Name	The Blues Brothers
Alt	Movie poster with two of the main characters on the right-side of the image. They are both wearing black suits, hats, and sunglasses and facing forwards. The man on the right is resting his arm on the shoulder of the man on the left. A police car is present on the left side of the image behind them. At the top of the image is the tagline "They'll never get caught. They're on a mission from God." At the bottom of the poster is the title of the film, cast names, and production credits.
Caption	Theatrical release poster
Director	John Landis
Producer	Bernie BrillsteinGeorge Folsey, Jr.David SosnaRobert K. Weiss
Writer	Dan AykroydJohn Landis
Starring	John BelushiDan AykroydCarrie FisherJohn CandyHenry Gibson
Music	Elmer Bernstein
Cinematography	Stephen M. Katz
Editing	George Folsey, Jr.
Distributor	Universal Studios
Released
Runtime	133 minutes
Country
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Gross	$115,229,890
Followed by	Blues Brothers 2000

The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B; and soul singers James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and John Lee Hooker. The film is set in and around Chicago, Illinois, and also features non-musical supporting performances by John Candy, Carrie Fisher, Charles Napier, and Henry Gibson.

The story is a tale of for paroled convict Jake (Belushi) and his brother Elwood (Aykroyd), who take on "a mission from God" to save from foreclosure the Catholic orphanage in which they grew up. To do so they must reunite their rhythm and blues band, The Blues Brothers, and organize a performance to earn $5,000 to pay the tax assessor. Along the way they are targeted by a destructive "mystery woman", Nazis, and a country and western band—all while being relentlessly pursued by the police.

Released in the United States on June 20, 1980, it received generally good reviews. It earned just under $5 million in its opening weekend and went on to gross $115.2 million in theaters worldwide before its release on home video.

Plot

"Joliet" Jake Blues (John Belushi) is released from prison after serving three years for armed robbery. Jake is irritated at being picked up by his brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) in the Bluesmobile, a battered former Mount Prospect police car, instead of the Cadillac the brothers used to own. The brothers visit their childhood home, a Roman Catholic orphanage, and learn that it will be closed unless $5,000 in property taxes is collected. The brothers visit an evangelical church service where Jake has an epiphany: they can legitimately raise the funds by re-forming their rhythm and blues band.

Elwood's driving alerts two Illinois State Police troopers who learn of his suspended license. When they attempt to arrest him, he speeds off, escaping through the Dixie Square Mall. As the brothers arrive at the flophouse where Elwood lives, a mystery woman (Carrie Fisher) launches a bazooka attack that leaves them unharmed. The next morning, she detonates a bomb that demolishes the building, which also fails to injure the brothers and saves them from being arrested. Jake and Elwood begin tracking down members of the band. Trombonist Tom "Bones" Malone and the rhythm section of the group (Willie "Too Big" Hall, Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, and Murphy "Murph" Dunne) are playing in an empty Holiday Inn lounge, and are easily persuaded to rejoin. Trumpeter "Mr. Fabulous", now maître d' at a restaurant, is harder to sway, but Jake and Elwood rudely convince him. En route to meet saxophonist Louis "Blue Lou" Marini and guitarist Matt "Guitar" Murphy, the brothers drive through a rally of "the Illinois Nazis", adding another enemy to the brothers' growing list. Marini and Murphy are at the soul food restaurant which Murphy owns with his wife. Against her advice, the two musicians leave and rejoin the band. The reunited group get instruments and equipment from a pawn shop on loan.

Jake is unable to book a gig in advance, but the band stumbles into a gig at Bob's Country Bunker, a country bar. After a rocky start, the band wins over the bottle-tossing crowd. At the end of the evening, however, not only is their bar tab greater than the pay for the gig, but the brothers infuriate the band that was actually meant to play, the Good Ol' Boys. The Blues Brothers blackmail their old booking agent into securing a gig for them—a performance at the Palace Hotel Ballroom, located 106 miles (171 km) north of Chicago. After being driven all over the area promoting the concert, the Bluesmobile runs out of gas, making Jake and Elwood late for the concert. The ballroom is packed, and the concert-goers are joined by the Good Ol' Boys and scores of police officers. Jake and Elwood sneak into the venue and perform two songs. A record company executive offers them a cash advance on a recording contract, more than enough to cover the orphanage's property taxes and the cost of the band's instruments, and tells the brothers how to slip out unnoticed.

