Rabbit Test (film)
Encyclopedia
Rabbit Test is a 1978 comedy
motion picture about the world's first pregnant man
, directed by Joan Rivers
and starring Billy Crystal
.
Its title is derived from the rabbit test
previously used to determine pregnancy.
) sets him up with a one-night stand. Soon after, Lionel starts feeling nauseous and throwing up, eventually doing so onto Segoynia Savaka (Joan Prather), one of his immigrant students. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise, as it gives him an excuse to ask her out on a date, and a romance develops.
When Lionel meets Segoynia's fortune-telling grandmother (played by Roddy McDowall
in drag
), she intuits that he is the world's first pregnant man. This results in a series of gags relating to his pregnancy and people's reactions to it. One sideplot has Lionel being pursued by the army, as the president is afraid of what effect the widespread ability of men to conceive will have on population growth.
In the ending sequence, which is patterned after the Nativity, Lionel finally goes into labour. The camera rises to heaven where God announces to the viewers the successful delivery: "Oh my god... it's a girl!"
. It was also Billy Crystal's first starring role.
Rivers makes a cameo appearance as a comic nurse. Her daughter Melissa Rivers
also has a bit part.
Rivers' husband Edgar Rosenberg
was producer.
There are many cameo appearances by notable performers, including Imogene Coca
, Richard Deacon
, Norman Fell
, Fannie Flagg
, Alice Ghostley
, Roosevelt Grier, George Gobel
, Paul Lynde
, Roddy McDowall
, Sheree North
, Charles Pierce, Tom Poston
, Charlotte Rae
, and Jimmie Walker
.
Whereas the similarly plotted Junior
(1994) explains how its male protagonist gets pregnant (injection of a fertilized embryo into the abdominal cavity), in Rabbit Test this area is never delved into; Lionel simply has sex (he's on the bottom) and becomes pregnant.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
motion picture about the world's first pregnant man
Male pregnancy
Male pregnancy refers to the incubation of one or more embryos or fetuses by male members of any species. In nearly all heterogamous animal species, offspring are ordinarily carried by the female until birth, but in fish of the Syngnathidae family , males perform this function...
, directed by Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers is an American comedian, television personality and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries...
and starring Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
.
Its title is derived from the rabbit test
Rabbit test
The rabbit test was an early pregnancy test developed in 1927 by Bernhard Zondek and Selmar Aschheim. The original test actually used mice. The test consisted of injecting the tested woman's urine into a female rabbit, then examining the rabbit's ovaries a few days later, which would change in...
previously used to determine pregnancy.
Plot
Lionel Carpenter is a night-school teacher who has bad luck with women. He remains a virgin until his brash cousin Danny (Alex RoccoAlex Rocco
Alex Rocco is an American actor. His roles have ranged from comedy to playing gangsters in Mafia movies.-Early life:...
) sets him up with a one-night stand. Soon after, Lionel starts feeling nauseous and throwing up, eventually doing so onto Segoynia Savaka (Joan Prather), one of his immigrant students. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise, as it gives him an excuse to ask her out on a date, and a romance develops.
When Lionel meets Segoynia's fortune-telling grandmother (played by Roddy McDowall
Roddy McDowall
Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an English actor and photographer. His film roles included Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes film series...
in drag
Drag (clothing)
Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...
), she intuits that he is the world's first pregnant man. This results in a series of gags relating to his pregnancy and people's reactions to it. One sideplot has Lionel being pursued by the army, as the president is afraid of what effect the widespread ability of men to conceive will have on population growth.
In the ending sequence, which is patterned after the Nativity, Lionel finally goes into labour. The camera rises to heaven where God announces to the viewers the successful delivery: "Oh my god... it's a girl!"
Production
This was the first and only theatrical film directed by Joan RiversJoan Rivers
Joan Rivers is an American comedian, television personality and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries...
. It was also Billy Crystal's first starring role.
Rivers makes a cameo appearance as a comic nurse. Her daughter Melissa Rivers
Melissa Rivers
Melissa Joan Rivers is an American television host, producer and the daughter of Joan Rivers.-Early life:Rivers was born Melissa Warburg Rosenberg in Manhattan on January 20, 1968; the only child of Joan Rivers and Edgar Rosenberg...
also has a bit part.
Rivers' husband Edgar Rosenberg
Edgar Rosenberg
Edgar Rosenberg was an American television producer. Born in Fürth, Bavaria, Germany, to German Jewish parents, Otto & Lilli, the Rosenberg family migrated to America in 1940, due to the Outbreak of World War II. Rosenberg married comedian and commentator Joan Rivers and was the father of Melissa...
was producer.
There are many cameo appearances by notable performers, including Imogene Coca
Imogene Coca
Imogene Fernandez de Coca was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows....
, Richard Deacon
Richard Deacon (actor)
Richard Deacon , born in Philadelphia, was an American television and motion picture actor.-Career:The bald and usually bespectacled character actor often portrayed pompous or imperious figures. He made appearances on The Jack Benny Show as a salesman and a barber, and on NBC's Happy as a hotel...
, Norman Fell
Norman Fell
Norman Fell , born Norman Noah Feld, was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.-Early life:...
, Fannie Flagg
Fannie Flagg
Patricia Neal , known professionally as Fannie Flagg, is an American actress, comedienne and author. She is perhaps best-known for the 1988 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which was adapted into the 1991 movie Fried Green Tomatoes; Flagg was nominated for an Academy Award for...
, Alice Ghostley
Alice Ghostley
Alice Margaret Ghostley was an American actress. She was best known for her roles as housekeeper Esmeralda on Bewitched, as Cousin Alice on Mayberry R.F.D., and as Bernice Clifton on Designing Women, for which she received an Emmy Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1992...
, Roosevelt Grier, George Gobel
George Gobel
George Leslie Gobel was an American comedian and actor. He was best known as the star of his own weekly NBC television show, The George Gobel Show, which ran from 1954 to 1960 .-Early years:He was born George Leslie Goebel in Chicago, Illinois, His father, Hermann Goebel, was a...
, Paul Lynde
Paul Lynde
Paul Edward Lynde was an American comedian and actor. A noted character actor, Lynde was well known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched and Harry MacAfee, the befuddled father in Bye Bye Birdie...
, Roddy McDowall
Roddy McDowall
Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an English actor and photographer. His film roles included Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes film series...
, Sheree North
Sheree North
Sheree North was an American actress, singer, and dancer. She was known for being 20th Century Fox's answer to Marilyn Monroe from 1954 to 1956...
, Charles Pierce, Tom Poston
Tom Poston
Thomas Gordon "Tom" Poston was an American television and film actor. He starred on television in a career that began in 1950...
, Charlotte Rae
Charlotte Rae
Charlotte Rae is a prolific American character actress of stage, comedienne, singer and dancer, who in her six decades of television is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life...
, and Jimmie Walker
Jimmie Walker
James Carter "Jimmie" Walker is an American actor and stand-up comedian, known for portraying J. J. Evans on the television series Good Times, which ran from 1974 to 1979...
.
Whereas the similarly plotted Junior
Junior (film)
Junior is a 1994 American comedy film written by Kevin Wade and Chris Conrad and directed by Ivan Reitman. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a scientist who undergoes a male pregnancy as part of a scientific experiment.-Plot:...
(1994) explains how its male protagonist gets pregnant (injection of a fertilized embryo into the abdominal cavity), in Rabbit Test this area is never delved into; Lionel simply has sex (he's on the bottom) and becomes pregnant.