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The Freshman (1990 film)
Encyclopedia
The Freshman is a 1990 American crime
comedy film
starring Marlon Brando
and Matthew Broderick
, in which Brando parodies his portrayal of Vito Corleone
in The Godfather
.
The plot revolves around quirky aspects such as Broderick's entanglement into an illicit business of offering exotic and endangered animals as specialty food items; Broderick's character, a first-year film student at New York University
, is at one point tasked with delivering a Komodo Dragon
for this purpose.
) leaves his mother (Pamela Payton-Wright
) and environmental activist
stepfather Dwight (Kenneth Welsh
) in Vermont
to go to New York University
(NYU) to study film. As he's wandering around lost in Grand Central Terminal
, he's approached by Victor Ray (Bruno Kirby
), who at first offers to carry Clark's bags for him, then offers Clark a ride to college in his car. As soon as Clark steps out of the car, Victor drives off with Clark's luggage still in the trunk.
Clark tells his professor, Professor Fleeber (Paul Benedict
), who uses books he has written as required study, about losing his books. Clark notices out the window Victor walking by and gives chase. Victor vows to give his luggage back in return for a favor. Clark is introduced to Victor's uncle, Carmine Sabatini (Marlon Brando
). In a running gag, Clark mentions how much Carmine looks, sounds and acts like Brando in The Godfather
— though no one will tell Carmine this to his face. Victor explains that Brando's character in The Godfather, Vito Corleone
, was based on Carmine.
Carmine offers Clark the opportunity to make a lot of money just for running small errands. The first is to pick up a Komodo dragon
from JFK Airport and transport it to a specific address. Clark enlists the help of his roommate Steve Bushak (Frank Whaley
) to pick up the animal and deliver it to Larry London (Maximilian Schell
) and his assistant, Edward (B.D. Wong).
Clark is also introduced to Carmine's daughter, Tina (Penelope Ann Miller
), who takes an immediate shine to him. Tina starts to talk to Clark as if the two are soon to be married. A distracted Clark tries to pay attention in Fleeber's film class (where the professor shows clips of The Godfather Part II
) but he's soon being chased by two agents of the Department of Justice
. Upon being caught, he's told that Carmine - also known as "Jimmy The Toucan" - is not only a Mafia
figure, he runs the Fabulous Gourmet Club, an illicit and nomadic establishment, never holding its festivities in the same place twice, where for enormous prices endangered
animals are served as the main course, specially prepared by Larry London. Clark is told that "for the privilege of eating the very last of a species," a million dollars is charged.
Clark finds out that his activist stepfather had been listening in on a conversation with his mother. Right after Clark mentioned the Komodo dragon, Dwight contacted the Department of Justice. Carmine admits to Clark that the Gourmet Club exists, but tells Clark that the two DOJ agents are being bribed by a rival crime family that wants both Carmine and Clark dead. While driving to the Gourmet Club, a plan is hatched to get Carmine out of the exotic animal business for good and to clear Clark.
At the Gourmet Club's dinner, longtime Miss America
pageant host Bert Parks
sings a version of "There She Is" when the Komodo Dragon is revealed. Clark steps outside to signal the DOJ agents, and the DOJ agents raid the restaurant where the club is meeting. Carmine is upset that Clark has ratted him out. Carmine pulls a gun, the two wrestle and Carmine is apparently killed in the struggle.
The two DOJ agents, who do indeed turn out to be corrupt, leave with a duffel bag filled with money, though they're soon caught by real FBI
agents and arrested. Clark berates his stepfather, who leaves. Carmine then gets up off the floor, having faked his death. Larry London reveals tonight's expensive and exotic dinner is actually Hawaiian tigerfish mixed with smoked turkey from Virginia, not endangered species (a long-running con of Carmine's, swindling the rich out of their money). It is also revealed that the whole thing had been a set-up. Clark was picked out by Carmine, working with the FBI, because they knew Clark's stepfather would contact the corrupt agents when he found out about Clark's "job".