As the brothers escape via a service tunnel, they are confronted by the mystery woman, whereupon it is revealed she is Jake's ex-fiancée. She fires an M16 rifle at them, but Jake charms her before dropping her, allowing the two brothers to escape to the Bluesmobile. They head back to Chicago with dozens of state/local police and the Good Ol' Boys in pursuit. Jake and Elwood eventually elude them all, leaving piled-up police cars in their wake. After a gravity-defying escape from the Illinois Nazis, Jake and Elwood arrive at the Richard J. Daley Center, where the Bluesmobile literally falls to pieces. They rush inside the adjacent Chicago City Hall building, soon followed by hundreds of police, state troopers, SWAT teams, firefighters, Illinois National Guardsmen, and the Military Police. Finding the office of the Cook County Assessor, the brothers pay the tax bill. Just as their receipt is stamped, they are arrested by a large crowd of armed law officers. Jake, Elwood, and the rest of the band are sent to prison where they play "Jailhouse Rock" for fellow inmates.

Cast

Cab Calloway as Curtis

Carrie Fisher as Mystery woman

Aretha Franklin as Mrs. Murphy

Ray Charles as Pawn Shop Owner/Himself

James Brown as Reverend Cleophus James

John Candy as Burton Mercer

Kathleen Freeman as Sister Mary Stigmata, "The Penguin"

Henry Gibson as Head Nazi

Steve Lawrence as Maury Sline

Twiggy as Chic Lady

Frank Oz as Corrections Officer

Jeff Morris as Bob

Charles Napier as Tucker McElroy

Steven Williams as Trooper Mount

Armand Cerami as Trooper Daniel

Chaka Khan as Choir soloist

John Lee Hooker as musician on Maxwell Street

John Landis as State trooper

Stephen Bishop as police officer with broken watch

Paul Reubens as Chez Paul waiter

Steven Spielberg as Cook County Assessor's Office Clerk

The Blues Brothers Band

John Belushi as "Joliet" Jake Blues, lead vocals

Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues, harmonica and lead vocals

Steve Cropper as Steve "the Colonel" Cropper, lead guitar, rhythm guitar and vocals

Donald "Duck" Dunn as Donald "Duck" Dunn, bass guitar

Murphy Dunne as Murphy "Murph" Dunne, keyboards

Willie Hall as Willie "Too Big" Hall, drums and percussion

Tom Malone as Tom "Bones" Malone, trombone, tenor saxophone and vocals

Lou Marini as "Blue Lou" Marini, alto saxophone and tenor saxophone and vocals

Matt Murphy as Matt "Guitar" Murphy, lead guitar

Alan Rubin as Alan "Mr. Fabulous" Rubin, trumpet, percussion and vocals

Production

Origins

The characters, Jake and Elwood Blues, were created by Belushi and Aykroyd in performances on Saturday Night Live. The name "The Blues Brothers" was the idea of Howard Shore. The fictional back story and character sketches of blood brothers Jake and Elwood were developed by Aykroyd in collaboration with Ron Gwynne, who is credited as a story consultant for the film. As related in the liner notes of the band's debut album, Briefcase Full of Blues, the brothers grew up in an orphanage, learned the blues from a janitor named Curtis and sealed their brotherhood by cutting their middle fingers with a steel string said to have come from the guitar of Elmore James.

When it was decided the act could be made into a film by Universal Studios, Aykroyd set about writing the script. He had never written a screenplay before, he said in the 1998 documentary, Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers, and he put together a very descriptive volume that explained the characters' origins and how the band members were recruited. It was 324 pages, which was three times longer than a standard screenplay. To soften the impact, Aykroyd made a joke of the thick script and had it bound with the cover of the Los Angeles Yellow Pages directory for when he turned it in to producer Robert K. Weiss. John Landis was given the task of editing the script into a usable screenplay.

