This is one of my very favorite movies. I think it's the one I've actually seen the most times, incredibly, as it's the kind of film that when I've encountered it while channel-surfing over the past several decades, I pretty much had to finish watching it. It's a perfect comedy--well written, well acted, well everything. Anyway, let's get to it--the usual format, questions followed by the answers, many SPOILERS ahead.
Questions:
1) We see many of Philadelphia's famous statues and monuments throughout the movie, and especially in the opening credits. What's the first one seen?
2) A very large prop from another movie is briefly shown during the opening credits as well. Name it.
3) Louis Winthorpe is greeted repeatedly as he enters the Duke & Duke building. Who is the only person he mentions by name in his return greeting?
4) Randolph Duke reads an article in a magazine that sets in motion the events of the whole movie. What is the name of this periodical?
5) Winthorpe makes the right call on pork bellies in an early scene. According to Randolph, how much money didhe thus make for the Dukes?
6) What is the name of the private social club that the Dukes and Winthorpe belong to?
7) When was this organization founded? (It's posted on the plaque outside.)
8) The Dukes are seen giving their cheap Christmas gift to a butler at this club. What is his name?
9) During the movie we see two checks made out to Clarence Beaks. How much are they for, total?
10) Winthorpe's fiancé Penelope is related to the Duke brothers. How?
11) Billy Ray Valentine aggressively hits on a woman while pretending to be a disabled vet. What movie does he reference during this flirtation?
12) According to Billy Ray, as he talks to the police, how did he lose his eyesight?
13) In the same diatribe, where does Valentine say he was stationed in Vietnam?
14) Also in the same diatribe, what part of the military was Billy Ray a member of?
15) How many guns does Billy Ray have pointed at him as he emerges from under the table at the club?
16) What do the police charge Valentine with?
17) What is Penelope's last name? (Louis says it once.)
18) According to Billy Ray in prison, what kind of belt does he have in kung fu?
19) What later famous actor plays Cellmate #2 during this scene?
20) According to Valentine, how many cops (plural) did he beat up?
21) What cell number, and on what floor is Billy Ray being held?
22) What yearly salary do the Duke brothers offer Valentine?
23) Billy Ray accidently breaks a vase in his new home, but in doing so the Dukes say he made a profit, as it was insured for more than what it's worth. How much was it worth, and how much was it insured for?
24) What organization is Clarence Beaks officially employed at?
25) In his lie about Louis, Beaks say Winthorpe stole paper money marked with "X's" on it. What denomination were the bills, and how many?
26) What famous writer/director plays the cop who finds the (planted) drugs in Winthorpe's clothes?
27) What five types of credit cards does Winthorpe possess, according to the police?
28) What opera does Louis have two tickets to?
29) What is Winthorpe's prison number?
30) How much money does Billy Ray owe Terry the bartender?
31) How much does Beaks pay Ophelia to pretend that Winthorpe is her drug dealer?
32) What bank do we see Louis futilely try to get cash from?
33) According to Winthorpe, how much money did he have in this account?
34) What five visual aids do the Duke brothers show Valentine to explain their jobs?
35) What three men does Ophelia greet right outside her apartment?
36) How old does Ophelia say she is?
37) Where is she from?
38) How much money does Ophelia have saved up, in T-bills earning interest?
39) How much longer does she say she'll need to spend as a prostitute before she can retire?
40) How much money, in cash, will Louis owe Ophelia in exchange for her help?
41) At the racket club, four of Winthorpe's friends serenade their girlfriends (including Penelope). What four women do they mention in this joke song?
42) Aside from Todd (the one who moved in on Penelope), who are the other three of Louis's male friends?
43) Winthorpe sells his watch at the pawn shop. What brand is it?
44) How much money does Louis say this watch retails for, and how much does the pawn shop owner give him for it?
45) What six other cities does Winthorpe say his watch simultaneously tells time in?
46) What three reasons does Valentine give to George to not go long on April wheat?
47) When is this movie set? (We see the exact date printed on Beak's later check.)
48) What illegal drugs and paraphernalia does Louis plant in Valentine's desk?
49) Where are the Dukes and Beaks going to meet at midnight to exchange the crop report and the money?
50) Jim Belushi has an early role at a guy on the train dressed in a gorilla costume. What is his character's name?
51) What book is Beaks reading on the train?
52) What fake names do the costumed Winthorpe, Valentine, Ophelia, and Coleman adapt on the train?
53) What commodities does Louis mention to Billy Ray at the stock exchange?
54) What amount does the price of frozen concentrated orange juice open at (presumably per share)?
55) And at what price do Winthorpe and Valentine start selling at?
56) What is the final price of the orange juice?
57) How much money do the Duke brothers need to pay at the stock exchange for the margin call?
58) What is the name of the butler serving Coleman at the tropical beach in the final scene?
