Walk Like a Man (1987 film)

Walk Like a Man
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Melvin Frank
Produced by	Leonard C. Kroll
Starring	Howie Mandel Christopher Lloyd Cloris Leachman Colleen Camp Amy Steel James Slice
Music by	Lee Holdridge
Cinematography	Victor J. Kemper
Editing by	Bill Butler Stephen Butler
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	April 17, 1987
Running time	86 min
Country	United States
Language	English

Walk Like a Man is a 1987 comedy film about a young man who finally returns to his high-society family after having been raised by wolves. The film is the last one to be directed by Melvin Frank. It stars Howie Mandel, Christopher Lloyd, and Cloris Leachman. It is released to theaters on April 17, 1987.

Plot

Henry Shand goes to Alaska to search for gold and find his fortune. While there, his spoiled son Reggie gets mad that he has to work for money. What further angers him is the fact that he has to share the dogsled with his two-year-old brother, nicknamed "Bobo". Reggie decides to take matters into his own hands and pushes Bobo off the sled, leaving him to die in the wintery Klondike wilderness.

Some twenty years later, Henry has died, giving Reggie a large inheritance of thirty million dollars. Reggie foolishly spends it within a year, causing his new wife, Rhonda, to become an angry alcoholic, as they have gone broke and had to move back in with Reggie's mother, Margaret. Margaret has gone insane since Bobo's disappearance and Henry's death, and has now spent much of the family's fortune on buying homes for stray cats.

Meanwhile, a biologist named Penny arrives from Alaska, claiming to have found Bobo. They discover that Bobo has been raised by wolves, causing him to sniff everyone's butts, run on all fours, growl and bark, and run through wet cement while chasing firetrucks or dogs.

Reggie decides to manipulate Bobo into signing over his inheritance to him to pay off gambling debts. Reggie tells Penny that she can use Bobo for wolf research, but first must teach him to walk, talk, read, and, of course, write. Penny shaves Bobo and gives him a haircut, but getting him to act like a man proves to be a difficult task, and Bobo continues to unknowingly cause problems. Things get even worse when Bobo goes out in public, wreaking havoc in a shopping mall by going into dressing rooms, unwittingly trying on clothes and walking out of stores with them.

As Bobo behaves more like a man than a dog, Penny begins to fall for him. Reggie wants her to speed up the teaching, as the people he owes money want their cash quickly. In court, Penny stands up for Bobo, having discovered Reggie's scheme. Bobo refuses to sign, and Reggie frantically attempts to demonstrate how Bobo was acting, making him look ridiculous to the judge, who drops the case. Bobo and Penny go outside and kiss, but Bobo stops to chase a firetruck.

Cast

• Howie Mandel as Bobo Shand
• Christopher Lloyd as Reggie Shand
• Amy Steel as Penny
• Colleen Camp as Rhonda Shand
• Cloris Leachman as Margaret Shand

Production

The film was an independent film, among one of the first to be produced by Mandel. To this day, the budget is unknown. However, the film was also a box office bomb, grossing little over 450,000 dollars at the box office.

Availability

The film was released on VHS shortly after its release, but that soon fell out of print during the late 1990s. Its replacement was a DVD that was produced by MGM. It was discontinued, and the film remains currently out of print. Fans of Mandel and Lloyd search for the rare copies, with prices soaring to around sixty dollars^{[citation needed]}. It is unknown if the film will be re-released on DVD or Blu-ray again. As of January 2012, it can be found on Netflix.

Other movies that have suffered similar fates are Drop Dead Fred, UHF, and the television show Get A Life!.

External links

• Walk Like a Man at the Internet Movie Database
• Walk Like a Man at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios