "remarkable" restraint. Canby said that Landis had shown that he could direct a precise comedy as well as special effects-laden fare. Arnold disagreed; he said that Landis' comedic timing was less precise than in his previous work and that he lacked the skill to properly handle the source material. People said that Harris and Weingrod had developed a well-written script, but Arnold said that they had failed in updating the screwball genre to tackle social contrasts in a similar way.

Accolades

At the 41st Golden Globe Awards in 1984, the film received two nominations: Best Musical or Comedy and Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Murphy. At the 56th Academy Awards, Bernstein was nominated for Best Original Score; he lost to Michel Legrand's and Alan and Marilyn Bergman's score for Yentl.
The 37th British Academy Film Awards named Elliott and Curtis the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. Harris and Weingrod were nominated for Best Original Screenplay; they lost to Paul D. Zimmerman for the 1982 black comedy The King of Comedy.

Post-release

Performance analysis and aftermath

As predicted, the 1983 summer film season broke the previous years record with over $1.5million worth of tickets sold. It was seen as a substantial increase in spite of increased ticket prices. Even so, the year was a mixture of unexpected successes and disappointments. Films like Superman III and the action comedies Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 and Stroker Ace had failed at the box office. The science-fiction comedy The Man With Two Brains featuring an established star in Steve Martin had also underperformed. Conversely, Flashdance became an unexpected hit and the third-highest-grossing film of the year, despite a negative critical reception. In September, The New York Times wrote that Trading Places was the only film of the fifteen top-grossing films that could be recommended without reservation. The film was well-received critically and considered a significant commercial success, alongside Flashdance and Return of the Jedi. Then-production vice president of MGM/UA studio Peter Bart described it as a "gimmick" film that focused on a "high-concept" over story and characterization. Bart believed its success had set a negative trend that had resulted in him receiving numerous film pitches; often a mix of the high-concept nature of Trading Places with a Flashdance-inspired breakdancing or gym setting. Harris recalled people asking if the producer Aaron Russo or Katzenberg had created the idea and just paid him to write it. He said he knew it was a success because people were trying to take credit for it.
Trading Places is considered to be responsible for launching, changing, or re-launching the careers of many of its stars. Murphy's success was significant. He rose from a TV comedian to the superstar of two of the most successful films of the year. Industry experts voted him as the biggest box-office star after Clint Eastwood. No other African-American actor had achieved a comparable level of success before Murphy. It was reported that Murphy earned up to $1million for Trading Places, but by his third film, Beverly Hills Cop, he commanded a $3million salary. This was considered to be a top-tier salary among the most popular movie stars.
Shortly following Trading Places release, Paramount Pictures signed Murphy to a $25million five-film exclusive contract; it was one of the biggest single-actor deals ever at the time. The studio also agreed to finance his own Eddie Murphy Productions studio. Murphy was among several young stars that emerged that year, including Matthew Broderick, Tom Cruise, and Michael Keaton, all of whom were in their 20s. This was considered to reflect that average audiences were aging and now in their late teens to late 20s and led to a shift in focus away from making films that were targeted mainly at children. His rapid rise in fame led to Murphy leaving Saturday Night Live the following year; he said that he had grown to dislike the job and felt he was resented for his success.
After a series of film failures, Trading Places revitalized Aykroyd's career. Throughout the 1980s, he went on to star in the blockbuster phenomenon Ghostbusters, Spies Like Us, and Dragnet, and earn an Academy Award nomination for his performance in the comedy-drama Driving Miss Daisy. Trading Places is considered Curtis' breakout performance, allowing her to move into films outside of the horror genre; Actor John Cleese cast Curtis in the 1988 heist comedy A Fish Called Wanda specifically because of her Trading Places role. Curtis said that Landis had "single-handedly changed the course of my life by giving me that part." After not working in film for more than a decade, Ameche followed Trading Places with the 1985 comedy-drama Cocoon, for which he won his first and only Academy Award; Best Supporting Actor.
Landis continued to work as a director but suffered setbacks following a lawsuit over the accidental deaths of several actors on a segment he directed for Twilight Zone: The Movie, and a succession of moderately-successful films. According to Murphy, he hired Landis to direct his 1988 comedy Coming to America to help support Landis' career. The pair would have a falling out on the set of that film; even so they would collaborate again on Beverly Hills Cop III. Harris and Weingrod were also elevated to prominence as writers. They later sued the film's producer Aaron Russo for an agreed upon 0.5% of the producer profits share, estimated to be worth $150,000; the outcome of this lawsuit is unknown.