The premise of the underlying plot, that a church-owned orphanage would have to pay a property tax bill, has been questioned—in Illinois, and generally elsewhere in the world, religious property is exempt from taxes. However, at the time of writing of the film, a legislative proposal to tax such property was under consideration. The proposal was never enacted into law.

Location

Much of the film was shot on location in and around Chicago, Illinois between July and October 1979. Made with the cooperation of Mayor Jane M. Byrne, it is credited for putting Chicago on the map as a venue for filmmaking. Nearly 200 movies have been filmed in Chicago. "Chicago is one of the stars of the movie. We wrote it as a tribute," Dan Aykroyd told the Chicago Sun-Times in an article written to mark the film's 25th anniversary DVD release.

The first traffic stop was in Park Ridge, Illinois. The mall car chase was filmed in the real, albeit abandoned, Dixie Square Mall in Harvey. The bridge jump was filmed on an actual drawbridge, the 95th Street bridge over the Calumet River, on the southeast side of Chicago. The main entrance to Wrigley Field (and its sign reading "Save lives. Drive safely, prevent fires.") makes a brief appearance when the "Illinois Nazis" visit it after Elwood falsely registers the ball field's location, 1060 West Addison, as his home address on his driver's license. (Elwood's Illinois driver's license number is an almost-valid encoded number, with Dan Aykroyd's own birth date embedded). The other chase scenes included Lower Wacker Drive, Lake Street and Richard J. Daley Center.

In the final car chase scene, the production actually dropped a Ford Pinto, representing the one driven by the "Illinois Nazis," from a helicopter at an altitude of more than a mile—and had to gain a Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration to do it. The FAA was concerned that the car could prove too aerodynamic in a high-altitude drop, and pose a threat to nearby buildings. The shot leading up to the car drop, where the "Illinois Nazis" drive off a freeway ramp, was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin near the Hoan Bridge on Interstate 794. The Lake Freeway (North) was a planned but not completed 6-lane freeway and I-794 contained an unfinished ramp that the Nazis drove off. Several Milwaukee skyscrapers are visible in the background as the Bluesmobile flips over, notably the U.S. Bank Center.

The "Palace Hotel Ballroom," where the band performs its climactic concert, was at the time of filming a country club, but later became the South Shore Cultural Center, named after the Chicago neighborhood in which it is located. The interior concert scenes were filmed in the Hollywood Palladium.

The filming in downtown Chicago was conducted on Sundays during the summer of 1979, and much of the downtown was cordoned off from the public. Costs for filming the largest scene in the city's history, totaled $3.5 million. Permission was given after Belushi and Aykroyd offered to donate $50,000 to charity after filming. The speeding car caused $7,650 in damages to 35 granite pavers and a bronze air grille in the building. More than 40 stunt drivers were hired and the crew kept a 24-hour body shop to repair cars.

For the scene when the Blues Brothers finally arrive at the Richard J. Daley Center, a mechanic took several months to rig the car to fall apart.

Over 500 extras were used for the next to the last scene, the blockade on the building at Daley Center, including 200 National Guardsmen, 100 state and city police officers, and 15 horses. Additionally, three Sherman tanks, three helicopters, and three fire engines were used. It won the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing and Sound Effects, is number 14th on Total Film magazine's "List of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films of All Time" and is number 69 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

The Blues Brothers has been criticized for its simplistic plot and being overly reliant on car chases. Among the reviewers at the time of the film's release who held that opinion was Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. However, Ebert praised it for its energetic musical numbers and said that the car chases were "incredible". In his review for The Washington Post, Gary Arnold criticized Landis engorging "the frail plot of The Blues Brothers with car chases and crack-ups, filmed with such avid, humorless starkness on the streets of Chicago that comic sensations are virtually obliterated". Time magazine's Richard Corliss wrote, "The Blues Brothers is a demolition symphony that works with the cold efficiency of a Moog synthesizer gone sadistic".

