Wholly Moses!
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| Wholly Moses | |
|---|---|
 The movie cover for Wholly Moses. | |
| Directed by | Gary Weis |
| Written by | Guy Thomas |
| Produced by | Freddie Fields |
| Starring | Dudley Moore Laraine Newman James Coco Paul Sand Jack Gilford Dom DeLuise John Houseman Madeline Kahn David Lander Richard Pryor John Ritter |
| Music by | Patrick Williams |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | June 13, 1980 |
Running time | 103 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $12 million |
| Box office | $14,155,617 |
Wholly Moses! is a 1980 Biblical spoof similar to that of Monty Python's Life of Brian. Dudley Moore, between performances in 10 and Arthur, plays Old Testament-era idol maker Herschel, whose life and adventures seem to parallel that of the more famous Moses, all the while being misled to think he is the prophet of God.
Plot
A couple of tourists, Harvey and Zoey, discover a lost scroll from the Book of Herschel, evidently someone who received commandments from God, only to have Moses take all the credit.
Cast
- Dudley Moore .... Harvey Orchid/Herschel
- Laraine Newman .... Zoey/Zerelda
- James Coco .... Hyssop
- Paul Sand .... God's Angel
- Jack Gilford .... Tailor
- Dom DeLuise .... Shadrach
- John Houseman .... The Archangel
- Madeline Kahn .... The Witch
- David L. Lander .... The Beggar
- Richard Pryor .... Pharaoh
- John Ritter .... Satan (The Devil)
- Richard B. Shull .... Jethro
- Tanya Boyd .... Princess
- Ruth Manning .... Landlady
- Walker Edmiston .... God (voice)
Reception
The movie received poor reviews.[1][2][3]
Production
- Producer Freddie Fields hired Phil Silvers for one of several small cameo roles, but his only scene was cut from the final film.
- Between scenes during filming on stage at the Burbank Studios, Dudley Moore entertained the cast and crew with improvised piano interludes.
- On the final day of shooting, Richard Pryor who was signed to do a one-day cameo as the Pharaoh didn’t show up. With production at a complete standstill, frantic calls were made. There was even some talk of replacing him with Cleavon Little. Several hours later, that afternoon Pryor finally appeared but then refused to play the scene as written with a trained lion by his throne.
References
- ^ "Wholly Moses : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
- ^ "Wholly Moses! Reviews". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
- ^ Ty Burr (2004-07-16). "Crazy People; Wholly Moses! Review | Movie Reviews and News". EW.com. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
External links
- Wholly Moses at IMDb
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