Carmine and Clark walk off with the Komodo dragon, which will be taken safely to a new habitat at the zoo. He offers to help Clark in any way he needs to make it in Hollywood. Clark says "thanks, but no thanks."
describing it in the New York Times as "witty and enchanted". In his original review, Roger Ebert wrote, "There have been a lot of movies where stars have repeated the triumphs of their parts - but has any star ever done it more triumphantly than Marlon Brando does in The Freshman?" Variety
also praised Brando's performance as Sabatini and noted, "Marlon Brando's sublime comedy performance elevates The Freshman from screwball comedy to a quirky niche in film history." On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes
, The Freshman has a 94% "Certified Fresh" with "Average Rating" of 7.4/10. The consensus is "Buoyed by the charm of Matthew Broderick in the title role and Marlon Brando as a caricature of his Godfather persona, The Freshman benefits from solid casting, a clever premise, and sweet humor."
played the young Peter Clemenza in The Godfather Part II
. Gianni Russo
, who was the Don's conniving son-in-law Carlo Rizzi in the first film appears in the Gourmet Club scenes. (He tells Brando's character: "Good night, boss.")
At the end of the film, Brando turns in another parody of an iconic Brando role, this time his “I coulda been a contender” speech from On the Waterfront
, as Carmine Sabatini addresses the Komodo Dragon with a quiet "You're gonna turn into a bum! ... Without me you coulda been a handbag or somethin'."
The fake name in the passport that Victor Ray gives to Clark Kellogg is 'Rodolfo Lassparri', the name of the antagonist in A Night at the Opera
.
According to Gene Siskel
, after the movie was finished filming, Brando condemned the film calling it "lousy." Siskel responded: "Brando is an extraordinary actor, but not much of a movie critic. That's because The Freshman is a delightful comedy and Brando's performance is a big part of the delight."
The film was written and directed by Andrew Bergman
who was the original screenwriter of Blazing Saddles
.
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
starring Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
and Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
, in which Brando parodies his portrayal of Vito Corleone
Vito Corleone
Vito Andolini Corleone is a fictional character and the main character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather trilogy, where he was portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Godfather and by Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II. Premiere Magazine listed Vito...
in The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
.
The plot revolves around quirky aspects such as Broderick's entanglement into an illicit business of offering exotic and endangered animals as specialty food items; Broderick's character, a first-year film student at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, is at one point tasked with delivering a Komodo Dragon
Komodo dragon
The Komodo dragon , also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Gili Dasami. A member of the monitor lizard family , it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of in rare cases...
for this purpose.
Plot
Clark Kellogg (Matthew BroderickMatthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
) leaves his mother (Pamela Payton-Wright
Pamela Payton-Wright
-Biography:Payton-Wright was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Eleanor Ruth and Gordon Edgar Payton-Wright. She graduated from the Birmingham-Southern College in 1963. She began her television career in 1972 as Rhonda on Corky...
) and environmental activist
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
stepfather Dwight (Kenneth Welsh
Kenneth Welsh
Kenneth Welsh, CM is a Canadian film and television actor . He is known to Twin Peaks fans as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle, and has more recently played the father of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.In 1984 he was nominated for a Genie Award as Best Actor for his...
) in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
to go to New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(NYU) to study film. As he's wandering around lost in Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
, he's approached by Victor Ray (Bruno Kirby
Bruno Kirby
Bruno Kirby was an American film and television actor. He was perhaps best known for his roles in the Hollywood films City Slickers, When Harry Met Sally..., Good Morning, Vietnam, The Godfather Part II and Donnie Brasco.-Early life:Kirby was born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu, Jr. in New York City,...
), who at first offers to carry Clark's bags for him, then offers Clark a ride to college in his car. As soon as Clark steps out of the car, Victor drives off with Clark's luggage still in the trunk.
Clark tells his professor, Professor Fleeber (Paul Benedict
Paul Benedict
Paul Benedict was an American actor who made numerous appearances in television and movies beginning in the 1960s...
), who uses books he has written as required study, about losing his books. Clark notices out the window Victor walking by and gives chase. Victor vows to give his luggage back in return for a favor. Clark is introduced to Victor's uncle, Carmine Sabatini (Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
). In a running gag, Clark mentions how much Carmine looks, sounds and acts like Brando in The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
— though no one will tell Carmine this to his face. Victor explains that Brando's character in The Godfather, Vito Corleone
Vito Corleone
Vito Andolini Corleone is a fictional character and the main character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather trilogy, where he was portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Godfather and by Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II. Premiere Magazine listed Vito...
, was based on Carmine.
