Body Slam (film)
Encyclopedia
Body Slam is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Hal Needham
, starring Dirk Benedict
, Roddy Piper
, Tanya Roberts
, Sam Fatu
and Captain Lou Albano. The film revolves around a down-and-out music promoter who inadvertently becomes a successful professional wrestling
manager
. After being exiled from the business by a rival manager, he finds success in promoting shows that feature both wrestling and rock music. The film features many well-known wrestlers of the time and references the Rock 'n' Wrestling era of professional wrestling.
Hal Needham, who had previously directed the successful Smokey and the Bandit
films had arguments with the pair that produced and wrote the film regarding his changes to the script
, resulting in lawsuit
s that delayed the film's release. As a result, the film was never theatrically released and was instead released direct-to-video
.
Kicks. Behind on his car payments and owing a large amount to a banker, he reluctantly accepts a job finding musical acts for the fundraiser
of an unpopular politician. Although not entirely happy with his new gig, Smilac finds a love interest in Candace Vandervagen (Tanya Roberts), the daughter of the politician's wealthy campaign booster
.
While making arrangements for the fundraiser, Smilac mistakes pro wrestler Rick Roberts (Roddy Piper) for a musician and hires him. Having zero luck as a music manager, Smilac decides to stick with his hunch about Roberts and become a pro wrestling manager, booking matches for Roberts and his teammate Tonga Tom (Sam Fatu). The team is a success but politics come into play when Smilac clashes with Rick's former manager, the villainous
Captain Lou Murano (Lou Albano
). A day after a disastrous fundraiser featuring Smilac's rock band, Murano and his tag team
champions The Cannibals (Sione Vailahi
and Tom Cassett
) injure Harry and his wrestlers in a nationally televised bout, before blacklist
ing them from every major arena in the country.
Recovering from their injuries and on the fringes of both the music and wrestling industries, Harry decides to take his wrestlers and his band on a cross country road tour of small arenas. Initially he promotes separate wrestling and rock shows, but a scheduling mix-up at a venue causes him to promote a single event featuring both music and wrestling. The show is well received and Smilac schedules an entire tour using the same "Rock n' Wrestling" format. Their tour is a huge success and inspires Harry, Roberts and Tonga to win a hard fought rematch against Murano's Cannibals.
, Dirk Benedict recounts positive experiences working on the film. However, both he and director Hal Needham clashed with the two lawyers credited with writing and producing the film over changes to the script and Needham's creative choices. At one point, Benedict had a physical altercation with one of the writer/producers. These conflicts lead to lawsuits being filed, which caused the film to miss the entire summer movie season. Later, the film was slated to be released by Hemdale Film Corporation
in November 1986. However, the film never saw wide theatrical release and was instead released directly to VHS
.
rated it at two stars, describing it as a "raucous action comedy with a certain (admittedly dubious) historical appeal." Mick Martin and Marsha Porter also gave it two stars, calling the film "silly" but saying that it had "a lot of heart." Leonard Maltin
gave the film two-and-a-half stars, calling Dirk Benedict's performance "charming" and lamenting that the film was not widely released, saying that it "deserved better." Variety
gave the film a positive review, calling it a "pleasant surprise" and "genuinely funny." They praised Dirk Benedict's performance and called the film a "solid comeback" for director Hal Needham.
Hal Needham
Hal Needham is an American stuntman and film director.-Early years:Needham was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Edith May and Howard Needham. He was raised in Arkansas and Missouri...
, starring Dirk Benedict
Dirk Benedict
Dirk Benedict is an American movie, television and stage actor, perhaps best known for playing the characters Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman" Peck in The A-Team television series and Lieutenant Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica film and television series.-Early life:Benedict was born...
, Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
, Tanya Roberts
Tanya Roberts
Tanya Roberts is an American actress best known for her roles in Charlie's Angels, The Beastmaster, A View to a Kill, Sheena and That '70s Show. Roberts was groomed as a Hollywood sex symbol during the early 1980s.- Early life :Blum was born in The Bronx, New York City, of Irish and Jewish descent...
, Sam Fatu
Sam Fatu
Samuel Larry Anoa'i Fatu is a professional wrestler best known under the name of The Tonga Kid, or Tama.-Professional wrestling career:...
and Captain Lou Albano. The film revolves around a down-and-out music promoter who inadvertently becomes a successful professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
manager
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
. After being exiled from the business by a rival manager, he finds success in promoting shows that feature both wrestling and rock music. The film features many well-known wrestlers of the time and references the Rock 'n' Wrestling era of professional wrestling.
