Private Parts (1997 film)
Private Parts | |
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Directed by | Betty Thomas |
Screenplay by |
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Based on | Private Parts by Howard Stern |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Walt Lloyd |
Edited by | Peter Teschner |
Music by | |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 109 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $28 million[2] |
Box office | $41.2 million |
Private Parts is a 1997 American
After a proposed film featuring Stern as his superhero character
The film premiered on February 27, 1997, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden and theatrically released on March 7 by Paramount Pictures. It debuted at number one on the US box office in its opening weekend with a gross of $14.6 million and earned a domestic total of $41.2 million. It received mostly positive reviews from film critics, a group whom Stern made a conscious effort to please, including those who did not listen to the radio show or were not fans of his. In 1998, the film was released on DVD and Stern won a Blockbuster Award for Favorite Male Newcomer for his performance. Stern shot additional scenes for a censored version of the film prior to its premiere television broadcast on the USA Network in 1999.
Plot
Following his appearance at the
After graduating, Howard works at WRNW in Briarcliff Manor, New York and is promoted to program director, which allows him to marry Alison. He leaves after being asked to fire a fellow DJ and moves to WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut, where he befriends DJ Fred Norris. Howard adopts a more casual attitude on the air, becoming more open and upfront. He and Fred attend the premiere of actress Brittany Fairchild's new film. The three leave early for Fairchild's hotel room, where she strips for a bath and convinces Howard and Fred to join in. Brittany's behavior becomes more sexual, and an embarrassed Howard leaves. When Alison finds his wet underwear in their car and believes he has been unfaithful, she leaves him. Howard leaves Hartford for WWWW in Detroit, Michigan and is miserable, but Alison goes to Detroit and forgives him. WWWW then switches to country music, and Howard quits.
Howard starts at WWDC in Washington, D.C. in 1981 and meets his news anchor Robin Quivers, whom he encourages to riff with him on the air. They refuse orders from boss Dee Dee for constantly breaking format. One of their antics, in which Howard assists a female caller to reach orgasm, almost gets him fired until a ratings boost forces Dee Dee to keep him and hire Fred to the team. Meanwhile, Alison announces her pregnancy, but it ends in miscarriage. Although they cheer each other up by joking about it, Howard makes light of the situation on the air, which greatly upsets Alison.
With Alison pregnant again, Howard gets his dream offer to work in
In 1985, Howard becomes number one at WNBC and Kenny tries to gain Howard's friendship but is turned down flat. Howard thanks his fans with an outdoor concert by AC/DC. During the performance, Alison is rushed to the hospital and gives birth to a girl. Back on the flight, it is revealed that Howard has told his story to Gloria and believes he could get her, but remains faithful to Alison. He meets Alison at the airport and his daughters run to greet him.
