In case anybody's curious, since it might get lost a bit in what exactly happened on the trading floor at the end in this video, here's the breakdown. Valentine and Winthrope gave the Dukes a fake copy of a "leaked" agricultural report that said the orange harvest was going to be very low this year, which would make orange juice much more expensive. So the Duke's told their broker to just keep buying all the orange juice futures contracts he could no matter what the price was. For reference, that means they're paying whatever the listed price on the board was for batches of orange juice, and then down the road those batches would be delivered to them and they could hopefully sell them back at a profit. Since the Dukes were expecting an orange drought, they expected the price to continue to climb through the rest of the year and they'd be able to sell back their shares at a huge profit. Instead, though, the real report said the opposite, that the orange harvest was fine and there would be plenty to go around. So right before that information got released, Valentine and Winthrope started "short selling" on orange juice. What that means is they were telling other brokers "Hey, if you pay us now for a batch of orange juice at the listed price, we'll sell it to you later on once we have it in hand." So for instance they were selling a batch they don't own yet at $140 today, then later that week or whenever they use that money to buy the batch from somebody else at hopefully a lower price and keep the difference. And so when the report went public, and everybody else realized the orange harvest was great and orange juice prices were going to be really low, everyone started to sell the commodity since the price was super-inflated. Valentine and Winthrope made a killing, people had been paying them upwards of $140 a share for something that the two of them would later use that money to buy at only $20-30 a share. Meanwhile, though, the opposite happened with the Dukes, they had been promising everybody they would buy all their shares at that $120-140 rate, which cost them hundreds of millions of dollars, but the actual product they were buying was only worth 1/6 that amount, so they were in the hole for most of it. And with these futures contracts, part of the agreements are you have to put some percentage of the money up front in cash, which is why the Dukes were broke.
I regret that I only have one thumbs up to give your comment. So strange that even a layman like me understood it back in the '80s, but not too many people now. I guess wages are so low for young folks these days that investing is just a dream.
This movie inspired rule changes in the 2010 Wall Street Reform Bill. It contained something called the “Eddie Murphy Rule.” In Section 746 of Dodd-Frank Act, it finally became illegal to use non-public information from agencies like the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve and Department of Agriculture to trade in the futures market.
@@toastnjam7384 It was technically illegal then, but you basically had to be caught with the documents in hand. The law basically made the agencies meant to police insider trading proactive and raised the penalties from where they were set in the 20's to jailtime and a % of the illegal gains.
31:28 RE: Pacing - there's a reason a lot of the comedies from this era hold up. They focus on telling a good story about characters that you care about. So that you care about what's happening even when there's nothing funny going on. A lot of contemporary comedies wear you out, the jokes stop being funny after a while, (they're still funny, you're just not laughing at them any more) you stop caring, there's a reason stand-up sets cut it off at around an hour. If there's no story, you zone out. Some time late in the second act, the movie stops dead when you have to wrap up the story and the audience realizes there isn't one, at least not one they care about, and then it never recovers, leaving the audience with this vague feeling that it used up all its best stuff in the first twenty minutes. Movies like Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, and 48 Hours would all still be good if you took all the jokes out of them. Even cartoonish, fourth-wall-obliterating chaos like Airplane and Blazing Saddles had enough of an actual plot to hold your attention and get you invested in the characters between jokes
It’s not just comedies now, that holds true across the majority of films made, no focus on characters, just go go to, talk talk talk, it’s incredibly boring.
they had to return the case... so that he could give the duke's the information they wanted and assure that he gave them the report they wanted the duke's to have
This is why I hate modern movies and modern audiences, they don't have a f****** clue, everything has to be explained to them, and they actually think the world's financial markets and commodities are traded by app
One of the best films of the 80s saw it in the cinema in 1983 everyone was in stitches watching it. So many funny moments too many to mention. A great film to watch at Christmas time. Cannot believe this is 40 years old this year.
Yes, 'Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice futures' were and are still traded today. These days it's done electronically rather than on the exchange floor. Yes the old trading floors were chaotic. This movie even had an actual influence on financial regulation. When congress passed financial reform legislation (Dodd-Frank) following the financial meltdown and bailouts, it actually included an 'Eddie Murphy Rule' - finally making what they all were doing in the movie illegal.
The scene with the briefcase is a bit confusing - they first swapped the briefcase out, then looked at the report inside. Once they knew what the real crop report said, they swapped in a fake crop report and switched the briefcases back.
That wasn't John Belushi, that was his younger brother Jim Belushi! And one of the Gorilla handlers was former U.S. Senator Al Franken. The pawn shop owner was none other than the legendary Bo Diddley, too.
Great reaction, as always guys. As an 80's teen, this was my era. The rhythms and pace feel like a well worn pair of jeans. I appreciate modern comedy also, but what was lost along the way was the unchained nature of comedy at that time. You literally could do or say anything in comedy at that time; comedy was considered a "green zone" where nothing was off limits. We have put the bumpers down and the guard rails up. I understand the intentions, but I miss that mosh pit.
The funniest thing about this movie is that it's been a staple christmas movie in Italy, like everybody has been tuning in on christmas for thirty years.
A couple of cool cameos in this film often go unnoticed. The cop who discovered the PCP was Frank Oz, the original voice of Miss Piggie and several other Muppets. The shorter of the two gorilla keepers on the train was AL Franken, who got his big start on Saturday Night Live and later became a U.S. Senator from Minnesota, eh.
Frank Oz isn't even the only Mupper performer who appears; the Dukes' hapless trader Wilson is played by Richard Hunt, fellow original Mupper performer (responsible for Scooter and Beaker among others).
John Landis had some running gags across his films. One was Frank Oz made an appearance and a fake film "See you next Wednesday" would pop up somewhere. In this case the poster in JLCs apartment. He is also known for OTT car crashes.