59) One of Jamie Lee Curtis's relatives plays a role in the movie. Name her, and her character.
60) Winthorpe still has his drug, embezzlement, and theft charges hanging over him. How is he able to travel to the tropics? This place is definitely out of state, and possibly in another country. (Conjectural)
Answers:
1) It's either called the Benjamin Franklin, Craftsman statue, or Young Benjamin Franklin.
2) The statue of Rocky Balboa, from "Rocky 3."
3) Folsey.
4) The rather generically named "Science Journal."
5) $347,000.
6) The Heritage Club.
7) 1776.
8) Ezra. Who mocks the Dukes by noting the $5 could pay for a single movie ticket.
9) The first check is for $50,000, and the second for $10,000, so $60,000 total. Although Beaks doesn't actually receive the second check, of course, since he's kidnapped and all.
10) She's the grandniece of Randolph and Mortimer Duke.
11) "Porgy and Bess." Which was a 1925 novel, then a play, movie, but most famously, an opera.
12) He claims it happened when he stepped on a landmine in "Vietcong" in 1972.
13) Sang Bang, Dang Gong, and then "all over the place."
14) He says he was a Green Beret, special unit battalion commando, airborne tactic--specialist tactics, unit battalion. "Really hush hush."
15) 6.
16) Assault, attempted robbery, and resisting arrest.
17) Witherspoon.
18) A chain belt. Which I don't believe is a real belt.
19) Giancarlo Esposito. Who, long before he was Gus Fring in "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul," was in this movie, and such films as ""Do the Right Thing" (1989), "Malcolm X" (1992), "The Usual Suspects" (1995) and "Ali" (2001).
20) 10.
21) Cell 4, on the 9th floor.
22) $80,000
23) They claim it's worth $35,000, but was insured for $50,000, so he made them a $15,000 profit.
24) Lyndhurst Security.
25) Three $50 bills.
26) Frank Oz.
27) Mastercharge, American Express Gold Card, Visa, Diner's Club, and Carte Blanche.
28) La Boheme.
29) 74745058. Which was the same as the prison number of John Belushi's character in "The Blues Brother" (1980).
30) $27, which he pays back, with unspecified interest.
31) $100.
32) First National.
33) Over $150,000.
34) Coffee, bread (made from wheat), bacon (made from pork bellies), frozen concentrated orange juice, and gold.
35) Rachim, Mohamed, and Larry.
36) 24.
37) A small miserable mining town Louis has probably never heard of.
38) $42,000.
39) 3 more years.
40) Five figures, or at least $10,000.
41) Muffy, Margaret, Susan, and Constance.
42) Harry, Andrew, and Phillip.
43) A Rochefoucauld. Which is a fictional brand.
44) $6955, and $50. To be fair, Louis didn't have the receipt for it.
45) Monte Carlo, Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Rome, and Gstaad.
46) One, Russian wheat isn't going to be as bad as everybody thinks, two, (we don't hear what Valentine and the others are saying for a moment), and three, judging from the jewels around his girlfriend's neck, he'll need every penny he's got to keep her happy.
47) The check is dated December 24th, 1982. Although the movie continues a bit into January of 1983.
48) Marijuana joints, pills, quaaludes, valium, yellow ones, red ones, a cocaine grinder and drug needles.
49) The parking garage in the Hilton Hotel, Parking Level D, Section 4, which is the Orange Section.
50) Harvey.
51) "Will," which is the autobiography of G.Gordon Liddy.
52) Respectively, Lionel Joseph, Nanga Eboko, Inga, and Coleman is an unnamed Irish priest.
53) Gold, silver, platinum, heating oil, propane, cocoa, sugar, cotton, and, of course, frozen concentrated orange juice.
54) 102.
55) 142.
56) 29.
57) $394,000,000. Which, clearly, the Dukes can't pay.
58) Demitri.
59) Surprisingly, it's not either of her famous actor parents, Tony Curtis or Janet Leigh. It was her sister Kelly Curtis, who played Muffy--one of the 4 women at the racket club. Who I think only says, "And she stepped on the ball."
60) The optimistic theory is that once Winthorpe became rich again, he was able to hire a talented lawyer. Who maybe got the D.A. to drop the charges, since the drugs were so clearly planted. And/or, perhaps Winthorpe and co. bribed the same cop again, to say he was mistaken or to "lose" the evidence. As for the embezzlement charges from Duke & Duke, maybe since they're bankrupt and homeless they didn't follow up on these charges, and they were dropped. Or Winthorpe's good lawyer challenged this obvious setup, and got them dropped for that reason. As for the theft charges at the club, Clarence Beaks went missing, so maybe this screwed up that case. Or, more pessimistically, Winthorpe went on the lam, and is currently in a place that won't extradite him back to the U.S. And I know, I'm reading too much into this--we wanted a happy ending. I'm just looking for the in-universe explanation.
