MEMORIES:
The posh and exclusive Bushwood Country Club has its share of snooty members, as well as struggling caddies trying to make something of themselves. One such person is underprivileged Irish teen, Danny Noonan, who hopes that his tips and the potential connections Bushwood provides might eventually pave the way to a college degree. And when Danny learns that a caddy scholarship is available, he begins sucking up to the club’s co-founder Judge Smails. The good judge is a little distracted at the moment, however, as his beloved golf course has been infested by a couple of nuisances – a pesky gopher and an extremely rich golfer named Al Czervik (Dangerfield.) Groundskeeper Carl Spackler is in hot pursuit of the gopher, attacking with everything from high-powered water hoses to explosives. Al, on the other hand, is proving much more difficult to get rid of, especially considering that to most, he is the life of the party – with a never-ending stream of hilarious one-liners aimed point blank at the judge.
Exasperated, the judge challenges Al to a $20,000 round of golf, hoping that ace player Ty Webb (Chase) will partner with him. Webb, who doesn’t like the judge much, decides to play with Al. And poor Danny is forced to be Smails’ caddy, a difficult decision considering that Webb has been serving as his unofficial life mentor for some time now. As the game possesses the stakes are raised higher until Al feigns an injury. Forced to choose a replacement for his team, Ty picks Danny and the pressure is on for the youngster to win, considering that he just lost his chances at that coveted scholarship.
The laughs start quickly and never let up in Caddyshack. And although Murray has some truly priceless moments as the unbalanced groundskeeper, it is Rodney that steals the movie – offering a barrage of truly priceless one-liners such as “This steak still has marks from where the jockey was hitting it” and “The last time I saw a mouth like that, it had a hook in it.” These memorable quotes have been repeated millions of times over the years from fans that can quote dozens of them from memory. The film also put Dangerfield on the map as an actor, leading to over a dozen supporting roles, both comedic and serious, after a long and successful stand-up career.
A sequel, Caddyshack II, was released in 1988. But although it boasted its own impressive cast of characters including Jackie Mason, Randy Quaid, Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase reprising his role as Ty Webb, the film failed to capture the same charm as the original, which will likely go down in history as the funniest golf film ever made.
