NIGHT SHIFT: Blu-ray (The Ladd Company, 1982) Warner Archive

Ron Howard’s Night Shift (1982) takes a grimly perverse premise – just a couple of guys using the N.Y. City morgue as their headquarters to pimp a pack of hookers – and transforms it into a ferociously funny farce. Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel’s off-the-wall screenplay, and Howard’s resourceful direction are assets here – as is the inspired casting of Michael Keaton and Tv’s Fonz, Henry Winkler as the boys in the backroom, working the scene from the inside out. Winkler, in a Golden Globe-nominated role, is Chuck Lumley, the cream of the jest here – just an unassuming failed stock broker whose conservative world view gets turned upside down by the shenanigans of his more flamboyant partner in crime, Bill Blazejowski, played with riotous abandonment by Keaton. Shelley Long, as working gal Belinda Keaton, cheaply sexy, but with the proverbial heart of gold, gets the laughs too. And look for an early cameo by Kevin Costner as the ‘frat boy’. Night Shift’s laugh track is a notch above the usual go-for-the-crotch pay grade in silliness, with Howard drawing on his wellspring of knowledge working all those years in both pictures and TV to produce a slickly packaged entertainment. The characters in this one are crisp, nutty and playful. The situations they find themselves in, however implausible, rise to the occasion of making us believe they could actually happen. Most important of all – we come to care for the people we meet, moving these characterizations beyond the usual cardboard cut-out clichés.  

Night Shift was, in fact, a comedy sleeper hit for all concerned. The kudos here are chiefly owed Ron Howard, whose visual aplomb and deft handling of the source material was likely a minor revelation to those only recognizing him as Opie from The Andy Griffith Show (1960-68) or the rather meager Richie Cunningham on Happy Days (1974-84). And Howard has led something of a charmed life ever since – his career in Hollywood one of the most enduring and Teflon-coated in the industry.  An innovative and agreeable jape of a movie, Night Shift extols the virtues of its dull-headed dupes - Chuck and Billy (the latter adopting the ‘professional’ name Billy Blaze) in their mutually cathartic alliance. Having broken free of middle-class morality and the stigma of having to do as one’s told, Chuck – the unprepossessing wallflower – is forced to accept the night shift after his boss, Sal Carboni (Floyd Levine) gives the plum day job to his dullard of a nephew, Leonard (Bobby DiCicco, in a supremely hilarious cameo). Although the reassurance of virtual anonymity and autonomy working nights initially sounds way too good to be true, it nevertheless bears itself out in a madcap curlicue once new hiree, Billy - impetuous, verbose and merrily reckless - arrives on the scene. Billy is precisely the elixir Chuck needs to stir him from his docile sand trap of life. Like all truly inspired wits, Billy is first misinterpreted by Chuck as nothing more than a painful pebble in his shoe. Soon, however, Billy worms his way into Chuck’s good graces. And from there on, the ride for both will be wild and woolly to say the least.

Billy's loopy wisdom touches upon a real plan of action after one of the bodies passing through the morgue is that of a murdered pimp, I.D.-ed by hooker/gal-pal, Belinda, who befriends Chuck upon discovering they live in neighboring apartments. After Belinda is man-handled by one of her johns, Chuck relays her sad tale to Billy who decides to taking the art of pimping to a whole new level. The idea, as preposterous and perilous to them both at a glance, nevertheless, has merit, motivating Chuck to re-acquire a pair when dealing with the two destructive female influences in his life: a frustratingly obtuse gal/pal, Charlotte Koogle (Gina Hecht) – chronically asking him if he thinks she looks ‘fat’…don’t go there, sweetie! – and Vivian (Nita Talbot), his toxic and headstrong mom. Besides, Billy needs a stabilizing force in his life. Chuck has feelings for Belinda. Pretty soon, their friendship yields to a highly successful operation for call girls working the night shift, now managed by the even-tempered Chuck, who prudently invests their savings, relying on his skill sets of yore to turn these hookers into a legit business venture. Alas, at the end of the day, prostitution is still the name of the game, leading to organized crime and the authorities muscling in, either for a piece of the action or to find a way to shut the entire enterprise down for good. The rest of the Ganz/Mandel screenplay is really just an excuse to create a series of silly, occasionally hilarious roadblocks for Chuck and Billy to overcome, while establishing, then strengthening the romance between Chuck and Belinda. We get a rather predictable shoot out. Chuck and Bill are spared, only to briefly go to jail. The boys have a falling out, Chuck breaks things off with his fiancée, finds Belinda working in an adult club, professes grand amour…or, at least, the 80’s version of it…and, with Billy’s apology, re-cements their bond of friendship – all three departing together for an uncertain future.

