Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox. Murphy stars as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop who heads to Beverly Hills, California to solve the murder of his best friend.

This first film in the Beverly Hills Cop series shot Murphy to international stardom, won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture, was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical, and even received an Oscar nomination in 1985. It earned an estimated $234 million at the domestic box office, narrowly making it the biggest hit of 1984 (ahead of Ghostbusters).

Plot[link]

Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is a young, talented, but reckless Detroit police detective who had previously been a delinquent. His latest act of attempting to catch crooks through an unauthorized cigarette smuggling sting operation goes sour when some uniformed officers show up, questioning their suspicious activity, and earns him the wrath of his boss, Inspector Douglas Todd (Gilbert R. Hill).

Axel's childhood friend and former criminal cohort, Mikey Tandino (James Russo), shows up in his apartment (by breaking in) and tells him he is working in Beverly Hills, California, as a security guard, through the efforts of a mutual friend, Jenny Summers (Lisa Eilbacher). After going out to have a few drinks, both men return drunk to Axel's apartment, where Axel is knocked unconscious and Mikey is confronted by two thugs, questioning him about some missing German bearer bonds that he had shown Axel earlier. Mikey is then murdered. After being refused the investigation because of his close ties to Mikey, Axel uses the guise of taking vacation time to head to Beverly Hills to ascertain the motive and solve the crime. While there, he finds Jenny working in an art gallery and learns from her that Mikey's most recent boss was respected local art dealer Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff), who had hired Mikey as a favor to Jenny. Axel decides to question Maitland about Mikey's employment, only to be thrown through the window by Maitland's bodyguards. Axel is promptly arrested and meets Beverly Hills police officers Sergeant John Taggart (John Ashton), Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), and Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox). Bogomil assigns Rosewood and Taggart to follow Axel, and after a series of encounters, including the trio's foiling of a robbery in a striptease bar, the three develop a mutual respect.

On the trail of Mikey's suspected killers, Axel sneaks into one of Maitland's art warehouses and soon begins to suspect that Maitland is involved in some questionable activities, including Mikey's murder. He finds coffee grounds in the warehouse and, after some intuitive undercover work, realizes that many of Maitland's boxes had not even gone through customs. After Axel is arrested again, this time after a scuffle at Maitland's country club, Bogomil demands to know why Axel is bothering Maitland. Axel finally admits that he suspects Maitland to be a smuggler, but is unsure of what exactly he is smuggling. He mentions the coffee grounds that he had found as proof. Bogomil, knowing that coffee grounds are often used to throw off drug-sniffing dogs, seems to believe Axel's story, but Police Chief Hubbard reprimands Bogomil for all of the chaos that Axel had caused and orders that he be escorted out of town. However, Axel convinces Rosewood to pick up Jenny and take her with them to Maitland's warehouse, where a shipment is due to arrive that day.

Axel and Jenny break into the warehouse and discover several bags of cocaine inside a shipping crate. Axel tells Jenny to get Rosewood, but Maitland and his associates arrive at that moment. Maitland kidnaps Jenny and leaves Axel to be roughed up by his goons. Rosewood, after some hesitation, enters the warehouse and rescues Axel. Taggart tracks Axel and Rosewood to Maitland's estate, where Axel and Rosewood finally convince him of Maitland's shady dealings. Taggart joins Axel and Rosewood in their efforts to rescue Jenny and bring Maitland to justice. When Bogomil sees that Taggart and Rosewood are absent, then hears reports of shots fired at Maitland's residence, he calls for backup at the location and heads out to join up with the others. After a firefight that kills most of Maitland's associates, Axel kills Maitland's right-hand man Zack, who was responsible for Mikey's murder. Maitland himself shoots and injures Axel, then taunts him by using Jenny as a shield. Bogomil's timely arrival distracts Maitland long enough to allow Jenny to break free; Bogomil and Axel then fire repeatedly at Maitland, killing him.

By the time Chief Hubbard has reached Maitland's estate, numerous marked police units are on scene to clean up after the earlier mess. Bogomil fabricates a story for Hubbard that covers for Axel, Taggart and Rosewood. When Hubbard asks Taggart to confirm Bogomil's story, Taggart, after having made things worse earlier by not covering for Axel following the bar incident, lies and backs up Bogomil. Realizing that he will probably be out of a job in Detroit, thanks to his adventures in Beverly Hills, Axel asks Bogomil to speak to Inspector Todd and smooth things over for him. Bogomil is initially reluctant, but relents after Axel talks about staying in Beverly Hills on a more permanent basis.

Taggart and Rosewood go to see Axel off after he checks out of his hotel. Axel invites the partners to join him for a farewell drink before he takes off for home, and the two accept.