Carmine offers Clark the opportunity to make a lot of money just for running small errands. The first is to pick up a Komodo dragon
Komodo dragon
The Komodo dragon , also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Gili Dasami. A member of the monitor lizard family , it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of in rare cases...
from JFK Airport and transport it to a specific address. Clark enlists the help of his roommate Steve Bushak (Frank Whaley
Frank Whaley
Frank Joseph Whaley is an American film and television actor known for his roles in independent films.-Personal life:Whaley was born in Syracuse, New York, the son of Josephine and Robert W. Whaley, Sr. He is half-Irish and half-Sicilian and grew up in Syracuse. He has two sisters and an older...
) to pick up the animal and deliver it to Larry London (Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell is an Austrian-born Swiss actor who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Judgment at Nuremberg in 1961...
) and his assistant, Edward (B.D. Wong).
Clark is also introduced to Carmine's daughter, Tina (Penelope Ann Miller
Penelope Ann Miller
Penelope Ann Miller , sometimes credited as Penelope Miller, is an American actress...
), who takes an immediate shine to him. Tina starts to talk to Clark as if the two are soon to be married. A distracted Clark tries to pay attention in Fleeber's film class (where the professor shows clips of The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
) but he's soon being chased by two agents of the Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
. Upon being caught, he's told that Carmine - also known as "Jimmy The Toucan" - is not only a Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
figure, he runs the Fabulous Gourmet Club, an illicit and nomadic establishment, never holding its festivities in the same place twice, where for enormous prices endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
animals are served as the main course, specially prepared by Larry London. Clark is told that "for the privilege of eating the very last of a species," a million dollars is charged.
Clark finds out that his activist stepfather had been listening in on a conversation with his mother. Right after Clark mentioned the Komodo dragon, Dwight contacted the Department of Justice. Carmine admits to Clark that the Gourmet Club exists, but tells Clark that the two DOJ agents are being bribed by a rival crime family that wants both Carmine and Clark dead. While driving to the Gourmet Club, a plan is hatched to get Carmine out of the exotic animal business for good and to clear Clark.
At the Gourmet Club's dinner, longtime Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
pageant host Bert Parks
Bert Parks
Bert Parks, born Bertram Jacobson , was an American actor, singer, and radio and television announcer, best known for hosting the annual Miss America telecast from 1955 to 1979....
sings a version of "There She Is" when the Komodo Dragon is revealed. Clark steps outside to signal the DOJ agents, and the DOJ agents raid the restaurant where the club is meeting. Carmine is upset that Clark has ratted him out. Carmine pulls a gun, the two wrestle and Carmine is apparently killed in the struggle.
The two DOJ agents, who do indeed turn out to be corrupt, leave with a duffel bag filled with money, though they're soon caught by real FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agents and arrested. Clark berates his stepfather, who leaves. Carmine then gets up off the floor, having faked his death. Larry London reveals tonight's expensive and exotic dinner is actually Hawaiian tigerfish mixed with smoked turkey from Virginia, not endangered species (a long-running con of Carmine's, swindling the rich out of their money). It is also revealed that the whole thing had been a set-up. Clark was picked out by Carmine, working with the FBI, because they knew Clark's stepfather would contact the corrupt agents when he found out about Clark's "job".
Carmine and Clark walk off with the Komodo dragon, which will be taken safely to a new habitat at the zoo. He offers to help Clark in any way he needs to make it in Hollywood. Clark says "thanks, but no thanks."
Cast
- Matthew BroderickMatthew BroderickMatthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
as Clark Kellogg - Marlon BrandoMarlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
as Carmine Sabatini - Bruno KirbyBruno KirbyBruno Kirby was an American film and television actor. He was perhaps best known for his roles in the Hollywood films City Slickers, When Harry Met Sally..., Good Morning, Vietnam, The Godfather Part II and Donnie Brasco.-Early life:Kirby was born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu, Jr. in New York City,...
as Victor Ray - Penelope Ann MillerPenelope Ann MillerPenelope Ann Miller , sometimes credited as Penelope Miller, is an American actress...
as Tina Sabatini - Frank WhaleyFrank WhaleyFrank Joseph Whaley is an American film and television actor known for his roles in independent films.-Personal life:Whaley was born in Syracuse, New York, the son of Josephine and Robert W. Whaley, Sr. He is half-Irish and half-Sicilian and grew up in Syracuse. He has two sisters and an older...
as Steve Bushak - Jon PolitoJon PolitoJon Polito is an American actor and voice artist, who is known for working with the Coen Brothers, most notably in the major supporting role of Italian gangster Johnny Caspar in Miller's Crossing. He also appeared in the first two seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street and on the first season of...