Dan Ackroyd doing black face, you should see Silver Streak. Not Dan Ackroyd, but another well known actor. Another Eddie Murphy movie you may enjoy, Harlem Nights. If you're interested in some fast paced, witty comedy, try watching Abbott and Costello movies. Hold That Ghost, Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, Meet the Mummy, Meet the Killer, The Time of Their Lives. Also, The Philadelphia Story, Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House, Father Goose.
Love that you’re reacting to one of my favorite movies of all time. Your edit though cut out some of the funniest parts of the movie (ex., Billy Ray in jail and the jacuzzi scene). Doesn’t convey how truly hilarious the film is. Also, that was actually Jim Belushi, not John.
EVERY second of Dan (Winthrop) in that Santa outfit was comedy gold. I couldn't stop laughing. It was complicated to get the crip report AND needing the briefcase money from the Dukes to invest. Thanks Hayley for making me think about the Dukes gaslighting both guys (After everything we've done...). I no longer have a soft spot for these old villains. Great review.
1. The booking officer is Frank Oz. (various Muppets/Yoda) 2. Beeks/Paul Gleason also played Richard Vernon in "The Breakfast Club" and the idiot assistant police captain in "Die Hard". 😇 3. Landis didn't want Jamie Lee Curtis because she had always been a "scream queen" and he didn't know if she had the chops for comedy. 4. When everyone pauses in the restaurant it's a play on the old "EF Hutton" commercial. "When EF Hutton speaks everybody listens". 5. One of the most VHS pauses in history. Jamie Lee Curtis.😍🥰😋 6. GOOF: Where did Louis get the gun AND all those drugs for only $50?🤑Even in 1983. 7. Don Ameche's strong religious convictions made him uncomfortable with swearing. This proved to be a problem for the scene at the end of the movie, where he had to shout out "Fuck him!" to a group of Wall Street executives. When he did act out the scene, it had to be done in one take, because Ameche refused to do a second one. He also had an issue with the N word. 8. There's an Easter egg in "Coming to America" with the Duke brothers. Eddie Murphy at his best.
I've heard that rules at the stock exchange were changed after this movie came out, because of the film. Also...if you've seen 'Coming to America' starring Eddie Murphy......there's a scene of him on the street trying to help two homeless bums ( Randolph & Mortimer Duke ).
When you're watching these classic you have to take the value of money into consideration when you hear these large money amounts that's 1983 money like the $80,000 a year is $250,000 today
Someone on UA-cam adjusted the figures for inflation and I think they calculated that the Dukes would need to forfeit $1.4 Billion in Cash. Eddie's salary working for the Dukes came out to approximately $200k per year. Which would make sense to afford a butler. Jamie's Lee Curtis character's savings amounted to approximately $120k, earning interest.
In 1983 when this movie came out I was just about 16 and had a huge crush on Jamie Lee Curtis. Let’s just say after a certain scene I had a even bigger crush on her.😂
The scene with the other black employee shaking Mortimer Duke's hand is about the social racial office environment at the time. Essentially, he saw how well the Dukes were with Billy Ray and thought it was an opportunity for him to socialize with them as well. As for the suitcase, they needed it to appear like nothing happened for their plan to work, the original plan would have been Beeks delivering the file with no issues. Otherwise, they would have been suspicious about the trading they did later.
$80k/y in 1983 is equivalent to about $250k now :) T-bills are US Treasury savings bonds. You loan money to the Government for a set time period and you earn interest per year. The interest rate in 1983 would have been between 11-12%. Ophelia's 40k would be earning 4400 - 4800 in compounding interest :) 3 more years would put it at 54k if they were at 12%. :)
Don Ameche (Mortimer) HATED so called "blue humour" (offensive or dirty jokes) and agreed to do the N-Word scene only with a closed set. He crushed the scene on the first take :)
Hopefully next movie you'll react to will be "Coming to America" ,since it has a tie in to "Trading Places". Also, "Vampire in Brooklyn" for horror comedy staring Eddie Murphy.
32:40 - but it wasn't just they got rich or poor. Both became better people. Valentine learned about honest hard labor, respect for property, appreciation towards other people. Winthorpe learned who his true friends are, to be more understanding of people and how to fight for what he wants.
Respectfully, I strongly disagree. I think one of the really interesting things about this movie is that no one comes out clean. Billy Ray went from running cons on the street in rags to running a much more harmful con on the exchange floor in a suit, Winthorpe's attempts to fight for some kind of weird personal justice (framing Billy Ray, the train heist) were generally terrible and as Jaby pointed out, both of them - along with Coleman and Ophelia - were quite happy to run a scam that wouldn't just have affected the Dukes, or even just their clients, but likely thousands of people from all walks whose money is tied into the stability of the exchange. I think, particularly with what we've seen in the finance sector the last decade or two, it's an interesting and prescient message that there's no room for things like empathy and humanity in the profit game.
@@janekotoole8751 Dukes bet their own money on the orange juice, not their clients. That's why they lost everything. Some tried to follow their example, but as someone who is familiar with trading, let me tell you - a good trader would never jump into a trade just because someone else does it, especially not with a lot of money. So those fools that followed Dukes wouldn't have lasted long in this business anyway.