During the
Cast
- Howard Stern as himself / The Narrator
- Bobby Boriello as 7-year-old Howard
- Michael Maccarone as 12-year-old Howard
- Matthew Friedman as 16-year-old Howard
- Robin Quivers as herself
- Mary McCormack as Alison Stern
- Fred Norris as himself
- Paul Giamatti as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton
- Carol Alt as Gloria
- Allison Janney as Dee Dee
- Michael Murphy as Roger Elick
- Jenna Jameson as Mandy
- Adam LeFevre as Sales Manager
- Richard Portnow as Ben Stern
- Kelly Bishop as Ray Stern
- Sasha Martin as Emily Beth Stern
- Sarah Hyland as Debra Jennifer Stern
- Reni Santoni as Vin Vallesecca
- Melanie Good as Brittany Fairchild
- Leslie Bibb as NBC Page
- Camille Donatacci Grammeras Camille, The Card Girl
- Edie Falco as Alison's Friend
- Amber Smith as Julie
- Janine Lindemulder as Camp Director's Wife
- Michael Gwynne as Duke of Rock
- Paul Hecht as Ross Buckingham
- James Murtaugh as Payton
- Alison Stern (Stern's then wife) as WNBC Receptionist
- Nancy Sirianni, (Martling's then wife) as Extra in the film festival scene, seated in front of Stern
- Allison Furman-Norris (Norris' wife) as a WNBC Receptionist
- Theresa Lynn as Orgasm Woman
- Althea Cassidy as The Kielbasa Queen
As themselves and cameo appearances
Production
Origins
By 1992, Stern had experienced a rise in popularity as a radio and television personality. In July he struck a deal with
Development
A film project remained inactive until the release of Stern's first book, the part memoir and part commentary
Stern, who had the power of final script approval, went on to reject around 22 subsequent revisions,[11] sometimes from day to day, as he grew dissatisfied with their content. Torokvei estimated he had worked on as many as five redrafts with Stern, adding: "On any given scene we did the day before, [Stern] would say, 'That's old,' or 'That's boring.' He wanted to freshen the scenes every day. I'd have to remind him that it had worked the day before".[9] In one abandoned version, Stern recalled a scene that had former radio show regular Richard Simmons "in a tutu in my house chasing my children and saying he can't baby-sit them. How fucking ridiculous."[11] Around this time, Kirkpatrick had mentioned a film with as many as 75 cameo appearances, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and radio show regular Jessica Hahn.[9] In addition to Torokvei, assistance over the scripts were developed by Michael Kalesniko, co-author of Private Parts Larry "Ratso" Sloman, Laurice Elehwany, and Rick Copp.[9] Kalesniko recalled a note that detailed Stern riding down Fifth Avenue on an elephant. He said that Kirkpatrick saw the film as an "Annie Hall for the nineties".[12] Following several script rejections, Avildsen ceased his involvement with the film[7] by November 1994. Kirkpatrick claimed Avildsen wished for a "story of an underdog taking on the issue of free speech—a man against the system", whereas Kirkpatrick had the idea of a film "in the tradition of Help! (1965) and A Hard Day's Night (1964)".[13]
By February 1995, Stern had yet to approve a final script.
Stern wished for Reitman to direct and produce the film, but Reitman suggested Betty Thomas for the role having worked together on The Late Shift. Thomas was not a fan of Stern's, but her boyfriend was an avid listener and Reitman pushed her to read the script. She thought it was "very interesting", and travelled to New York City to observe Stern doing his radio show. "After a while, Howard came out. When he took my hand, he was shaking. He was so vulnerable and scared. I couldn't believe it. I saw something in his eyes that I loved. Right then, I wanted to do the movie."[4] Stern found Thomas particularly enjoyable to work with, and praised the calming effect she had on him during shooting.[14]
Pre-production and casting
Auditions for roles began before Stern had accepted a final script. On October 8, 1994, auditions for actors to play a pre-teen, mid-teen, and late-teen Stern were held at the Palladium in New York City. The sessions were organised by casting director Avy Kaufman.[17] Auditions were also planned in Burbank, California, Chicago, and Cleveland. Four scenes for the actors were set up: Stern preparing for a date while reciting a soliloquy on the human condition, a talk with his father on current events, making a prank call, and attempting to hide the evidence after smoking in his bedroom.[18] Subsequent casting was overseen by Phyllis Huffman.[19]