Home media

In the early 1980s, the VCR home video market was rapidly gaining popularity. In previous years, VHS sales were not a revenue source for studios, but by 1983 they could generate up to 13% of a film's total revenue; the North American cassette rights could generate $500,000 alone. Trading Places was released on VHS in May 1984, priced at $39.95. Paramount distributed its own cassettes and priced them significantly cheaper than the standard $80 price to promote home user VCR adoption. A successful film was expected to earn between $5million and $10million on the home video market. In the rental market, Trading Places was one of the more popular releases in May, alongside the action thriller Sudden Impact. Paramount signed an exclusive deal to show its movies, including Trading Places on the Showtime TV network for approximately $500million; this was seen as an attempt by Paramount to damage the network monopoly held by HBO that the studio saw as financially unfavorable.
Trading Places was first released on DVD in October 2002. A Special Collector's Edition was released in 2007 for DVD, Blu-ray, and HD DVD. This edition included deleted scenes, details on the film's production including discussions with the cast and crew, 1983 promotional interviews, and interviews with financial experts about the film. The film was also released in a pack that included Coming to America. To celebrate the film's 35th-anniversary in 2018, a special edition was released containing a Blu-ray and digital version of the film, and behind-the-scenes featurettes. A limited-edition release of Bernstein's score was made available in 2011. Only 2,000 copies were made and released by La-La Land Records.

Analysis

Ending explained

Several publications have attempted to explain exactly how Valentine and Winthorpe make a large sum of money on the commodities market while simultaneously bankrupting the Dukes. The fake crop report created by Valentine and Winthorpe indicates to the Dukes that the orange crop will be poor, making the limited stock more valuable. The Dukes attempt to buy up as many Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice futures contracts as possible to corner the market—effectively to own a substantial enough amount of the FCOJ stock that they are able to control the price of it. The other brokers realize what the Dukes are doing and join in buying futures. This demand significantly inflates the price to $1.42 per pound—each future represents several pounds of FCOJ. Winthorpe and Valentine begin selling futures at this inflated amount, believing it to be the peak price; the contracts will require them to supply FCOJ in April. Anticipating that the crop report will cause the value of FCOJ to rise far above $1.42, the other brokers purchase heavily from the pair.
Once the real crop report is published indicating that the orange crop will be normal and there will be no shortages of FCOJ, the value of the futures plummets as the brokers desperately attempt to sell their futures and limit their financial losses. Winthorpe and Valentine then buy back the futures from the brokers—except for the Dukes' broker Wilson—at the lower value of 29 cents a pound. The difference becomes their profit. Effectively, they have sold FCOJ they do not have at a high value and bought it back at a lower value, earning them a profit and eliminating the need to fulfill any contracts. Meanwhile, the Dukes have bought a significant amount of FCOJ futures, around 100,000 contracts or 1.5million pounds of FCOJ, and have been unable to sell any of them. When trading closes, they must meet the margin call—essentially a deposit—for holding the futures contracts. In addition to their basic financial loss by buying futures at up to $1.42 that are now only worth 29 cents, the margin call for holding the futures gives them a total loss of $394million in cash, which they do not have, requiring the sale of all of their assets.