33:57 - The idea of a rich person turning to crime? Obviously this, and Dick&Jane, are comedies- not real. But they both mostly play on the idea that: People who were raised poor, or middle class- people who have seen and know what it is to struggle, to work hard, to accept whatever job you have to, to make it work- if they hit a low spot, they know what to do to get past it. They know how to budget, how to live on less, how to get a job and work back. People who have been raised rich, spoiled, accustomed to a particular lifestyle; the jobs they know how to do are elite and lucrative. When they lose everything, they don't know how to live on canned soup and Mac&cheese, when they're used to pheasant under glass and caviar. They don't know how to get a job at a fast food place, or as a janitor- if they're even willing to try such a "beneath them" job. So immediately, they look for the get-rich-quick scheme to get themselves back on top, back to the life they're used to, without doing any real work for it. Their whole personal identity is wrapped up in their self-image as a rich person, so when that's taken away, they have nothing else. At least, that seems to be the idea. There are plenty of poor people who have been desperate, and turn to crime to get themselves out of their desperate situation. And there have been plenty of already-rich people who have been greedy, turning to illegal schemes to get even richer. So both honesty and crime can come from anywhere. -My 2¢
13:55 - "That's so cold." Denholm Elliot's performance as Coleman the butler is one of my favorites. He's such a dry, understated character, but he manages to say so much with so little! You edited past the exact part, but the second time he closes the door on Dan Ackroyd, just before the door closes, there is a flash across Coleman's face that says, "My old boss may be a pompous ass, but even he doesn't deserve to be treated like this. I hate what my real bosses the Dukes are making me do, and I pity this poor sap who they have targeted, and I hate the role I have to play" all in a single half of a second of facial expression. You can see it!
Thank you for a great reaction to a classic! Showing love to "Saturday Night Live" alumni Dan Akroyd...Eddie Murphy and an appearance by SNL royalty in a Belushi.
I’m glad this movie got made, it is such great fun. Because of todays focus on political correctness, this (or anything like it) would never be made today. I hope this movie will live on it it’s own right, and keep on entertaining future audiences.
The part where the Dukes meet Clarence Beeks in the parking garage was a reference to Watergate. BTW at that time Treasuries were giving double digit yields.
It's not uncommon for folks to be confused by the briefcase swap on the train..I haven't seen other reactors (or even people making comments) follow it. 23:39 - 1st swap is a 'dummy' so they can steal the real crop report. 23:52 - Winthorpe (Dan's character) needs to read the real one before he can write the fake one. 24:42 - Winthorpe (Dan, in 'blackface'..back then, even we allies of humans with darker skin didn't realize what an absolute insult it was) brings in the fake crop report that he created, and Beeks (can't recall the actor's name) catches the 2nd swap. Since he didn't catch the first swap, Beeks thinks they're stealing the real one instead of the 'dummy'. And further hilarity ensues! @Bodyknock described what happened at the exchange better than I ever could, so I'll just say seeing that Louie and Billy Ray took Coleman and Ophelia (JLCurtis) along for the ride after the success on on the trading floor was my favorite part of the film. They'd thrown in everything they'd saved for Louis & Billy Ray's scheme..and that's the karma kindness and compassion deserves.
All those early 80s to 90s movies, involving directing by frank Oz, (he always puts himself in his movies...look for the bald guy with glasses!) and films involved with acting ,writing, production ,etc., with Ramis, Ivan Reitman,Akroyd, Murray etc., and these monster comedies that first used the ultra serious John Williams for music!!!(Animal House !)was just all comedy genius! Going back to Animal House, blues Brothers, Stripes, of course the Ghostbusters stuff....it's just all comedy gold! Pro tip, U WILL see a cameo again of the Duke Brothers, in the first Coming to America, also an Eddie Murphy movie! The Duke Brothers are Old School Hollywood royalty! Been acting since black and white! Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche! Also about commodity trady.... it's brutal! It's like day trading on steroids! And unless it's changed, this is how it's worked in America for over 200 years! Ur busy, sells, holds, boss traders, floor traders, u name it, do Business right then and there, on the floor, and money is owed, at end of day! The sad part is? They never did a sequel! Pro tip... The shorter freight handler guy is Al Franken, long time SNL writer, became a senator from Minnesota, and got his ass kicked out for massive amounts of misogyny and sexual harassment! The ape costume guy is Jim Belushi brother of the masterful John Belushi, and did many good movies himself, all the way back to Thief, Curly Sue, K-9 cop, an Arnold movie, and Return to Me...
The actor who played the brother Mortimer was actually a nice guy ih real life who hated swearing. In fact Eddie Murphy had to couch him through saying the n word and even then he apologized to Eddie afterwards.
27:29 -they actually had a joke about it the movie, when all the traders rushed out of the stalls at the bell, without washing hands or adjusting clothes. They were all doing lines.
10:00 I legitimately believe it's the fast speed internet era we live in. Back in the 50's they'd play a 2 minute advertisement for makeup & laundry detergent. Because there was nothing else on & they had to fill the time LOL It's like reality shows in the 2000's having fast paced music playing in the background of confessional interviews & people talking. We pay less attention these days LOL
Both in this movie & in DOCTOR DETROIT, Akroyd plays a straight-laced character who at some point is forced to take on a completely insane persona as another character even though there's NOTHING about his primary character that suggests he can do so. He's funny, so we let it go, but still :D Also, make sure you watch COMING TO AMERICA at some point if you haven't already, as there's a fun callback to this movie in it.
33:59 "He had absolutely nothin'." What do you mean? He had pocket salmon! (That's at least one meal right there -- maybe two or three if it doesn't go too bad too quickly from the body heat!) 😆
They had to set up Beeks by first getting the actual crop report. Then Winthorp could read it and then replace it with the fake report to deliver to the Dukes. The train scene was all a distraction to make the switch(es). Him recognizing them blew up the plan and then Valentine was forced to impersonate Beeks.