Stern formally announced the film and the start of pre-production on his radio show on February 13, 1996, when Reitman and Thomas appeared as guests.[20] Reitman estimated the process would last for ten weeks.[10] Casting was done in the subsequent three months. In April 1996, McCormack was cast as the role of Stern's wife Allison.[21] Stern had initial doubts about her, describing her as perhaps "too fancy", but Thomas insisted she was the right choice after their initial try out scene.[22] Julia Louis-Dreyfus was an early choice, but she backed out because she wanted to spend time with her family. Thomas had a choice between Giamatti or Philip Seymour Hoffman as the role of Pig Vomit, and remembered both were "kind of good" but "a little nervous". It was when Giamatti did something she described as "so out of character, weird and interesting" in an audition that convinced her that he was the one for the part.[23]
In June 1996, television host
Actor Richard Portnow secured the role as Stern's father Ben. Portnow met Ben in person, and picked up various idiosyncrasies from him which he incorporated into his acting, such as gesticulating his finger whenever he speaks.[29] The film features actor Luke Reilly portraying Don Imus, a longtime rival of Stern's who hosted mornings at WNBC.[30] The woman who played Irene the Leather Weather Lady was the same person who called into Stern's radio show while he worked at WWWW in 1980, and is considered to be the earliest member of Stern's Wack Pack.[24] During his preparation in acting as his younger self, Stern listened to tapes of his radio shows from his twenties, noticing his voice "locked in this very high register".[4] At one point, Stern asked Thomas if he should take acting lessons before filming, and watched a "how-to" video by Michael Caine that Thomas had given him.[4] Stern donned several customised wigs throughout the film and never displayed his real hair.[24]
Filming
Ivan was there, Betty, the whole gang ... the pace was so slow. I'm just so used to doing something spontaneously. I was going crazy. I went home that night and said, 'I don't want to be doing this. This is a mistake.' I was practically in tears.
—Stern on his first day of filming[14]
The improvised and unscripted vignettes with Dell'Abate were the first scenes to be shot, and he was only given a premise for a scene several minutes before filming. Some of the scenes were attempts to recreate real life scenarios from working on the radio show, such as Dell'Abate trying to convince a woman to get topless after she had changed her mind.
Stern recalled that Jameson was so comfortable being naked on the set, she stayed without clothes when the crew were at the craft service table.[24] The scene where Stern apologizes to McCormack at his hotel, actress Teri Hatcher had visited the set and was standing several feet away from the camera.[24] Stern had difficulty in achieving a satisfactory reaction for the scene where he finds out that Alison is pregnant. Thomas assisted by approaching Stern and telling him that she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which was in fact a lie. Stern's genuine response and shock to the news produced what Thomas was looking for, and Stern used that as a guide for his subsequent on-screen reactions.[22] During one particular break in filming McCormack smoked a cigarette while wearing a pregnant costume, which attracted several concerned looks from members of the public.[24] The AC/DC concert scene was filmed at New York's Bryant Park in July 1996.
Filming was set to finish on July 30, 1996,[19] but it was extended until mid-August.[34] Following a wrap-up party held to commemorate the end of filming, Stern had booked a consultation for rhinoplasty in early September 1996 before he was to start promoting the film. Shortly before it, however, Thomas informed him that several scenes had to be re-shot and a change in his appearance would affect the film's continuity. Reitman asked Stern to avoid surgery until production was complete as Paramount owned his face.[35] Stern asked Thomas to cut one shot that was filmed on his "bad side" which he thought made his nose look bad, but Thomas had not filmed it from an alternate angle and kept it in.[23] In October 1996, Stern flew to Los Angeles to view a rough cut of the film that was around 2-and-a-half hours in length, among a small audience in Reitman's personal theater. Around 45 minutes of footage was to be cut.[36] Among the scenes that were filmed but not used included one filmed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where Stern and John Stamos were on stage dressed in just a towel covering their lower half, with women in the crowd of 800 people urging them to drop their towels.[37] A man found a collection of video tapes containing several dailies of the film in a recycling bin, and returned them to Stern.[38] The final reshoots took place in New York City and Washington, D.C. over a three-day period from November 22, 1996. Stern kept the trip a secret to prevent fans from disrupting filming. As he had undergone surgery by this time, so Thomas had to film him at a distance to make it harder to spot differences in his appearance.[23] On November 25, Stern announced on his radio show that filming was complete.[39]
Post-production