Cast[link]

• Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley
• Judge Reinhold as Detective Billy Rosewood
• John Ashton as Seargent John Taggart
• Lisa Eilbacher as Jenny Summers
• Ronny Cox as Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil
• Steven Berkoff as Victor Maitland
• James Russo as Mikey Tandino
• Jonathan Banks as Zack
• Stephen Elliott as Chief Hubbard
• Gil Hill as Inspector Douglas Todd
• Art Kimbro as Detective Foster
• Joel Bailey as Detective McCabe
• Bronson Pinchot as Serge
• Paul Reiser as Jeffrey
• Michael Champion as Casey
• Frank Pesce as Cigarette Buyer
• Gene Borkan as Truck Driver
• Damon Wayans as Banana Man
• Chuck Adamson as Warehouse Crate Opener #1
• Chip Heller as Warehouse Crate Opener #2
• David Wells as Police Dispatcher

Production[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012)

Danilo Bach completed a draft for the film in 1977, seven years prior to production. The earliest version of the script involved a cop in East L.A. who was transferred to Beverly Hills, before evolving into the story of a cop from the East Coast who came to Beverly Hills to avenge the death of his friend. Drafts before the script was locked in (and became more of the comedy it ended up being) gave the cop's name as Axel Elly and set the out-of-Beverly Hills action in Pittsburgh.

When asked by the producers, director Martin Brest flipped a quarter to decide whether to undertake the direction of the film or not. As the movie proved to be an enormous hit, he framed the quarter and hung it on his wall.

On the DVD featurette, producer Jerry Bruckheimer claimed that the part of Axel Foley was first offered to Mickey Rourke, who signed a $400,000 USD holding contract to do the film. When revisions and other preparations took longer than expected, Rourke left the project after his contract expired to do another film. It was then offered to Sylvester Stallone, with the character of Michael Tandino being his brother, and Jenny Summers being his love interest. Two weeks before filming was to start, Stallone was suddenly out and Eddie Murphy was in, prompting massive rewrites. According to Eddie Murphy on Inside the Actor's Studio, Stallone also envisioned a "harder edged" screenplay. After his departure due to differences in scope (Stallone essentially rewrote Beverly Hills Cop as what would be the 1986 film, Cobra) the role was re-written for Murphy. Besides Stallone and Rourke, other actors who were considered for the role of Axel Foley included Richard Pryor, Al Pacino, and James Caan. In one of the previous drafts written for Sylvester Stallone, Billy Rosewood was called "Siddons" and was killed off half-way through the script during one of the action scenes deemed "too expensive" for Paramount to produce.^[2]

In the process of casting the characters of Rosewood and Taggart, the director paired up various finalists and asked them to do some improvisation to get a feel for the chemistry between the actors. He paired up Judge Reinhold and John Ashton and gave them the following direction: "You are a middle aged couple, married for years. You are having a conversation on an average evening." Judge Reinhold immediately picked up a nearby magazine and the two improvised the "5 pounds of red meat in his bowels" bit almost verbatim as it eventually appeared in the movie. This got them the parts. Only after Martin Brest cast Judge Reinhold and John Ashton was the decision made to keep Rosewood alive due to his chemistry with Taggart. The original finale for the Stallone draft of the script took place at night and ended with a car chase between Victor in a Lamborghini and Foley in a turbo-boosted Pontiac GTO. Victor is ultimately killed when his car smashes into an oncoming train.

The Beverly Hills City Hall featured prominently in the Beverly Hills Cop films as the police headquarters

Some scenes were filmed in Detroit, including scenes filmed in Brush Park. The T-shirt that Murphy wears in the film is from Mumford, a high school in Detroit.^{[citation needed]}. The Renaissance Center is visible in the opening scene.

Axel Foley's boss, played by Gilbert R. Hill, was a real-life detective in the Detroit Police Department, who later became a Detroit City Council member and mayoral candidate, losing to Kwame Kilpatrick in 2001.^{[citation needed]}

In the art gallery, there is a large art piece containing several figures. One of the figures, a maitre'd with a chain around its neck, is modelled after director Martin Brest.^{[citation needed]}

During his tirade at the Beverly Palms Hotel, Foley pretends to be writing an article called "Michael Jackson: Sitting on Top of the World" for Rolling Stone magazine. In real life, Playboy ran an article called "Eddie Murphy: Sitting on Top of the World."^{[citation needed]}

The scene in which Foley, Rosewood, and Taggart give an explanation to Bogomil about the strip club arrest was improvised according to a making-of featurette. The song which plays during the strip club scene, "Nasty Girl" by Vanity 6, was recommended by the real-life stripper who was hired for the scene.^{[citation needed]}

When trying to find Foley and Rosewood, the Beverly Hills Police control room use a GPS. Such a system did not exist at the time and was made up to advance the plot. The pistol Murphy uses in the movie is a Browning High Power 9mm pistol.

Reception[link]

Beverly Hills Cop was well received by critics and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1984.^[3][4][5][6] Eddie Murphy, in particular, received much acclaim for his performance. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote "Beverly Hills Cop finds Eddie Murphy doing what he does best: playing the shrewdest, hippest, fastest-talking underdog in a rich man's world. Eddie Murphy knows exactly what he's doing, and he wins at every turn".^[7] Richard Schickel of Time magazine felt that "Eddie Murphy exuded the kind of cheeky, cocky charm that has been missing from the screen since Cagney was a pup, snarling his way out of the ghetto".^[8] Axel Foley became Murphy's signature role and was ranked number 78 on Empire magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.^[9] Also Entertainment Weekly ranked Beverly Hills Cop as the third best comedy film of the last 25 years.