Hal Needham, who had previously directed the successful Smokey and the Bandit
Smokey and the Bandit
Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 American film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams, and Mike Henry. It inspired several other trucking films, including two sequels, Smokey and the Bandit II, and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3...
films had arguments with the pair that produced and wrote the film regarding his changes to the script
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
, resulting in lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
s that delayed the film's release. As a result, the film was never theatrically released and was instead released direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
.
Plot
M. Harry Smilac (Dirk Benedict), once a successful music promoter, is having a hard time attracting talent and booking gigs for his sole client, the rock bandRock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
Kicks. Behind on his car payments and owing a large amount to a banker, he reluctantly accepts a job finding musical acts for the fundraiser
Fundraiser
A fundraiser is an event or campaign whose primary purpose is to raise money for a cause. See also: fundraising. A fundraiser can also be an individual or company whose primary job is to raise money for a specific charity or non-profit organization...
of an unpopular politician. Although not entirely happy with his new gig, Smilac finds a love interest in Candace Vandervagen (Tanya Roberts), the daughter of the politician's wealthy campaign booster
Boosterism
Boosterism is the act of "boosting," or promoting, one's town, city, or organization, with the goal of improving public perception of it. Boosting can be as simple as "talking up" the entity at a party or as elaborate as establishing a visitors' bureau. It is somewhat associated with American small...
.
While making arrangements for the fundraiser, Smilac mistakes pro wrestler Rick Roberts (Roddy Piper) for a musician and hires him. Having zero luck as a music manager, Smilac decides to stick with his hunch about Roberts and become a pro wrestling manager, booking matches for Roberts and his teammate Tonga Tom (Sam Fatu). The team is a success but politics come into play when Smilac clashes with Rick's former manager, the villainous
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
Captain Lou Murano (Lou Albano
Lou Albano
Louis Vincent "Captain Lou" Albano was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969, then he became a manager, until 1995....
). A day after a disastrous fundraiser featuring Smilac's rock band, Murano and his tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
champions The Cannibals (Sione Vailahi
Sione Vailahi
Sione Havea Vailahi is a professional wrestler best known in wrestling as The Barbarian.-Life and career:Born and raised in Tonga, Sione was one of five teenagers sent by the King of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo wrestling in the mid 1970s. Tonga Fifita was one of the other teenagers...
and Tom Cassett
Tom Cassett
-Career:He started with Jim Crockett Promotions in the National Wrestling Alliance, with Paul Jones as his manager. He participated in the 1987 Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament, teaming with Shaska Whatley...
) injure Harry and his wrestlers in a nationally televised bout, before blacklist
Blacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
ing them from every major arena in the country.
Recovering from their injuries and on the fringes of both the music and wrestling industries, Harry decides to take his wrestlers and his band on a cross country road tour of small arenas. Initially he promotes separate wrestling and rock shows, but a scheduling mix-up at a venue causes him to promote a single event featuring both music and wrestling. The show is well received and Smilac schedules an entire tour using the same "Rock n' Wrestling" format. Their tour is a huge success and inspires Harry, Roberts and Tonga to win a hard fought rematch against Murano's Cannibals.
Cast
- Dirk Benedict as M. Harry Smilac. He was Needham's first choice for the role based on Benedict's work on the television show The A-TeamThe A-TeamThe A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
. Although Benedict had previously worked with professional wrestler Hulk HoganHulk HoganTerrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
on an episode of The A-Team, Benedict only found out about the scripted natureKayfabeIn professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
of professional wrestling through his work on this film. - Roddy Piper as Quick Rick Roberts. Piper was best known for his work with the World Wrestling Federation. He would go on to star in other films such as Hell Comes to FrogtownHell Comes to FrogtownHell Comes to Frogtown is a 1988 cult film that was created by Donald G. Jackson. The screenplay for this film was written by Jackson and Randall Frakes. The film was directed by Jackson and R. J...
and John CarpenterJohn CarpenterJohn Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
's They LiveThey LiveThey Live is a 1988 science fiction/horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym Frank Armitage ....
. - Sam Fatu as Tonga Tom. Fatu is a member of wrestling's famed Anoa'i familyAnoa'i familyThe Anoa'i family, originating from American Samoa, is a family of professional wrestlers. Family members have comprised several tag teams and stables within a variety of promotions.-Family members:...