Janet Maslin of The New York Times criticized the film for shortchanging viewers on more details about Jake and Elwood's affinity for African-American culture. She also took director Landis to task for "distracting editing", mentioning the Soul Food diner scene in which saxophonist Lou Marini's head is cut off as he dances on the counter. In the documentary, Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers, Landis acknowledges the criticism, and Marini recalls the dismay he felt at seeing the completed film.

On the 30th anniversary, L'Osservatore Romano, the "semi-official" newspaper of the Holy See, wrote that the film is filled with symbolism and moral references that can be related to Catholicism. They went further stating, The Blues Brothers "is a memorable film, and, judging by the facts, a Catholic one."

Cult-film status

:See also: The Blues Brothers in popular culture The Blues Brothers has become a staple of late-night cinema, even slowly morphing into an audience participation show in its regular screenings at the Valhalla Cinema, in Melbourne, Australia. John Landis acknowledged the support of the cinema and the fans by a phone call he made to the cinema at the 10th anniversary screening, and later invited regular attendees to make cameo appearances in Blues Brothers 2000. The fans act as the members of the crowd during the performance of "".

In August 2005, there was a 25th anniversary celebration for The Blues Brothers at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Attendees included Landis, former Universal Studios executive Thom Mount, movie editor George Folsey, Jr., and cast members James Brown, Henry Gibson, Charles Napier, Steve Cropper, and Stephen Bishop. It featured a press conference, a panel discussion where Dan Aykroyd joined via satellite, and a screening of the original theatrical version of the film. The panel discussion was broadcast directly to many other cinemas around the country.

Release

Home media

When the film was first screened for a preview audience, a producer demanded that director John Landis cut 25 minutes from the film. After trimming 15 minutes, it was released in theaters at 133 minutes. The film's original length was restored to 148 minutes for the "Collector's Edition" DVD and a Special Edition VHS release in 1998. The 25th anniversary DVD release in 2005 includes both the theatrical cut and the extended version.

Soundtrack

The Blues Brothers: Music from the Soundtrack was released on June 20, 1980 as the second album by the Blues Brothers Band, which also toured that year to promote the film. "Gimme Some Lovin'" was a Top 20 Billboard hit, peaking at number 18. The album was a followup to their debut, the live album, Briefcase Full of Blues. Later that year they released a second live album, Made in America, which featured the Top 40 track, "Who's Making Love".

See also

List of American films of 1980

The Blues Brothers (video game)

References

External links

Guide to every scene in the film (including music, locations, actors, and trivia)

Original script containing additional scenes

Chicago filming locations based on Google Maps

Category:The Blues Brothers Category:The Blues Brothers albums Category:Saturday Night Live films Category:1980 films Category:1980s comedy films Category:American action comedy films Category:American musical comedy films Category:American screwball comedy films Category:English-language films Category:Films directed by John Landis Category:Buddy films Category:Chase films Category:Films about music and musicians Category:Films set in Chicago, Illinois Category:Films shot in Chicago, Illinois Category:Films shot in Wisconsin Category:Road movies Category:Universal Pictures films

Name	John Landis
Caption	John Landis at The Blues Brothers 25th Anniversary
Birth date	August 03, 1950
Birth place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Birth name	John David Landis
Occupation	Film director
Spouse	Deborah Nadoolman Landis}}

John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.

Early life and career

Landis was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Shirley Levine (née Magaziner) and Marshall David Landis, an interior decorator. His family relocated to Los Angeles when he was four months old.

He began working as a mailboy at 20th Century Fox. His first noteworthy job in Hollywood was working as an assistant director during filming MGM's Kelly's Heroes in Yugoslavia in 1969; he replaced the film's original assistant director, who suffered from a nervous breakdown and was sent home by the producers. While filming, he met actors Don Rickles and Donald Sutherland, both of whom he would later cast in his own films. Following this, Landis worked on many films made in Europe (especially in Italy and England), most notably, Once Upon a Time in the West, El Condor and A Town Called Bastard.