Today, Beverly Hills Cop is regarded as a classic in the comedy genre and holds an 84% approval rating on the aggregate film website Rotten Tomatoes and 60% when counting Top Critics.^[10] The film was also picked as one of the 1000 Best Movies Ever Made by The New York Times.^[11]

Box office[link]

The film was released on December 5 and was very anticipated. The film was screened in 1,532 theaters and debuted #1 at box office making $15,214,805 in the first week of release. Thanks to the word of mouth, the film made more money than it did in its first weeks, with the highest one being the fourth week of release, which made $20,064,790. It stayed #1 for 14 non-consecutive weeks and tied along with Tootsie as the second films with most weeks on the top (the first is Titanic). The film earned approximately $234,760,478 domestically and became the highest grossing film of the year 1984, beating Ghostbusters and by the time, the highest grossing R rated comedy film. The film was also the second highest grossing film worldwide in 1984, behind Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It remained that way until The Hangover broke it 25 years later. However, once adjusted for inflation, Beverly Hills Cop is the third highest grossing R rated film of all time, behind only The Exorcist and The Godfather.

Soundtrack[link]

The soundtrack won a Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special (1986). The instrumental-only title tune "Axel F" is very recognizable and has since been covered by numerous artists. The soundtrack was mastered by Greg Fulginiti, and would feature different artists plus electronic style music.

The soundtrack was released on MCA Records, successor-in-interest to Paramount's old record division, the Famous Music Group (specifically Paramount Records).

The track listing is as follows:

1. "New Attitude" by Patti LaBelle
2. "Don't Get Stopped in Beverly Hills" by Shalamar
3. "Do You Really (Want My Love?)" by Junior
4. "Emergency" by Rockie Robbins
5. "Neutron Dance" by Pointer Sisters
6. "The Heat is On" by Glenn Frey
7. "Gratitude" by Danny Elfman
8. "Stir It Up" by Patti LaBelle
9. "Rock 'N Roll Me Again" by The System
10. "Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer

Songs not on soundtrack

Though not officially in the soundtrack, "Nasty Girl" by Vanity 6 is heard in the strip club, but is credited in the end credits of the film. Since the film's release in 1984, there has never been an official release of the soundtrack score which was composed by Harold Faltermeyer. The only part of the soundtrack score that has been commercially released is "Axel F", featured on the soundtrack release.

However, two tracks of score were released on B sides to the vinyl singles of "Axel F":

• "Discovery" - This piece of score is heard in the scene where the drugs are discovered by Axel Foley in the warehouse.
• "Shootout" - This piece of score is heard in the scene where Billy Rosewood waits outside the warehouse and then decides to go in.

There are also 12" extended versions of the "Axel F" theme which were released on the vinyl singles in the 1980s. The 12" version was available as well as side 2 on the Patti LaBelle "New Attitude" 12" dance mix.

Early vinyl copies of the soundtrack included Rick James' "Can't Stop." Later editions replaced the James song with Rockie Robbins' "Emergency."

Chart positions[link]

Sequels[link]

The film spawned two sequels, both starring Eddie Murphy, in 1987 and 1994. Judge Reinhold also reprised his role of Billy Rosewood for the sequels. The second and third films were semi-successful in the box office. Faltermeyer's Axel F was used in both sequels.

Awards and nominations[link]

• Academy Award
  • nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen - Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie, Jr.
• BAFTA Awards
  • nominated for Best Score - Harold Faltermeyer
• Edgar Allan Poe Award
  • nominated for Best Motion Picture - Daniel Petrie, Jr.
• Golden Globe
  • nominated for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
  • nominated for Best Motion Picture Actor - Comedy/Musical - Eddie Murphy
• Grammy Award
  • won for Best Score Soundtrack Album - Marc Benno, Harold Faltermeyer, Keith Forsey, Micki Free, Jon Gilutin, Howard Hewett, Bunny Hull, Howie Rice, Sharon Robinson, Danny Sembello, Sue Sheridan, Richard Theisen, Allee Willis
• People's Choice Award
  • won for Favorite Motion Picture
• Stuntman Award
  • won for Best Vehicular Stunt (Motion Picture) - Eddy Donno
• This film is number 22 on Bravo's list of the 100 funniest movies.^[12][13]

American Film Institute Lists

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies - Nominated^[14]
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs - #63
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains:
  • Detective Axel Foley - Nominated Hero^[15]

Video games[link]

• Tynesoft released a game based on the movies for Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, PC, Amiga and Atari ST in 1990.
• Blast Entertainment released a Beverly Hills Cop game^[16] for the PlayStation 2 in 2006.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Beverly Hills Cop

• Beverly Hills Cop at the Internet Movie Database
• Beverly Hills Cop at AllRovi
• Beverly Hills Cop at Box Office Mojo
• Beverly Hills Cop at Rotten Tomatoes