A simple explanation of the wall street scene. The Duke's received bad info about the orange crop after they switched the cases (they got bad info saying the crop would be affected by the harsh winter.) They started buying FOJC to drive up the price (planning to sell at a later date when the price is way up - buy low sell high). Winthorp and Valentine waited until the price was super high (142) and yelled "sell 30 April at 142" (they promised no matter what happens they would sell at 142 at a later date.) When the crop report comes in and shows the winter has not affected the crops (no shortage in FOJC), the price plummets to 29 (leaving the Duke's holding a bunch of contracts that are at the 29 price.) Meanwhile Winthorp and Valentine have contracts allowing them to buy millions of FOJC in April for 29, and to sell it for 142. The Duke's cannot sell their now worthless contracts and have now lost themselves and their clients millions.
No, they didn't just make 340 grand. They made an extra 340 grand by not selling when Randolph wanted and waited until Winthrop's estimated price. So they made Millions. And had no money for a homeless man.
9:52 - "Interesting how comedies were done back then... the pacing is totally different." You should watch "His Girl Friday," a classic black and white comedy from 1940, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russel, AND Ralph Bellamy (the elder Duke Brother in this film!) If you want to see fast-paced comedy, if you want to see banter at a speed never attempted before or since, check that one out!!
14:17 I like this part with Coleman. He feels bad for what’s happening but has to go along to keep his job. The way he tells Valentine to just be himself cause no matter what they can’t take that from him. 20:50 they had to do this scene and the scene when they took Randolph away on a stretcher in one shot cause due to Don Ameche’s strong religious feelings he didn’t like swearing so he told them they had one shot to get it. 25:31 he saw Winthorpe more than he saw Valentine (I actually don’t think he did). Getting the case was only part of the plan. Can you believe that it took the the stock market until 2010 to create a rule that outlawed insider trading to corner the market and it was known as the Eddie Murphy rule. Gotta do “Coming to America”
The Dukes, based on the false crop report they'd been fed, believed that frost had damaged the orange crop, so they sent their trader in to buy FCOJ. Other people saw them buying and joined in, driving the price up. When the price got high enough, Winthorp and Valentine started to sell. They didn't actually have any shares at this point - a practice known as short selling - but as long as they later bought enough shares to cover their obligations that was perfectly fine. A combination of them selling and the announcement of the real crop report drove the price down. When it got low enough, Winthorp and Valentine started buying to cover all the sales they'd made. Having sold high and bought low, they made a huge amount of money. The Dukes had bought high and the shares they had were now worth very little, so when it came time to settle the accounts at the end of trading the losses were enough to bankrupt them.
If you want another good one of Eddie Murphy movie check out Coming to America, the Duke Brothers make an appearance plus its a great movie, great reaction,
This was Eddie Murphy's SECOND MOVIE (48 HRs was the first) and after the success of those movies he quit Saturday Night Live. BTW, this movie was originally supposed to star Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.
This movie actually caused a Financial rule to be passed called the Eddie Murphy rule for trading. Not bad for a comedy movie. Always makes me laugh that Murphy's character was poor, and once he got money he turned into a A Hole. When Whinthrope is choking Valentine, Murphy is making noise like the Exorcist.
10:22. That's Frank Oz. Multiple voices of the muppets and sesame street. Fozzie bear. Miss piggy. Animal. Sam the eagle. Bert. Grover. Cookie monster and Yoda
In case anybody's curious, since it might get lost a bit in what exactly happened on the trading floor at the end in this video, here's the breakdown.
Valentine and Winthrope gave the Dukes a fake copy of a "leaked" agricultural report that said the orange harvest was going to be very low this year, which would make orange juice much more expensive. So the Duke's told their broker to just keep buying all the orange juice futures contracts he could no matter what the price was. For reference, that means they're paying whatever the listed price on the board was for batches of orange juice, and then down the road those batches would be delivered to them and they could hopefully sell them back at a profit. Since the Dukes were expecting an orange drought, they expected the price to continue to climb through the rest of the year and they'd be able to sell back their shares at a huge profit.
Instead, though, the real report said the opposite, that the orange harvest was fine and there would be plenty to go around. So right before that information got released, Valentine and Winthrope started "short selling" on orange juice. What that means is they were telling other brokers "Hey, if you pay us now for a batch of orange juice at the listed price, we'll sell it to you later on once we have it in hand." So for instance they were selling a batch they don't own yet at $140 today, then later that week or whenever they use that money to buy the batch from somebody else at hopefully a lower price and keep the difference.
And so when the report went public, and everybody else realized the orange harvest was great and orange juice prices were going to be really low, everyone started to sell the commodity since the price was super-inflated. Valentine and Winthrope made a killing, people had been paying them upwards of $140 a share for something that the two of them would later use that money to buy at only $20-30 a share. Meanwhile, though, the opposite happened with the Dukes, they had been promising everybody they would buy all their shares at that $120-140 rate, which cost them hundreds of millions of dollars, but the actual product they were buying was only worth 1/6 that amount, so they were in the hole for most of it. And with these futures contracts, part of the agreements are you have to put some percentage of the money up front in cash, which is why the Dukes were broke.
Thank you!!
I fell asleep halfway through that post
I regret that I only have one thumbs up to give your comment. So strange that even a layman like me understood it back in the '80s, but not too many people now. I guess wages are so low for young folks these days that investing is just a dream.
This movie inspired rule changes in the 2010 Wall Street Reform Bill. It contained something called the “Eddie Murphy Rule.” In Section 746 of Dodd-Frank Act, it finally became illegal to use non-public information from agencies like the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve and Department of Agriculture to trade in the futures market.
@@toastnjam7384 It was technically illegal then, but you basically had to be caught with the documents in hand. The law basically made the agencies meant to police insider trading proactive and raised the penalties from where they were set in the 20's to jailtime and a % of the illegal gains.
That was Jim Belushi, not John. John was already deceased by the time this was released
"I was poor and no one liked me." One of the funniest lines!
