An Officer and a Gentleman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An Officer and a Gentleman
An Officer and a Gentleman DVD cover
Directed by	Taylor Hackford
Produced by	Martin Elfand Douglas Day Stewart
Written by	Douglas Day Stewart
Starring	Richard Gere Debra Winger Louis Gossett, Jr. David Keith Robert Loggia
Music by	Jack Nitzsche Buffy Sainte-Marie
Cinematography	Donald E. Thorin
Editing by	Peter Zinner
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	July 28, 1982
Running time	122 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	Unknown
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

An Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 film which tells the story of a United States Navy aviation Officer Candidate who comes into conflict with the Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant who trains him. The film is marketed with the tagline "Life gave him nothing, except the courage to win...and a woman to love."

It was written by Douglas Day Stewart and directed by Taylor Hackford. The film was shot mostly on location at Port Townsend, Washington since the U.S. Navy would not permit the motion picture to be filmed at Pensacola, Florida (the traditional site of Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School).^{[citation needed]}

1 Cast
2 Plot summary
3 Awards
4 Trivia
5 Reception
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Cast

Richard Gere - Zack Mayo
Debra Winger - Paula Pokrifki
David Keith - Sid Worley
Robert Loggia - Byron Mayo
Lisa Blount - Lynette Pomeroy
Lisa Eilbacher - Casey Seeger
Louis Gossett, Jr. - GySgt. Emil Foley
Tony Plana - Emiliano Della Serra
Harold Sylvester - Perryman
David Caruso - Topper Daniels

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film begins with Zack Mayo receiving his "graduation present" from his father, a brash, womanizing career U.S. Navy Boatswain's Mate formerly stationed at Subic Bay in the Philippines. Mayo moved in with his father there in early adolescence when his mother committed suicide. Aloof and taciturn with repressed anger at his mother's suicide, Mayo surprises his father when he announces his aspiration to be a Navy pilot.

Once he has arrived at training camp for his 13-week officer's course, Mayo runs afoul of abrasive, no-nonsense drill instructor Emil Foley. Mayo — or "Mayonnaise" as he is dubbed by the irascible Foley — is an excellent officer candidate, but a little cold around the heart. Foley rides Mayo mercilessly, sensing the young man would be prime officer material if he were not so self-involved. Zack becomes friends with Sid Worley, a well-to-do boy from the "good side of the tracks".

Both Zack and Sid meet two factory workers, Paula Pokrifki and Lynette Pomeroy, who bed the cocky officer candidates, and secretly want to escape their hometown and become "aviator" wives. Zack's affair with Paula is likewise compromised by his unwillingness to give of himself. Only after Mayo's best friend Sid commits suicide over an unhappy romance with Lynette does Zack come out of his shell and mature.

In the well-remembered last scene of the film, Ensign Mayo goes to the factory where Paula works, takes her in his arms and walks out holding her.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Awards

It won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Louis Gossett Jr.) and Best Music, Song (Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings for "Up Where We Belong"). It was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Debra Winger), Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Score and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.

[edit] Trivia

"The song is no good. It isn't a hit." was producer Don Simpson's unsuccessful demand to cut "Up Where We Belong" from the film. The song later became the number one song on the billboard charts and won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Song.
A decade after the film's release, country superstar/actress Reba McEntire and Vince Gill's hit "The Heart Won't Lie" (the second hit single from McEntire's album It's Your Call) had a music video where Vince Gill portrayed Louis Gossett's role as Foley while McEntire played Gere's part.
The movie's final scene -- in which Zack goes to Paula's workplace and carries her away in his arms -- has been widely imitated and parodied. The television series Friends, Killinaskully, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series), Reba, The Simpsons, Spin City, Scrubs, South Park, The Office (US version) and the motion picture Diary of a Mad Black Woman are among the productions that have paid tribute to this scene.
The role of Zack was first offered to John Travolta. This wasn't the first time that Gere got a role that Travolta turned down. The first time was in 1980's American Gigolo.
Despite their intense on-screen chemistry, Gere and Winger are said to have not gotten along while making the film.
In an appearance on "The Barbara Walters Special", Gere stated that An Officer and a Gentleman is one of two films that he did strictly because he needed the money. (The other was Pretty Woman.)
The motel room shown in the movie exists in a real motel located in Port Townsend, Washington. Today, there is a plaque outside the room, stating that it was used in the movie.
Two versions of the movie exist. The original uncensored cut which is rated R, and a PG-13 cut which is mostly shown on cable television. Both versions of the movie are nearly identical. The only main difference in the PG-13 cut is a majority of the foul language is edited out, the group marching song near the beginning of the movie, and Mayo's solo marching song are different than the rated R cut (The PG-13 marching songs are NOT voiceover edits, the marching songs were reshot for the PG-13 cut), the sex scene with Mayo and Paula is cut in half, and the scene where Mayo finds Sid's body is also edited.

[edit] Reception

This movie grossed close to $130 million at the box-office in the United States in 1982. It also received rave reviews from critics, most notably from Roger Ebert who gave it four stars. Ebert described the An Officer and A Gentleman as "a wonderful movie precisely because it's so willing to deal with matters of the heart".