Landis was later reprimanded for circumventing the State of California's child labor laws in hiring the two children killed in the accident. This tragedy resulted in stricter safety measures and enforcement of child labor laws, in the State of California.

Next, Landis directed Into The Night, starring Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer and David Bowie (a film was inspired by Hitchcock productions; Landis played in this film a mute member of the quartet of Iranian hitmen). To promote this movie, he collaborated with Jeff Okun to direct a documentary film called B.B. King "Into the Night". Landis directed music videos for three of King's songs as part of the film:"Lucille", "Into the Night" (specially composed by Ira Newborn for movie Into the Night) and In the Midnight Hour.

His next film, Spies Like Us, (starring co-writer Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase) was an homage to the Road to... films, starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Hope made a cameo in the film as himself. The movie also pays homage to spy movies such as the James Bond series; the crew included special effects makers Ray Harryhausen and Derek Meddings, both of whom had worked on Bond movies. Landis also directed a video for Paul McCartney as part of the promotion for Spies Like Us. He also co-wrote the comedy film Clue.

In 1986, Landis directed ¡Three Amigos! for HBO. The film starred Chevy Chase, Martin Short and Steve Martin. Landis was the second choice to direct; Steven Spielberg had refused. The film was a tribute to old Mexican style westerns and musical movies. Randy Newman wrote three original songs for the film, and the film was shot in Technicolor to make it look like older Westerns.

Landis next directed the Eddie Murphy film, Coming to America, which was a huge commercial success. It was also the subject of Buchwald v. Paramount, a civil suit filed by Art Buchwald in 1990 against the film's producers. Buchwald claimed that the concept for the film had been stolen from a 1982 script that Paramount optioned from Buchwald. Buchwald won the breach of contract action.

In 1991, Landis collaborated again with Michael Jackson on the music video for the song "Black or White". In the same year, he directed Sylvester Stallone in the title role in Oscar. It's not a remake of the 1967 film of the same name, but instead is based on a Claude Magnier stage play. Oscar recreates a 1930 era film, including the gestures along with bit acts and with some slapstick, as a homage to old Hollywood films. In 1992, he directed Innocent Blood, a horror-crime film.

In 1994, Landis directed Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop III. They had previously worked together on Trading Places and Coming to America. In 1996, he directed The Stupids. Landis returned to Universal to direct Blues Brothers 2000 in 1998, the same year he directed Susan's Plan.

Burke and Hare was released in 2010, Landis's first theatrical release for over a decade.

Upcoming projects

Some Guy Who Kills People

Landis is set to produce the crime thriller Some Guy Who Kills People, written by Ryan Levin and directed by Jack Perez. Filming is expected to begin in January 2010 and stars Kevin Corrigan in a lead role.

Television

Landis directed Kentucky Fried Movie, which is a tribute to television. Later he co-directed Amazon Women on the Moon in the same vein. Landis has been active in television as the executive producer (and often director) of the series Dream On (1990), Weird Science (1994), Sliders (1995), (1997), Campus Cops (1995), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (1998), and Masters of Horror. He made also commercials for DirecTV, Taco Bell, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Kellogg's, and Disney.

Documentaries

His first documentary, Coming Soon from 1982, was released only on VHS. Next, he co-directed B.B. King "Into the Night" (1985) and in 2002 directed , which can be seen as a part of the Animal House DVD extras. Initially, his documentaries were only made to promote his feature films. However, later in his career, he became more serious about the oeuvre and made Slasher (2004), (2007) and the upcoming Starz Inside: Ladies or Gentlemen (2009). All of these documentaries were filmed for television; Landis won a 2008 Emmy Award for Mr. Warmth. He worked currently on the Making of Thriller which will shot in 3-D. Landis stars in the Spanish documentary The Man Who Saw Frankenstein Cry, which centers the life and career of Paul Naschy.

Personal life

Landis is married to Deborah Nadoolman Landis, an Oscar-nominated costume designer (who is President of the Costume Designers Guild), with whom he has two children: Max (with whom Landis co-wrote Deer Woman screenplay) and Rachel.