Thematic analysis

The central storyline of Trading Places—a member of society trading places with another whose socio-economic status stands in direct contrast to his own—has often been compared to the 1881 novel The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain. The novel follows the lives of a prince and a beggar who use their uncanny resemblance to each other as a premise to switch places temporarily; the prince takes on a life of poverty and misery while the pauper enjoys the lavish luxuries of royal life. The Prince and the Pauper is seen as a classic tale in caucasian literature, but Trading Places adds a twist by casting an African-American as the pauper who is raised up in status, playing on fears of black usurpation and appropriation. The film has also been compared to Twain's 1893 short story The Million Pound Bank Note, in which two brothers bet on the outcome of giving an impoverished person an unusable million-pound bank-note. The choice to use Mozart's opera buffa The Marriage of Figaro also adds meaning. The opera tells the tale of a servant, Figaro, who foils the plans of his wealthy employer to steal Figaro's fiancee. When Winthorpe is driven to work during the film's opening, he hums "Se vuol ballare", an aria from The Marriage of Figaro, in which Figaro declares that he will overturn the systems in place. This foreshadows Winthorpe's eventual efforts to do the same to the Dukes.
The main theme in Trading Places is wealth or the lack thereof. Both extremes are depicted by those living in opulent luxury and those trapped in a culture of poverty—a concept arguing that poor people adopt certain behaviours that keep them poor. Harris has described the story as a satire of greed and social conventions, but in the end, the good guys win by becoming extremely rich. Economic inequality is demonstrated by the wealthy who live in absolute luxury. They are completely removed from those lives affected by poverty. This is demonstrated by the Dukes' bet, showing their own sense of superiority over, and disregard for the lives of those beneath them, even Winthorpe. Their only reward for the bet is personal pride. Carolyn Anderson noted that films often feature an "introduction" scene for characters elevated above their station, like Valentine, to help them understand the rules of their new world. Conversely, there is rarely a complimenting scene for those subjected to downward mobility.
Vincent Canby said that although the film is an homage to social satire screwball comedies of the early 20th century, Trading Places is a symbol of its time. Where the earlier films espoused the benefits of things other than money, Trading Places is built around the value of money and those who aspire toward it. The heroes win by making lots of money; the villains are punished by becoming part of the impoverished. The heroes' reward is escaping to a tropical island, completely divorced of the poverty-stricken neighborhoods they had previously been a part of. Money is demonstrably a solution to all of the problems raised in the film, and when it is taken away, it is shown that people quickly resort to a basic criminal nature. It can be seen as an example of supply-side economics, alongside films like the comedies Arthur and Risky Business. While seemingly supporting left-leaning political concepts by arguing that given an equal platform a street-hustler like Valentine can perform Winthrope's job equally well, the film promotes right-leaning concepts like President Reagan-era policies where the accumulation of wealth is important.
David Budd said that Trading Places defies expectations of racial stereotypes. Randolph's attempts to prove nurture wins over nature demonstrates that Valentine, given the same advantages as Winthorpe, is just as capable, and leaves behind the negative aspects of his former, unfair life. Even so, once the Dukes bet is complete, Mortimer reveals his intent to return Valentine to poverty, saying "Do you really believe I would have a nigger run our family business?"; Randolph concurs, "Neither would I". Budd concluded that the film is a "message loudly asking for a reassessment of prejudice, and for level playing fields." Hernan Vera and Andrew Gordon argue that racial stereotypes are enabled with the permission of the only black main character. As part of their revenge against the Dukes, Winthorpe disguises his identity by donning blackface makeup, an act enabled by Valentine who has helped loosen up this strait-laced character. Because Valentine allowed it, it makes the act acceptable. This requires Valentine to accept and support Winthorpe despite having numerous reasons to dislike him, including originally getting Valentine wrongly arrested and then later trying to frame Valentine to claim his old job back. Even so, Valentine befriends Winthorpe and helps him get revenge on the Dukes, the old establishment characters who demonstrate explicit racism. The film requires Valentine to himself put on a "white" act, performing as is expected of him to survive in the Dukes' world.
Gillian White and Bourree Lam argue that because the film identifies money as the most valuable thing, this, in turn, means that Ophelia is only valuable as a prostitute because she is financially intelligent. Hadley Freeman said that Ophelia is an example of the Smurfette principle, a female character in an otherwise male ensemble cast who exists to be pretty and rescued by men. However, it is Ophelia who rescues Winthorpe, helping him to survive his new lowered-state. Neal Karlen said that Ophelia becomes a real person following her monologue to Louis: "All I've got going for me in this whole, big, wide world is this body, this face, and what I've got up here ".
Trading Places also employs several conventions of its Christmas setting to highlight the individual loneliness of the main characters, in particular, Winthorpe. On Christmas Eve, Winthorpe humiliates himself in front of his former bosses, unwittingly losing his opportunity for his swap with Valentine to be undone by having become a criminal. While waiting outside a store, a dog urinates on him. He attempts suicide and only fails because the gun does not fire, and then it begins to rain on him. The following day offers a Christmas redemption and change of fortunes as Winthorpe is integrated into the non-traditional family unit of Coleman, Ophelia, and Valentine.