The Duke brothers is in one scene of Coming To America if you havent watched it yet starring Eddie Murphy & Arsenio Hall its a good movie to watch
Yeessss!!
.... we're back
Love the hilarious chemistry between Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy.
31:28 RE: Pacing - there's a reason a lot of the comedies from this era hold up. They focus on telling a good story about characters that you care about. So that you care about what's happening even when there's nothing funny going on.
A lot of contemporary comedies wear you out, the jokes stop being funny after a while, (they're still funny, you're just not laughing at them any more) you stop caring, there's a reason stand-up sets cut it off at around an hour. If there's no story, you zone out. Some time late in the second act, the movie stops dead when you have to wrap up the story and the audience realizes there isn't one, at least not one they care about, and then it never recovers, leaving the audience with this vague feeling that it used up all its best stuff in the first twenty minutes.
Movies like Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, and 48 Hours would all still be good if you took all the jokes out of them. Even cartoonish, fourth-wall-obliterating chaos like Airplane and Blazing Saddles had enough of an actual plot to hold your attention and get you invested in the characters between jokes
It’s not just comedies now, that holds true across the majority of films made, no focus on characters, just go go to, talk talk talk, it’s incredibly boring.
they had to return the case... so that he could give the duke's the information they wanted and assure that he gave them the report they wanted the duke's to have
Never made sense to me, why didn’t they just put the fake report in the first case they swapped in.
This is why I hate modern movies and modern audiences, they don't have a f****** clue, everything has to be explained to them, and they actually think the world's financial markets and commodities are traded by app
@@anthonymullen6300
Absolutely....not to mention that their whole week is ruined when they hear a word they deem unacceptable 😅😅😅
One of the best films of the 80s saw it in the cinema in 1983 everyone was in stitches watching it. So many funny moments too many to mention. A great film to watch at Christmas time. Cannot believe this is 40 years old this year.
Yes, 'Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice futures' were and are still traded today. These days it's done electronically rather than on the exchange floor. Yes the old trading floors were chaotic.
This movie even had an actual influence on financial regulation. When congress passed financial reform legislation (Dodd-Frank) following the financial meltdown and bailouts, it actually included an 'Eddie Murphy Rule' - finally making what they all were doing in the movie illegal.
After Trading Places, people watch Coming To America for good reason.
The scene with the briefcase is a bit confusing - they first swapped the briefcase out, then looked at the report inside. Once they knew what the real crop report said, they swapped in a fake crop report and switched the briefcases back.
Eddie Murphy was 21 years old when he shot this film!
That wasn't John Belushi, that was his younger brother Jim Belushi! And one of the Gorilla handlers was former U.S. Senator Al Franken. The pawn shop owner was none other than the legendary Bo Diddley, too.
He had died a year earlier if I remember correctly.
Great reaction, as always guys. As an 80's teen, this was my era. The rhythms and pace feel like a well worn pair of jeans. I appreciate modern comedy also, but what was lost along the way was the unchained nature of comedy at that time. You literally could do or say anything in comedy at that time; comedy was considered a "green zone" where nothing was off limits. We have put the bumpers down and the guard rails up. I understand the intentions, but I miss that mosh pit.
Apart from them looking down their noses at comedy in the 80s as if they know what they're talking about. Comedy today is dead.
The funniest thing about this movie is that it's been a staple christmas movie in Italy, like everybody has been tuning in on christmas for thirty years.
That’s cool. What do they like about it so much?
*(Coming to America)* is not a sequel but a related comedy in a sort of kind of way. Meaning you should react to it wow this movie is still fresh
A couple of cool cameos in this film often go unnoticed. The cop who discovered the PCP was Frank Oz, the original voice of Miss Piggie and several other Muppets.
The shorter of the two gorilla keepers on the train was AL Franken, who got his big start on Saturday Night Live and later became a U.S. Senator from Minnesota, eh.
Frank Oz also did the voice of Yoda in the Star Wars Franchise
Frank Oz isn't even the only Mupper performer who appears; the Dukes' hapless trader Wilson is played by Richard Hunt, fellow original Mupper performer (responsible for Scooter and Beaker among others).
John Landis had some running gags across his films. One was Frank Oz made an appearance and a fake film "See you next Wednesday" would pop up somewhere. In this case the poster in JLCs apartment.
He is also known for OTT car crashes.
@@Cheepchipsable yeah, I know. I'm a LONG time fan of Landis.
Watch 48 hrs. Eddie Murphy's best and funniest movie.
Dan Ackroyd doing black face, you should see Silver Streak. Not Dan Ackroyd, but another well known actor. Another Eddie Murphy movie you may enjoy, Harlem Nights. If you're interested in some fast paced, witty comedy, try watching Abbott and Costello movies. Hold That Ghost, Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, Meet the Mummy, Meet the Killer, The Time of Their Lives. Also, The Philadelphia Story, Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House, Father Goose.
hardly anybody reacts to harlem nights which was written by eddie himself and is actually pretty good
Love that you’re reacting to one of my favorite movies of all time. Your edit though cut out some of the funniest parts of the movie (ex., Billy Ray in jail and the jacuzzi scene). Doesn’t convey how truly hilarious the film is.
Also, that was actually Jim Belushi, not John.
EVERY second of Dan (Winthrop) in that Santa outfit was comedy gold. I couldn't stop laughing. It was complicated to get the crip report AND needing the briefcase money from the Dukes to invest. Thanks Hayley for making me think about the Dukes gaslighting both guys (After everything we've done...). I no longer have a soft spot for these old villains. Great review.