Style and techniques

Recurring motifs

See You Next Wednesday

.]] One of Landis' trademarks is to insert references to a fictional film called See You Next Wednesday in movies that he directs. The line is from Stanley Kubrick's ; this is how Frank Poole's parents end their video to him. The line is also mentioned in the opening scene of Michael Jackson's "Thriller", when the police decode a message from Jackson's werecat character.

When in Hollywood, Visit Universal Studios. Ask for Babs

This is an advertisement for the tour at Universal Studios, from John Landis movies made for Universal. This is also referring (shown at the end of the credits) to the character Babs from the movie National Lampoon's Animal House. When in Hollywood... is showing at the end of the credits, and it consists of three blue cards, the first saying "Universal Studios—the Entertainment Center of the World," the second saying "When in Hollywood Visit Universal Studios," and the last adding "Ask for Babs". The new version of this advertisement, which appeared in Blues Brothers 2000 (the first film directed by Landis for Universal since Amazon Women on the Moon) includes only one card: "Universal Studios—Hollywood and Florida. See the stars and ride the movies! (Ask for Babs)." Patrons who asked for Babs were once given a certain degree of reward; any promo was long since discontinued, save a simple smile or acknowledgment from a park staffer. In one DVD release of Animal House, there was a mockumentary that featured, among others, Martha Smith (who played Babs) indeed working the rounds as a tour guide at Universal Studios in Hollywood.

List of films with When in Hollywood, Visit Universal Studios. Ask for Babs:

National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)

The Blues Brothers (1980)

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Coming Soon (1982)

Into the Night (1985)

Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)

Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)

(2003)

In non-Landis works:

Charley Varrick (1973)

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Galactica III: Conquest of the Earth (1980)

(1982)

The Last Starfighter (1984)

The Great Outdoors (1988)

Uncle Buck (1989)

Sneakers (1992)

The Flintstones (1994)

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000)

Drag Me to Hell (2009)

Closing credits

Landis's films often feature a montage either before or during the end credits, which shows clips or outtakes from the movie, with the names of the featured actors at the bottom of the screen. This device was first used in Animal House, but does not feature in Schlock, The Kentucky Fried Movie, An American Werewolf in London, Three Amigos or Beverly Hills Cop III. The montages for Spies like Us and Innocent Blood also contain jokes.

Directors' cameos

Landis casts famous film directors in cameo appearances in almost all of his movies (Spies Like Us has several in one memorable scene). He frequently invited director Frank Oz to play small parts in his movies, and others such as Roger Vadim, Paul Mazursky, Jim Henson, Jonathan Demme, and David Cronenberg in Into the Night; Terry Gilliam, Joel Coen, Michael Apted in Spies Like Us; Sam Raimi in Spies Like Us and Innocent Blood; George Lucas in Beverly Hills Cop III; Steven Spielberg in Blues Brothers; and Dario Argento in Innocent Blood.

Break the fourth wall

Several of Landis' films break the fourth wall. in his films (including Schlock – the title hero; in Kentucky Fried Movie – animal showing during TV's show; in An American Werewolf in London in ZOO; in Trading Places in the train during New Year's Eve) or inserted images of gorillas in his films as part of production designs: in Blues Brothers on promotional poster of fictional movie called See You Next Wednesday (the same situation in The Stupids) and on the poster in Three Amigos (shows as one of advertisement of Goldsmith Studios), in Innocent Blood we may see a monkey from the movie playing on television; in Blues Brothers 2000 it appears as a huge gorilla's figure in Queen Mousette's House.