as Chuck Greenwald - Paul BenedictPaul BenedictPaul Benedict was an American actor who made numerous appearances in television and movies beginning in the 1960s...
as Arthur Fleeber - Richard GantRichard GantRichard E. Gant is an American film and television actor. His credits include the films Rocky V , as a possessed cornoner in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday , Deadwood, Babylon 5, Special Unit 2, NYPD Blue, Living Single, Posse and Charmed...
as Lloyd Simpson - Kenneth WelshKenneth WelshKenneth Welsh, CM is a Canadian film and television actor . He is known to Twin Peaks fans as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle, and has more recently played the father of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.In 1984 he was nominated for a Genie Award as Best Actor for his...
as Dwight Armstrong - Pamela Payton-WrightPamela Payton-Wright-Biography:Payton-Wright was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Eleanor Ruth and Gordon Edgar Payton-Wright. She graduated from the Birmingham-Southern College in 1963. She began her television career in 1972 as Rhonda on Corky...
as Liz Armstrong - B.D. WongB.D. WongBradley Darryl "BD" Wong is an American actor, best-known for his roles as Dr. George Huang on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as Father Ray Mukada on HBO's Oz, Henry Wu in the movie Jurassic Park, and for his starring role as Song Liling in the Broadway production of M...
as Edward - Maximillian Schell as Larry London
Reception
The film was well reviewed, with Janet MaslinJanet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
describing it in the New York Times as "witty and enchanted". In his original review, Roger Ebert wrote, "There have been a lot of movies where stars have repeated the triumphs of their parts - but has any star ever done it more triumphantly than Marlon Brando does in The Freshman?" 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...
also praised Brando's performance as Sabatini and noted, "Marlon Brando's sublime comedy performance elevates The Freshman from screwball comedy to a quirky niche in film history." On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, The Freshman has a 94% "Certified Fresh" with "Average Rating" of 7.4/10. The consensus is "Buoyed by the charm of Matthew Broderick in the title role and Marlon Brando as a caricature of his Godfather persona, The Freshman benefits from solid casting, a clever premise, and sweet humor."
Production
Beyond the casting of Brando, there are other Godfather series references. Bruno KirbyBruno Kirby
Bruno Kirby was an American film and television actor. He was perhaps best known for his roles in the Hollywood films City Slickers, When Harry Met Sally..., Good Morning, Vietnam, The Godfather Part II and Donnie Brasco.-Early life:Kirby was born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu, Jr. in New York City,...
played the young Peter Clemenza in The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
. Gianni Russo
Gianni Russo
Louis Giovanni "Gianni" Russo is an American actor, singer and alleged possible member of organized crime, or Cosa Nostra....
, who was the Don's conniving son-in-law Carlo Rizzi in the first film appears in the Gourmet Club scenes. (He tells Brando's character: "Good night, boss.")
At the end of the film, Brando turns in another parody of an iconic Brando role, this time his “I coulda been a contender” speech from On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront is a 1954 American drama film about union violence and corruption among longshoremen. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden. The soundtrack score was composed by Leonard...
, as Carmine Sabatini addresses the Komodo Dragon with a quiet "You're gonna turn into a bum! ... Without me you coulda been a handbag or somethin'."
The fake name in the passport that Victor Ray gives to Clark Kellogg is 'Rodolfo Lassparri', the name of the antagonist in A Night at the Opera
A Night at the Opera (film)
A Night at the Opera is a 1935 American comedy film starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx, and featuring Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont, Sig Ruman, and Walter Woolf King. It was the first film the Marx Brothers made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after their departure from...
.
According to Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
, after the movie was finished filming, Brando condemned the film calling it "lousy." Siskel responded: "Brando is an extraordinary actor, but not much of a movie critic. That's because The Freshman is a delightful comedy and Brando's performance is a big part of the delight."
The film was written and directed by Andrew Bergman
Andrew Bergman
Andrew Bergman is an American screenwriter, film director, and novelist. New York magazine in 1985 dubbed him "The Unknown King of Comedy".He graduated from Binghamton University and earned a Ph.D...
who was the original screenwriter of Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles is a 1974 satirical Western comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. Starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, the film was written by Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, and Al Uger, and was based on Bergman's story and draft. The movie was nominated for three...
.