1. The booking officer is Frank Oz. (various Muppets/Yoda)
2. Beeks/Paul Gleason also played Richard Vernon in "The Breakfast Club" and the idiot assistant police captain in "Die Hard". 😇
3. Landis didn't want Jamie Lee Curtis because she had always been a "scream queen" and he didn't know if she had the chops for comedy.
4. When everyone pauses in the restaurant it's a play on the old "EF Hutton" commercial. "When EF Hutton speaks everybody listens".
5. One of the most VHS pauses in history. Jamie Lee Curtis.😍🥰😋
6. GOOF: Where did Louis get the gun AND all those drugs for only $50?🤑Even in 1983.
7. Don Ameche's strong religious convictions made him uncomfortable with swearing. This proved to be a problem for the scene at the end of the movie, where he had to shout out "Fuck him!" to a group of Wall Street executives. When he did act out the scene, it had to be done in one take, because Ameche refused to do a second one. He also had an issue with the N word.
8. There's an Easter egg in "Coming to America" with the Duke brothers. Eddie Murphy at his best.
#6 Clearly he stole them
I've heard that rules at the stock exchange were changed after this movie came out, because of the film. Also...if you've seen 'Coming to America' starring Eddie Murphy......there's a scene of him on the street trying to help two homeless bums ( Randolph & Mortimer Duke ).
When you're watching these classic you have to take the value of money into consideration when you hear these large money amounts that's 1983 money like the $80,000 a year is $250,000 today
Time to watch Coming To America (1988).
Someone on UA-cam adjusted the figures for inflation and I think they calculated that the Dukes would need to forfeit $1.4 Billion in Cash.
Eddie's salary working for the Dukes came out to approximately $200k per year. Which would make sense to afford a butler.
Jamie's Lee Curtis character's savings amounted to approximately $120k, earning interest.
Jaby! That’s Jamie Lee Curtis!! Dan was super lucky 😅
Most people don't realize that Mortimer & Randolph was in *COMING TO AMERICA*
In 1983 when this movie came out I was just about 16 and had a huge crush on Jamie Lee Curtis. Let’s just say after a certain scene I had a even bigger crush on her.😂
The scene with the other black employee shaking Mortimer Duke's hand is about the social racial office environment at the time. Essentially, he saw how well the Dukes were with Billy Ray and thought it was an opportunity for him to socialize with them as well. As for the suitcase, they needed it to appear like nothing happened for their plan to work, the original plan would have been Beeks delivering the file with no issues. Otherwise, they would have been suspicious about the trading they did later.
Duke & Duke have a very tiny cameo in another Eddie Murphy movie, Coming to America.
You'd like "Brewster's Millions" with Richard Prior and John Candy.
This is one of my favorite movies!! You need to follow up with Coming to America! Another one of Eddie's great movies!! :) 😂
$80k/y in 1983 is equivalent to about $250k now :)
T-bills are US Treasury savings bonds. You loan money to the Government for a set time period and you earn interest per year.
The interest rate in 1983 would have been between 11-12%. Ophelia's 40k would be earning 4400 - 4800 in compounding interest :) 3 more years would put it at 54k if they were at 12%. :)
The salmon through the beard always makes me gag! 🤣😂🤣😂
Don Ameche (Mortimer) HATED so called "blue humour" (offensive or dirty jokes) and agreed to do the N-Word scene only with a closed set. He crushed the scene on the first take :)
It wasn’t John Belushi it was his brother Jim Belushi. This was after his death.
Hopefully next movie you'll react to will be "Coming to America" ,since it has a tie in to "Trading Places".
Also, "Vampire in Brooklyn" for horror comedy staring Eddie Murphy.
32:40 - but it wasn't just they got rich or poor. Both became better people. Valentine learned about honest hard labor, respect for property, appreciation towards other people. Winthorpe learned who his true friends are, to be more understanding of people and how to fight for what he wants.
Respectfully, I strongly disagree. I think one of the really interesting things about this movie is that no one comes out clean. Billy Ray went from running cons on the street in rags to running a much more harmful con on the exchange floor in a suit, Winthorpe's attempts to fight for some kind of weird personal justice (framing Billy Ray, the train heist) were generally terrible and as Jaby pointed out, both of them - along with Coleman and Ophelia - were quite happy to run a scam that wouldn't just have affected the Dukes, or even just their clients, but likely thousands of people from all walks whose money is tied into the stability of the exchange.
I think, particularly with what we've seen in the finance sector the last decade or two, it's an interesting and prescient message that there's no room for things like empathy and humanity in the profit game.
@@janekotoole8751 Dukes bet their own money on the orange juice, not their clients. That's why they lost everything. Some tried to follow their example, but as someone who is familiar with trading, let me tell you - a good trader would never jump into a trade just because someone else does it, especially not with a lot of money. So those fools that followed Dukes wouldn't have lasted long in this business anyway.
EDDie Murphy is a genius the jail cell scene ( edited out of this reaction for some reason) is a master class in comedy.
Now, y'all are ready for Coming To America.
🤣
Jaby knocks it out of the Park with that first time reaction ... so good
That was James not John in the movie.
33:57 - The idea of a rich person turning to crime? Obviously this, and Dick&Jane, are comedies- not real. But they both mostly play on the idea that: People who were raised poor, or middle class- people who have seen and know what it is to struggle, to work hard, to accept whatever job you have to, to make it work- if they hit a low spot, they know what to do to get past it. They know how to budget, how to live on less, how to get a job and work back. People who have been raised rich, spoiled, accustomed to a particular lifestyle; the jobs they know how to do are elite and lucrative. When they lose everything, they don't know how to live on canned soup and Mac&cheese, when they're used to pheasant under glass and caviar. They don't know how to get a job at a fast food place, or as a janitor- if they're even willing to try such a "beneath them" job. So immediately, they look for the get-rich-quick scheme to get themselves back on top, back to the life they're used to, without doing any real work for it. Their whole personal identity is wrapped up in their self-image as a rich person, so when that's taken away, they have nothing else. At least, that seems to be the idea. There are plenty of poor people who have been desperate, and turn to crime to get themselves out of their desperate situation. And there have been plenty of already-rich people who have been greedy, turning to illegal schemes to get even richer. So both honesty and crime can come from anywhere.