. His most well known ring name is The Tonga Kid. - Kellie MartinKellie MartinKellie Noelle Martin is an American television actress who is known for her roles as Rebecca Thacher on Life Goes On, Christy Huddleston on Christy, Lucy Knight on ER, and Samantha Kinsey on Mystery Woman.-Early life:...
as Missy Roberts. Several years after starring in the movie, a 14-year old Martin mentioned that the film never made it to theaters and called it "kind of a flop." - Tanya Roberts as Candace Vandervagen
- Captain Lou Albano as Captain Lou Murano. Albano was already a well-known wrestling manager and veteran of the wrestling business when he played the role in the film.
- Afa Anoai and Sika Anoai as The Samoans. Like Fatu, both are members of the Anoa'i family. The two star as bodyguardBodyguardA bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
s in the film. However, they also had successful real life wrestling careers as the tag team The Wild Samoans, with Lou Albano as their manager. The duo was inducted into the WWE Hall of FameWWE Hall of FameThe WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
in 2007. - Sione VailahiSione VailahiSione Havea Vailahi is a professional wrestler best known in wrestling as The Barbarian.-Life and career:Born and raised in Tonga, Sione was one of five teenagers sent by the King of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo wrestling in the mid 1970s. Tonga Fifita was one of the other teenagers...
and Tom CassettTom Cassett-Career:He started with Jim Crockett Promotions in the National Wrestling Alliance, with Paul Jones as his manager. He participated in the 1987 Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament, teaming with Shaska Whatley...
as The Cannibals. Both Vailahi and Cassett were professional wrestlers in real life. Vailahi is best known for his work in World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
as The Barbarian. The duo staged a real fight with Piper and Fatu during the filming of the movie's final match so the crowd of extrasExtra (actor)A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
would take them seriously. - Charles Nelson ReillyCharles Nelson ReillyCharles Nelson Reilly was an American actor, comedian, director and drama teacher known for his comedic roles in theater, movies, children's television, animated cartoons, and as a panelist on the game show Match Game....
as Vic Carson. Reilly had previously starred in another Hal Needham film, Cannonball Run IICannonball Run IISee also Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy DashCannonball Run II comedy film featuring Burt Reynolds and an all-star cast, released by Warner Bros. and Golden Harvest...
. - Billy BartyBilly BartyBilly Barty was an American film actor.-Biography:Barty, an Italian American, was born William John Bertanzetti in Millsboro, Pennsylvania...
as Tim McClusky - Wrestling personalities Ric FlairRic FlairRichard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
, Freddie Blassie, Adnan Al-KaissieAdnan Al-KaissieAdnan Bin Abdulkareem Ahmed Alkaissy El Farthie , better known professionally as Adnan Al-Kaissie, is a former iraqi professional wrestler and a manager best known as Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissy, Billy White Wolf, or General Adnan...
, Bruno SammartinoBruno SammartinoBruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...
and Alexis Smirnoff appear in cameos as audience members during the film's final match.
Production
In an interview with Canadian Online ExplorerCanadian Online Explorer
Canadian Online Explorer is a bilingual online news and information site from Canada.A subsidiary of Quebecor Media, Canoe.ca is a leading local and national interactive media provider of news, entertainment and services, helping to inform and connect Canadians...
, Dirk Benedict recounts positive experiences working on the film. However, both he and director Hal Needham clashed with the two lawyers credited with writing and producing the film over changes to the script and Needham's creative choices. At one point, Benedict had a physical altercation with one of the writer/producers. These conflicts lead to lawsuits being filed, which caused the film to miss the entire summer movie season. Later, the film was slated to be released by Hemdale Film Corporation
Hemdale Film Corporation
Hemdale Film Corporation, known as Hemdale Communications after 1993, was an independent film production company and distributor founded in London in 1967 as the Hemdale Company by actor David Hemmings and his manager, John Daly. Hemdale was initially founded as a talent agency that helped launch...
in November 1986. However, the film never saw wide theatrical release and was instead released directly to VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
.
Reception
The film was met with mixed reviews. TV GuideTV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
rated it at two stars, describing it as a "raucous action comedy with a certain (admittedly dubious) historical appeal." Mick Martin and Marsha Porter also gave it two stars, calling the film "silly" but saying that it had "a lot of heart." Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
gave the film two-and-a-half stars, calling Dirk Benedict's performance "charming" and lamenting that the film was not widely released, saying that it "deserved better." Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
gave the film a positive review, calling it a "pleasant surprise" and "genuinely funny." They praised Dirk Benedict's performance and called the film a "solid comeback" for director Hal Needham.