Awards

According to the Internet Movie Database, John Landis has won or been nominated for the following awards:

;Nominations

Schlock for Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films

Twilight Zone: The Movie for Best Film at Fantasporto

"Dream On" was nominated four times in the Comedy Series category at the CableACE Awards

;Awards won:

Schlock won the Best Film award during Fantafestival

Into the Night won the Special Jury Prize at the Cognac Festival du Film Policier

"Dream On" won a CableACE Award in the Comedy Series in 1992

Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project won in the "Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special" category at the Emmy Awards

;Landis was honoured by:

French government in 1985 (Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres)

Rimini Cinema Festival in Italy (Federico Fellini Prize)

The Eastman House in Rochester, New York (named a George Eastman Scholar)

Sitges Film Festival in Spain (Time Machine Career Achievement Award'')

Significant collaborations

Cast

;With Dan Aykroyd Aykroyd wrote the original script for the movie The Blues Brothers, which at 324 pages was three times longer than a standard screenplay. Landis was given the task of editing the script into a usable screenplay, and the film was realised in 1980 as a musical comedy. Aykroyd then starred (along with Murphy) in Trading Places. In the same year (1983) he appeared in Twilight Zone: The Movie. Two years later, he made a cameo in Into the Night and B.B. King "Into the Night" (as one of B.B. King's band members) and starred in (as well as co-wrote) Spies Like Us. This would be Aykroyd's last role in a Landis film until 1998.

;With Eddie Murphy Eddie Murphy first collaborated with Landis during Trading Places. Murphy frequently collaborated with Landis, and appeared also in Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop III. Murphy made a cameo in Landis's two videos for B.B. King: In the Midnight Hour and My Lucille in which he played band's member as drummer.

;With Michael Jackson When Landis and his family were living in London, he was approached by Michael Jackson to make a video for his song, "Thriller". "Thriller" forever changed MTV and the concept of music videos; it has won many awards. In 2009, Landis sued Jackson in a dispute over royalties for the video; he claims to be owed four years worth of royalties. In 1992 Landis directed a second video for Jackson, "Black or White", in which Landis appeared as himself.

During an interview with Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan Landis said:

;With Frank Oz Landis has cast Oz in small roles in several of his movies. Oz played a corrections officer in Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000. He also had roles in An American Werewolf in London, Trading Places, Spies Like Us, and Innocent Blood. Even if he's not appeared in a Landis movie, his name is often spoken in the background. During airport scenes in Into the Night and Coming to America, there are announcements on the PA system requesting a 'Mr. Frank Oznowicz' to pick up the white courtesy phone. Oznowicz is Oz's given name. During interview with Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan, Frank Oz said:

Crew

;With Deborah Nadoolman Landis Throughout his career, Landis has utilized his wife, Deborah Nadoolman Landis, as a costume designer. She created such costumes as Bluto's toga in Animal House; black suits, hats and glasses for the Blues Brothers; Michael Jackson's red jacket in Thriller; sheepskin jackets for Spies Like Us; the protagonists' costumes in ¡Three Amigos!; and Prince Akeem's coronation outfit in Coming to America. Deborah Nadoolman was nominated for an Academy Award in 1988 for Coming to America.

;With Rick Baker Richard Baker is an Academy Award-winning special makeup effects artist known for his realistic creature effects. Baker worked with Landis for the first time during Schlock. Baker also created special makeup effects for Landis' An American Werewolf in London (for which he won the Academy Award), Twilight Zone: The Movie, Thriller, and Coming to America (which garnered him an Academy Award nomination). Baker also appeared in Into the Night as a drug dealer.

;With George Folsey Jr. George Folsey is a producer and editor. He edited or co-edited six Landis' films, from Schlock (1973) to The Blues Brothers (1980), Thriller and Coming to America. Folsey produced eleven films directed or co-directed by Landis (Schlock, The Blues Brothers, all films from An American Werewolf in London to Coming to America). He was also second unit director collaborated with Landis during his Trading Places, Into the Night and ¡Three Amigos!.

;With Leslie Belzberg Leslie Belzberg is a film and television producer. She produced ten films directed by Landis, from Into the Night to Susans Plan) and four TV series in which Landis participated, including The Lost World and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show. Belzberg was George Folsey's assistant during filming Trading Places, and also was Blues Brothers 2000 executive music producer. She won – along with Landis – CableACE Awards for Dream on series and appeared in The Making of "Blues Brothers 2000" as herself.