-My 2¢
The famous Frank Oz plays the bald-headed police officer who finds the PCP.
Giancarlo Esposito is one of the guys in the holding cell.
Man brings back so much memories of my teenage years. LOL
13:55 - "That's so cold." Denholm Elliot's performance as Coleman the butler is one of my favorites. He's such a dry, understated character, but he manages to say so much with so little! You edited past the exact part, but the second time he closes the door on Dan Ackroyd, just before the door closes, there is a flash across Coleman's face that says, "My old boss may be a pompous ass, but even he doesn't deserve to be treated like this. I hate what my real bosses the Dukes are making me do, and I pity this poor sap who they have targeted, and I hate the role I have to play" all in a single half of a second of facial expression. You can see it!
Now you should catch Coming To America
Duke and Duke have a cameo in Eddie Murphy COMING TO AMERICA.
Watch "Coming to America" to see what became of the Dukes.
Thank you for a great reaction to a classic! Showing love to "Saturday Night Live" alumni Dan Akroyd...Eddie Murphy and an appearance by SNL royalty in a Belushi.
I’m glad this movie got made, it is such great fun. Because of todays focus on political correctness, this (or anything like it) would never be made today. I hope this movie will live on it it’s own right, and keep on entertaining future audiences.
The part where the Dukes meet Clarence Beeks in the parking garage was a reference to Watergate. BTW at that time Treasuries were giving double digit yields.
“I am a Chainbelt in Karate. Bruce Lee was my teacher. Watch this.”
Chainbelt 😂 Sneaky Classic Line.👍🏾
A good follow up movie to this one is Coming to America starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall, every bit as good as this movie.
It's not uncommon for folks to be confused by the briefcase swap on the train..I haven't seen other reactors (or even people making comments) follow it.
23:39 - 1st swap is a 'dummy' so they can steal the real crop report. 23:52 - Winthorpe (Dan's character) needs to read the real one before he can write the fake one. 24:42 - Winthorpe (Dan, in 'blackface'..back then, even we allies of humans with darker skin didn't realize what an absolute insult it was) brings in the fake crop report that he created, and Beeks (can't recall the actor's name) catches the 2nd swap. Since he didn't catch the first swap, Beeks thinks they're stealing the real one instead of the 'dummy'. And further hilarity ensues!
@Bodyknock described what happened at the exchange better than I ever could, so I'll just say seeing that Louie and Billy Ray took Coleman and Ophelia (JLCurtis) along for the ride after the success on on the trading floor was my favorite part of the film. They'd thrown in everything they'd saved for Louis & Billy Ray's scheme..and that's the karma kindness and compassion deserves.
I think he had multiple reports already prepared.
Definitely one of my top ten favorite movies of all time. Also Caddyshack and Summer rental are good.
Great! It is very interesting to see your reaction to the film Robocop 1987. This is a cool movie 👍🔥🦾
All those early 80s to 90s movies, involving directing by frank Oz, (he always puts himself in his movies...look for the bald guy with glasses!) and films involved with acting ,writing, production ,etc., with Ramis, Ivan Reitman,Akroyd, Murray etc., and these monster comedies that first used the ultra serious John Williams for music!!!(Animal House !)was just all comedy genius! Going back to Animal House, blues Brothers, Stripes, of course the Ghostbusters stuff....it's just all comedy gold! Pro tip, U WILL see a cameo again of the Duke Brothers, in the first Coming to America, also an Eddie Murphy movie! The Duke Brothers are Old School Hollywood royalty! Been acting since black and white! Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche! Also about commodity trady.... it's brutal! It's like day trading on steroids! And unless it's changed, this is how it's worked in America for over 200 years! Ur busy, sells, holds, boss traders, floor traders, u name it, do Business right then and there, on the floor, and money is owed, at end of day! The sad part is? They never did a sequel! Pro tip... The shorter freight handler guy is Al Franken, long time SNL writer, became a senator from Minnesota, and got his ass kicked out for massive amounts of misogyny and sexual harassment! The ape costume guy is Jim Belushi brother of the masterful John Belushi, and did many good movies himself, all the way back to Thief, Curly Sue, K-9 cop, an Arnold movie, and Return to Me...
The actor who played the brother Mortimer was actually a nice guy ih real life who hated swearing. In fact Eddie Murphy had to couch him through saying the n word and even then he apologized to Eddie afterwards.
27:29 -they actually had a joke about it the movie, when all the traders rushed out of the stalls at the bell, without washing hands or adjusting clothes. They were all doing lines.
Look out at Reagan's picture on the Duke's table at 22:53. classy
My go to Christmas day movie!!
On the subject of pacing, John Landis also had this speed of pacing in "Coming to America." It almost feels slow after not watching it for a while.
16:00 that's about 130k in 2023
10:00 I legitimately believe it's the fast speed internet era we live in.
Back in the 50's they'd play a 2 minute advertisement for makeup & laundry detergent. Because there was nothing else on & they had to fill the time LOL
It's like reality shows in the 2000's having fast paced music playing in the background of confessional interviews & people talking.
We pay less attention these days LOL
Thank you both!!
Great reaction and commentary!!
It's such a good movie!!