Thomas said the film was difficult to edit as Stern "never used the same words twice" for each take.[40] During the Christmas period in 1996, the film was subject to a test screening in California. In January 1997, test screenings were held in San Jose, California and Seattle, Washington, the latter of which Stern's radio show was not syndicated to at the time.[41] Stern was told the audience gave the film the highest positive response since Forrest Gump (1994) and one Indiana Jones film.[22]
Music
Stern recorded his parts to "Tortured Man" in December 1996 with writing assistance from Martling and Norris.[42]
Release
Promotion
Stern underwent an extensive media tour to promote the film, appearing on several television shows and granting magazine and newspaper interviews. He was a cover feature of
Theatrical run
Private Parts premiered in New York City at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on February 27, 1997. The star-studded event, attended by 4,200 people, included a live performance of "The Great American Nightmare" by Stern and Zombie, and Porno for Pyros on a stage built outside the venue.[44] The film's theatrical wide release in the United States followed on March 7 to 2,138 theaters. In its opening weekend, it ranked first place in the North American box office with a gross of $14,616,333, averaging a gross of $6,836 per theater. Jungle 2 Jungle came in second place.[45] In its second week, the film dropped to third place. The number of theaters screening the film rose in its third week to a peak of 2,217 before the number decreased to its low of 1,848 a week later.[46] At the end of its theatrical run in the United States, the film grossed a total of $41,230,799, coming in as the 56th highest-grossing film of 1997 in the country.[2]
To promote the film in the European markets, Stern attended the 1997 Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 12. He appeared at the festival with two topless women and a 40-foot inflatable picture of himself placed on the shore by the event provided by Rysher. The balloon attracted French security who threatened to shoot it down before Rysher associates agreed to take it down. It was reinflated after French president Jacques Chirac left the event as he visited on the same day.[47]
In 2006, a poor-quality rough cut of the film was leaked on the Internet containing alternate dialogue and music, deleted scenes, and a different ending. Some of the deleted scenes, such as Stern being escorted out of the WNBC building, appeared in the film's original trailer and publicity materials before they were cut.[citation needed]
Reception
Private Parts received mostly positive reviews from critics.
In a review for the Chicago Tribune, critic Gene Siskel gave the film three and a half out of five. He pointed out the "predictable" scenes of "lesbian jokes and toilet humor", but the "wonderful love story" between Stern and Alison is the most surprising aspect and preferred Stern's character off the air than the one on the radio. Siskel concluded his review by singling out the scenes of Stern courting Alison, his eagerness to have a baby, and his apology to Alison as "signature moments" of the film.[48]
Roger Ebert reviewed the film for the Chicago Sun-Times, giving it three out of four. He said that the film has enough to satisfy the diehard Stern fans and appeal to the general audience at the same time, and he praised Stern and Quivers for playing "convincing, engaging versions of themselves" in their feature film debut, something he claims even "seasoned actors" claim is difficult. Ebert noted Thomas's directing skills made the film play out like a film and not a series of filmed radio broadcasts.[49]
Todd McCarthy of Variety gave a positive review, calling the film "a lean, crisp and very entertaining picture".[50]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 73% rating, based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A surprisingly endearing biopic about the controversial shock-jock Howard Stern that is equally funny and raunchy."[51] Metacritic reports a score of 67 out of 100, based on 19 critics.[52]
Accolades
For his performance, Stern won the
For her directing work, Thomas won the audience award at
American Film Institute recognition:
- AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Laughs – Nominated[53]
Television broadcasts
In April 1997, the
The film premiered in 1080 High Definition on
Home media
When the film was released on video, some store customers objected to the original cover featuring Stern with no clothes on. An alternative version of the cover was produced featuring Stern fully clothed.[citation needed]
References
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External links
- Private Parts at IMDb
- Private Parts at the TCM Movie Database
- Private Parts at AllMovie
- Private Parts at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Private Parts at Box Office Mojo
- Private Parts at Rotten Tomatoes
- Private Parts at Metacritic
- Private Parts at Curlie