''Detective School Dropouts'' is a 1986

action comedy film Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of actio ...

co-starring and written by

David Landsberg David Landsberg (September 3, 1944 – August 5, 2018) was an American actor, writer, and producer. He was sometimes credited as Dave Landsburg. He both acted in and co-wrote several comedies throughout the 1980s. Early life David Landsberg was bo ...

and

Lorin Dreyfuss Lorin Dreyfuss (sometimes known as Loryn Dreyfuss) is an American actor, film producer, and screenplay writer, born in New York City on December 4, 1944. He is the older brother of Richard Dreyfuss. His daughter is actress Natalie Dreyfuss. H ...

for

The Cannon Group The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested ...

Plot

Donald Wilson tries to make a living in New York City with different jobs. He reads detective novels all the time, so that his distraction causes him to have various misadventures that repeatedly cost him his jobs. A notice on a notice board draws his attention to the detective training of Paul Miller, whose school he attends. The school is located in a run-down house and the owner Paul has all kinds of debts with various creditors. Instead of getting a decent education, Donald, the only detective candidate at the school, is financially exploited and has to take part in Paul's fraudulent actions to reduce his debts. Both of them accidentally get into conflict with three Italian cheese-making families, the Lombardis, the Zanettis and the Falcones. They discover Caterina Zanetti, the woman who was kidnapped by the Falcones, the woman Carlo Lombardi actually wanted to marry. Carlo has been told in a fake letter that Caterina has fallen in love with another man. The Falcones now want to marry him to Sonia Falcone in order to maintain their position in the Italian cheese market. Caterina can give the two unsuspecting Americans a message to deliver to their cousin Mario Zanetti at the airport so that the wedding can be stopped. Paul and Donald drive to the airport, have to steal two passports to follow Mario Zanetti on the plane. Since they are being followed by the Falcones, they have to fly to Rome, for better or worse. On the flight Mario is poisoned, so the two of them have to deliver the message. Since Donald lost his wallet when Mario was murdered, he now also becomes a suspect in a murder case. In their search for Carlo, Paul and Donald are constantly exposed to persecution by their families, so that they are constantly on the run and have to disguise themselves as monks, for example in the Vatican. In spite of everything, they manage to get the message across to Carlo that Caterina still loves him. Carlo wants to cancel the wedding with Sonia, who looks "like a beaver", but is blackmailed with the killing of Caterina if he does not marry Sonia. He could see Caterina in Venice one last time, but would have to marry Sonia. In contrast to Paul, Donald still wants to prevent the wedding. After a short stopover in Pisa, they drive to Venice for the planned wedding. After Carlo and Caterina meet on a canal, Paul manages to free Caterina, while Donald is able to tie up the supposed bride Sonia. They exchange the bride and only when the veil is lifted does Carlo face his beloved Caterina. The families draw their weapons, but see the event in the church as a sign from God, so that the wedding continues. A reward of 25,000 dollars is refused by Paul, as he is allowed to keep what he considers a valuable pendant. Back in New York the two want to sell the pendant and it turns out that it is actually worth 300,000. However, it is not dollars, but Italian lira, so the total amount is not even 175 dollars.

Cast

as Donald Wilson *

as Paul Miller *

Christian De Sica Christian De Sica (; born 5 January 1951) is an Italian actor and film director. Life De Sica was born in Rome the second son of Italian director Vittorio De Sica and Spanish actress María Mercader. His first cousin once removed was Ramón M ...

as Carlo Lombardi *

George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Kodak, Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. He was a major philanthropist, establishing the ...

as Bruno Falcone *

Valeria Golino Valeria Golino (born 22 October 1965) is an Italian actress and film director. She is best known to English-language audiences for her roles in ''Rain Man'', ''Big Top Pee-wee'' and the two ''Hot Shots!'' films, particularly the olive-in-the-bell ...

as Caterina Zanetti *

Mario Brega is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

as Don Lombardi * Rik Battaglia as Don Zanetti *

Alberto Farnese Alberto Farnese (3 June 1926 – 2 June 1996) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows between 1951 and 1989. He starred in the film ''Whom God Forgives'', which won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of ...

as Don Falcone *

Ennio Antonelli Ennio Antonelli (born 18 November 1936) is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church and retired President of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Early life and ordination Born in Todi, he first attended seminary there, and then in Assis ...

as Riccardino *

Giancarlo Prete Giancarlo Prete (5 February 1943 – 9 March 2001) was an Italian actor. After he worked in the cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create t ...

as Mario Zanetti

Legacy

The film was not successful at the box office, but subsequently gained

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...

status. It is noted for its low-budget production values, cheesy '80's synth soundtrack, and being the only film released from the Cannon Group to have lost money at the box office. However, it is also representative of '80 culture at the time when slapstick briefly resurfaced in popularity with American audiences.

Home media

''Detective School Drop Outs'' was released on DVD from MGM in October 2011.

References

External links

Detective School Dropouts at Rotten Tomatoes
*{{IMDb title, 0089019
eFilmCritic Movie Review
1980s action comedy films 1986 films American action comedy films English-language Italian films Golan-Globus films Films set in New York City Films set in Italy Films set in Rome Films set in Pisa Films set in Venice Films shot in New York City Films shot in Italy Films shot in Rome Films shot in Venice American detective films Italian detective films 1980s buddy comedy films American buddy comedy films 1986 comedy films Films produced by Menahem Golan Films produced by Yoram Globus 1980s English-language films 1980s American films 1980s Italian films