All time classic movie that is always funny
Both in this movie & in DOCTOR DETROIT, Akroyd plays a straight-laced character who at some point is forced to take on a completely insane persona as another character even though there's NOTHING about his primary character that suggests he can do so. He's funny, so we let it go, but still :D
Also, make sure you watch COMING TO AMERICA at some point if you haven't already, as there's a fun callback to this movie in it.
Doctor Detroit wasn't outstanding, but it's an underrated fun romp.
Jaby watch Dan Aykroyd again in Ghostbusters Afterlife with Mid&Post-credits scenes with Kristen & Vivian.
I love how the Dukes later appear in Coming to America - when Eddie's character hands them a wad of money while they were living on the streets
Wow this one is an old school classic 😄
I worked near the TSX in Toronto. Not as crazy as the NYSE, but still, you can feel the energy of the traders in that place.
Also check out Eddie Murphy with Nick Nolte in action-comedy "48 Hours" from the same era
The salary they are starting Valentine with, $80,000 in 1983 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $246,627.31 today.
Omg… can’t wait for the reaction to the 80s humour
Jim Belushi, John's brother, was in this movie.
33:59 "He had absolutely nothin'." What do you mean? He had pocket salmon! (That's at least one meal right there -- maybe two or three if it doesn't go too bad too quickly from the body heat!) 😆
They had to set up Beeks by first getting the actual crop report. Then Winthorp could read it and then replace it with the fake report to deliver to the Dukes. The train scene was all a distraction to make the switch(es). Him recognizing them blew up the plan and then Valentine was forced to impersonate Beeks.
Coming To America...
Looking good, Billy Ray! Feeling good, Louis! ❤
One of the first cinematic universes. Some of these characters appear in Coming To America (im sure the comments already pointed this out)
Al Franken was the baggage handler as well.
It's The Prince and The Pauper.
A simple explanation of the wall street scene. The Duke's received bad info about the orange crop after they switched the cases (they got bad info saying the crop would be affected by the harsh winter.) They started buying FOJC to drive up the price (planning to sell at a later date when the price is way up - buy low sell high). Winthorp and Valentine waited until the price was super high (142) and yelled "sell 30 April at 142" (they promised no matter what happens they would sell at 142 at a later date.) When the crop report comes in and shows the winter has not affected the crops (no shortage in FOJC), the price plummets to 29 (leaving the Duke's holding a bunch of contracts that are at the 29 price.) Meanwhile Winthorp and Valentine have contracts allowing them to buy millions of FOJC in April for 29, and to sell it for 142. The Duke's cannot sell their now worthless contracts and have now lost themselves and their clients millions.
Gotta watch coming to America now
The funny part is that this is referenced in Eddie Murphy's Coming to America. The Prince puts the brothers back on their feet with a bag of cash.
No, they didn't just make 340 grand. They made an extra 340 grand by not selling when Randolph wanted and waited until Winthrop's estimated price. So they made Millions. And had no money for a homeless man.
In the parking garage with the Duke Brothers that was Eddie Murphy pretending to be Clarence Beeks.
9:52 - "Interesting how comedies were done back then... the pacing is totally different."
You should watch "His Girl Friday," a classic black and white comedy from 1940, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russel, AND Ralph Bellamy (the elder Duke Brother in this film!)
If you want to see fast-paced comedy, if you want to see banter at a speed never attempted before or since, check that one out!!
Love this movie!! I still own it on Vhs! 😊
14:17 I like this part with Coleman. He feels bad for what’s happening but has to go along to keep his job. The way he tells Valentine to just be himself cause no matter what they can’t take that from him. 20:50 they had to do this scene and the scene when they took Randolph away on a stretcher in one shot cause due to Don Ameche’s strong religious feelings he didn’t like swearing so he told them they had one shot to get it. 25:31 he saw Winthorpe more than he saw Valentine (I actually don’t think he did). Getting the case was only part of the plan. Can you believe that it took the the stock market until 2010 to create a rule that outlawed insider trading to corner the market and it was known as the Eddie Murphy rule. Gotta do “Coming to America”
The WTC is seen at the end, like that was where they were going into. But the NYSE is actually on Wall street.
The Dukes, based on the false crop report they'd been fed, believed that frost had damaged the orange crop, so they sent their trader in to buy FCOJ. Other people saw them buying and joined in, driving the price up. When the price got high enough, Winthorp and Valentine started to sell. They didn't actually have any shares at this point - a practice known as short selling - but as long as they later bought enough shares to cover their obligations that was perfectly fine. A combination of them selling and the announcement of the real crop report drove the price down. When it got low enough, Winthorp and Valentine started buying to cover all the sales they'd made. Having sold high and bought low, they made a huge amount of money. The Dukes had bought high and the shares they had were now worth very little, so when it came time to settle the accounts at the end of trading the losses were enough to bankrupt them.
Trading. Trading Places. Traders
More Haley, thank you. That is all.
If you want another good one of Eddie Murphy movie check out Coming to America, the Duke Brothers make an appearance plus its a great movie, great reaction,
Yes, they definitely trade in frozen concentrated orange juice.
This was Eddie Murphy's SECOND MOVIE (48 HRs was the first) and after the success of those movies he quit Saturday Night Live. BTW, this movie was originally supposed to star Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.
This movie actually caused a Financial rule to be passed called the Eddie Murphy rule for trading. Not bad for a comedy movie. Always makes me laugh that Murphy's character was poor, and once he got money he turned into a A Hole. When Whinthrope is choking Valentine, Murphy is making noise like the Exorcist.
10:22. That's Frank Oz. Multiple voices of the muppets and sesame street. Fozzie bear. Miss piggy. Animal. Sam the eagle. Bert. Grover. Cookie monster and Yoda
Love you Hayley ❤😊❤
You should watch His Girl Friday (1940) for your history of comedy movies. Pacing is very different.