Henry Winkler, then still basking in the afterglow of fame from his alter-ego, Fonzie, the lovable 50’s greaser he created on Happy Days, herein illustrates he can step beyond this nearly inescapable iconography to play a straight romantic lead, leaving the comedy genius to a fiercely insistent and charming Michael Keaton, who gets the lion’s share of scene-stealing moments in the picture. Keaton’s Billy is hyper on the verge of Tourette’s. But this proves the perfect counterpoint to Winkler’s laid-back resistance. Indeed, as the henpecked introvert, Winkler illustrates a depth of character more engaging and sensitive, the laughs stirred not from his character being taken advantage, but rather, Winkler’s genuine reaction to the various comedic indignities he is forced to endure, but does so with reserved class while retaining a modicum of self-respect. This makes Chuck an admirable ‘straight man’ elevated beyond Billy’s punching bag or mere foil, just someone to bounce off the more brutal jokes. The on-again/off-again antagonistic chemistry between Chuck and Billy lends earnestness to Night Shift’s inevitable 80’s fizz. Although usually accredited as his breakout movie, Ron Howard actually directed 3 made-for-TV flicks and a Roger Corman quickie, Grand Theft Auto (1977, which he not only directed, but co-starred in and co-wrote).

Howard’s copious knowledge of how to handle comedy pays off in Night Shift, a movie that is not nearly as obvious as the many imitators soon to follow it, or, in hindsight, never as cloying and wanting for something to say beyond its superficial trappings – the way a lot of 80’s comedies of yore have since badly aged. The picture is also rather unique in that 6 of its 10 pop tunes were actually expressly written for the movie, as opposed to the more popular mode ‘then’ of sandwiching rock/pop songs with the potential to become hits into a movie with no other connection to it. Quarterflash supplied the title track, while Rod Stewart sang ‘That's What Friends Are For’, an enduring 80’s ballad co-written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. Night Shift may not be a perfect comedy – there are some interminably bad jokes that get hammered home once too often, and, a couple of plot entanglements that go absolutely nowhere, or, at best are given either the half-ass or overwrought to the point of “oh, please!” treatment. But on the whole, this is an unusually amusing and fun to watch comedy that continues to click as it should, with some great 80’s talent giving it their all.

The Warner Archive has really given Night Shift their all on Blu-ray. WAC’s record for remastering and restoring movies to peak condition for future generations to enjoy is beyond reproach and Night Shift looks about as resplendent as any effort put forth yet. James Crabe’s cinematography captures the slick grit and grime of a New York gone hopelessly to seed. All of it is here in a lush-looking 1080p transfer. Colors positively pop.  The palette favors some cool blues for the night scenes, but otherwise warmer hues for the interiors. Flesh tones are solid. Reds and oranges explode off the screen. Contrast is superb. Fine details abound. Film grain looks very indigenous to its source. Truly – there is nothing to complain about here. The original Dolby 2.0 mono gets retained and it sounds wonderful. There are some aggressive bits too that bely the limitations of mono. One minor disappointment – NO extras, save a theatrical trailer. Oh well, can’t have everything. For an 80’s pop-u-tainment, Night Shift in hi-def delivers the goods.  You’re in for a treat. Just enjoy this one for what it is – a silly ‘good time’ had by all. Highly recommended!

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

3.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

5+

EXTRAS

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