;With Elmer Bernstein Bernstein composed music for eight of Landis' movies: National Lampoon's Animal House ("Faber College Theme"), Blues Brothers ("God's Music"), An American Werewolf in London (about 7-minutes of score), Trading Places (most of score is variations on Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro"), Thriller ("Scary Music"), Spies Like Us, ¡Three Amigos! and Oscar (score is adaption of "The Barber of Seville" by Rossini). Bernstein was nominated for Academy Award for Trading Places score in 1984.

;With Ira Newborn Newborn composed music for three of Landis' movies: the smoky jazz score for Into the Night, for which he wrote music for B.B. King (included two songs especially wrote for the film soundtrack: My Lucille and Into the Night); 'wallpaper' music for "Mondo Condo" novel from Amazon Women on the Moon and urban jazzy big-band score for Innocent Blood. He supervised and conducted music for Blues Brothers movie. Newborn's music was also used by Landis in a 1985 documentary film directed by Jeff Okun called B.B. King "Into the Night". This film contains three music videos directed by Landis to two songs written by Newborn and one arranged by the composer. Two songs co-written by Newborn were also added to "Into the Night" LP soundtrack edition, but neither of them were used in the film.

;With Robert Paynter Landis worked with cinematographer Robert Paynter on five films: An American Werewolf in London, Trading Places, Thriller, Into the Night and Spies Like Us. Paynter helped to create a "pop" comic book-style of American Werewolf, Thriller and Into the Night. He also made a cameo in Into the Night (as Security Guard) and Spies like Us (as Dr. Gill).

;With Mac Ahlberg Landis worked with a Swedish cinematographer Mac Ahlberg on three feature films in early 90s : Oscar, Innocent Blood and Beverly Hills Cop III. Ahlberg was also director of photography of two television episodes from Dream on series: The First Episode and The Second Greatest Story Ever Told - both directed by Landis. Ahlberg and Landis also collaborated on Michael Jackson's Black or White music video.

Filmography

Feature

Directed by Landis:

Schlock (1973)

The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)

The Blues Brothers (1980)

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Trading Places (1983)

Into the Night (1985)

Spies Like Us (1985)

Three Amigos (1986)

Coming to America (1988)

Oscar (1991)

Innocent Blood (1992)

Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)

The Stupids (1996)

Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)

Susan's Plan (1998)

Burke and Hare (2010)

Co-directed by Landis:

(1983)

Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)

Documentary films

For Video/DVD:

Coming Soon (1982)

(2002)

For Television:

Slasher (2004)

(2006)

Co-directed by Landis:

B.B. King "Into the Night" (video segments, 1985)

Music videos

Shorts films for Michael Jackson:

Thriller (1983)

Black or White (1991)

For B.B. King (from film B.B. King "Into the Night"):

My Lucille

Into the Night

In the Midnight Hour

For Paul McCartney:

Spies Like Us (1986)

Television episodes

Disneyland's 30th Anniversary Celebration (1 episode, 1985)

Georg Burns Disaster at Buzz Creek (1 episode, 1985)

Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Celebration (1 episode, 1990)

Dream On (9 episodes, 1990–1995)

(1 episode, 1999)

Masters of Horror

: "Deer Woman" (2005) : "Family" (2006)

The Great Sketch Experiment (segments, 2006)

Psych (3 episodes, 2007, 2008)

Fear Itself

: "In Sickness and in Health" (2008)

Other works

(2006)

Books about John Landis

Alberto Farina (1995). "John Landis". Il Castoro. ISBN 978-88-8033-030-1

Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan (2008). "John Landis". M Press. ISBN 1-59582-041-8

References

External links

80's Movie Rewind Profile about Director

Daily Variety, May 24, 1994: Spotlight on John Landis — Billion Dollar Director

;Interviews

Interview with John Landis

;About Twillight Zone accident

Site of incident at www.findadeath.com

All about The Twilight Zone tragedy

NTSB Accident Investigation Report

Category:1950 births Category:Horror film directors Category:American film producers Category:American Jews Category:American music video directors Category:American screenwriters Category:Living people Category:People from Chicago, Illinois