Legacy

Alongside the impact on its respective stars' careers, Trading Places is considered one of the best comedy films ever made and among the American Canon of comedies. In a 1988 interview, Aykroyd said that he considered it among his "A-tier" films, alongside Ghostbusters, Dragnet, The Blues Brothers, and Spies Like Us. Bellamy and Ameche reprised their Duke characters for Murphy's 1988 film Coming to America. Murphy portrays the affluent Prince Akeem who hands the now-homeless brothers a large sum of cash. Mortimer tells Randolph that it is enough to give them a new start. Of the two films, Murphy has said that while he "loves" Trading Places, he prefers Coming to America because he was able to play multiple characters in it.
Harris described one incident where a person told him that they had obtained a career in finance because of the film; Harris said that this was counter to the film's message. An anonymous seller sold off their portion of the royalties earned from the film for $140,000 in 2019. At the time, the share was generating an average of $10,000 per annum.
In 2010, nearly 30 years after its release, the film was cited in the testimony of Commodity Futures Trading Commission chief Gary Gensler regarding new regulations on the financial markets. He said "We have recommended banning using misappropriated government information to trade in the commodity markets. In the movie Trading Places, starring Eddie Murphy, the Duke brothers intended to profit from trades in frozen concentrated orange juice futures contracts using an illicitly obtained and not yet public Department of Agriculture orange crop report. Characters played by Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd intercept the misappropriated report and trade on it to profit and ruin the Duke brothers." The testimony was a part of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act designed to inhibit insider trading on commodities markets, which had previously not been illegal. Section 746 of the reform act is referred to as the "Eddie Murphy rule".

Lasting reception

Trading Places is considered one of the best comedies of the 1980s and the best Christmas films.
In 2015, the screenplay was listed as the joint thirty-third funniest on the WGA's 101 Funniest Screenplays list, tying it with Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In 2017, the BBC polled 253 critics from across 52 countries on the funniest film made. Trading Places came seventy-fourth, behind The Nutty Professor and . Several publications have named it one of the best films of the 1980s, including: number 8 by IFC; number 11 by number 17 by MTV; number 37 by USA Today; number 41 by Rotten Tomatoes; It has also been listed as one of the best comedy films ever by publications including: number 16 by Time Out; number 26 by Rotten Tomatoes; and number 48 by Empire.
Although the film's story takes place over several weeks leading up to and after Christmas, Trading Places is regarded as a Christmas film. In 2008, The Washington Post called it one of the most underrated Christmas films. The Atlantic described it as a less traditional Christmas film, but one whose themes remain relevant, particularly regarding the divide between the wealthy and poor. It has appeared on several lists of the best Christmas films, including: number 5 by Empire; number 12 by Entertainment Weekly; number 13 by Thrillist; number 23 by Time Out; number 24 by Rotten Tomatoes ; number 45 by Today; and unranked by Country Living and The Daily Telegraph. It has been a popular Christmas film on TV in Italy since its release there in 1984.
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 87%, based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 7.45/10. The site's consensus states: "Featuring deft interplay between Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, Trading Places is an immensely appealing social satire." Metacritic gave the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on 10 critics, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
In the years followings its release, some critics have praised the film while highlighting elements that have aged poorly and are now seen as problematic, including racial language, the use of blackface, and the implied rape of Beeks by a gorilla. The film's use of the word "nigger", said during Mortimer's statement that he will never allow Valentine to run his family business, is sometimes censored in TV broadcasts. Todd Williams, director of the 2004 documentary The N-Word, said that it is a critical scene that should not be censored. He considered it dangerous to pretend a word never existed as in turn other negative events could also be ignored. GQ argued that its social commentary remained relevant in spite of these elements. In response to the 2020 George Floyd protests about racial inequality, Trading Places was one of 16 films that had a disclaimer added by British broadcaster Sky UK. The disclaimer read "This film has outdated attitudes, language, and cultural depictions which may cause offence today."

Works cited

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