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'{{ref improve|date=February 2015}} {{Infobox film | name = The Toy | image = The_toy.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[Richard Donner]] | producer = Phil Feldman<br />[[Ray Stark]] | writer = [[Carol Sobieski]]<br />[[Francis Veber]] | starring = {{plainlist| * [[Richard Pryor]] * [[Jackie Gleason]] * [[Teresa Ganzel]] * [[Wilfrid Hyde-White]] * [[Ned Beatty]] * [[Scott Schwartz]] }} | music = [[Patrick Williams (composer)|Patrick Williams]] | cinematography = [[László Kovács (cinematographer)|László Kovács]] | editing = [[Richard A. Harris]]<br />Michael A. Stevenson | studio = [[Rastar]] | distributor = [[Columbia Pictures]] | released = {{Film date|1982|12|10}} | runtime = 102 minutes | country = United States | language = [[English language|English]] | budget = $28 million<ref>HESTON: HE'S STUCK WITH STUFFY IMAGE Rosenfield, Paul. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 30 Jan 1983: k3.</ref> | gross = $47,118,057 (USA) }} '''''The Toy''''' is a 1982 American [[comedy film]] directed by [[Richard Donner]], and starring [[Richard Pryor]] and [[Jackie Gleason]], with [[Ned Beatty]], [[Scott Schwartz]], [[Teresa Ganzel]], and [[Virginia Capers]] in supporting roles. It is an adaptation of the 1976 [[France|French]] film ''[[Le Jouet]]''. == Plot == Jack Brown ([[Richard_Pryor|Pryor]]) is a married, unemployed man in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]] in danger of having his house repossessed. Jack's wife Angela tells Jack that his old Army friend Stanley visited Angela's office earlier that day and said he was going auction off his house. Later that day Jack askes Stanley why he is sell his house, Stanley tells him the house belongs to the bank unless Jack comes up with a quick $10,000 and Stanley told him to get a job. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to get a job working for the local paper, the ''Bugle'', he becomes so desperate that he ends up taking a job as a janitor for wealthy U.S. Bates ([[Jackie_Gleason|Gleason]]), who owns the paper and a department store among many other businesses. Brown is humiliated as he clumsily attempts to serve food at a [[luncheon]]. He is fired from that gig by Bates, but "Master" Eric Bates ([[Scott_Schwartz|Schwartz]]), the spoiled-brat son of the boss, sees Jack while looking through Bates' department store. Amused at seeing Jack goof around in the store's toy section, Eric informs his father's right-hand man Sydney Morehouse ([[Ned_Beatty|Beatty]]) that what he wants is Jack himself. Morehouse fails to convince Eric that human beings cannot be owned. In exchange for a generous financial settlement to stave off repossession, Jack agrees to be Eric's live-in friend during Eric's one-week spring break from military school. Emotionally estranged from his father, Eric takes a liking to Jack but still manages to humiliate him with numerous pranks. After a particularly humiliating incident in the mansion incited by Bates' ditzy wife Fancy ([[Teresa_Ganzel|Ganzel]]), who literally introduces him at a dinner party as Eric's new "toy," Jack grows tired of the situation and leaves. He agrees to return only when U.S. Bates (with Morehouse as his proxy) offers Jack so much money that he can retire the full mortgage. Jack returns, determined to teach Eric how a friend is supposed to be treated. They bond while participating in mini-cart racing, video games, and even fishing in a stream filled with [[piranha]]. The pair decide to start a newspaper of their own for fun. After witnessing multiple examples of Bates' cruelty, they dig up dirt on him, such as a story of how he won his butler, Barkley ([[Wilfrid Hyde-White]]), in a game of [[billiards]]. They publish their paper and distribute it throughout the city. Bates is outraged, but keeps his anger in check and calls Jack and Eric for a private meeting. To prove to his son that money can buy loyalty, he offers Jack a reporting job with his newspaper, which is what Jack wanted all along. When he accepts, Eric is upset because he thinks Jack is selling out. Jack tells Eric that most men (especially disenfranchised African-American men such as himself) need jobs, just as his priority is to support himself and his wife. A swanky outdoor party is later held at the Bates estate. It is attended by prominent citizens, most of whom are unaware it is a fundraising event for the [[Ku Klux Klan]], as many guest are supporters of a senator also in attendance. Jack's wife, Angela, ([[Annazette Chase]]) tries to bring attention to this through her anti-Klan group, but Jack convinces her to leave and he will try to find out on the inside. When Jack learns the true reason for the party, to get the KKK Grand Wizard and a senator together in a picture, which would then be used by Bates to blackmail the senator into abandoning an indictment against him the senator was spearheading, he and Eric team up to thwart this. They both disrupt the party by driving go-karts all over the grounds and Jack embarrasses the Grand Wizard by causing him to fall into a bowl of chocolate fudge. Incensed, the Grand Wizard throws a pie at Jack, but hits a policeman instead, leading to his arrest. After this, Bates chases after Jack in a [[golf cart]] but ends up crashing into the pool. Jack saves him from drowning and Bates drops all pretenses, thanking Jack for saving him. Bates says Jack's "toy" job is over and he may go home to Angela. The next day, while driving Eric to the airport to return to military school, Bates tries desperately to have a heart-to-heart talk. Eric runs off, making his way to Jack's house. Jack gently admonishes Eric to give his father a chance. Bates arrives then and confesses to his son how much he truly does love him and Eric finally accepts that as the truth as the two embrace. As he and Eric depart for the airport, Bates says his offer for the newspaper job stands and promises Eric that next year he will have two weeks vacation: one with Jack and one with himself, much to Eric's joy. ==Cast== *[[Richard Pryor]] as Jack Brown *[[Jackie Gleason]] as Ulysses "U.S." Bates *[[Scott Schwartz]] as "Master" Eric Bates *[[Ned Beatty]] as Sydney Morehouse *[[Teresa Ganzel]] as Fancy Bates *[[Wilfrid Hyde-White]] as Barkley *[[Annazette Chase]] as Angela *[[Tony King (actor)|Tony King]] as Clifford *[[Virginia Capers]] as Ruby Simpson *Anthony "Tony" Burton as Stanley ( uncredited) ==Production== Pryor cast Annazette Chase to portray Angela after they worked together in ''[[The Mack]]'' (1973).<ref name=jet>{{cite web|title=KEEPING TABS ON CELEBS|date=27 December 1982|publisher=''[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]''|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L7YDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=annazette+chase+london&source=bl&ots=f_Sy_4Jjtp&sig=rZHghoh-02S3Nimc5f0vFyp9cEE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJr9S4zZ3MAhVBKyYKHRSzCB4Q6AEISTAK#v=onepage&q=annazette%20chase%20london&f=false|accessdate=24 April 2016}}</ref> The film was shot on locations in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Funny men enhance show|date=30 April 1982|publisher=''[[TimesDaily]]''|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19820430&id=YcshAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VZ4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6595,6114390&hl=en|accessdate=25 April 2016}}</ref> ==Reception== [[Vincent Canby]] gave the film a bad review, stating "My mind wasn't simply wandering during the film - it was ricocheting between the screen and the exit sign."<ref>{{cite news | author=Vincent Canby | title='TOY' A COMEDY WITH PRYOR AND GLEASON | url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C01E3DB103BF933A25751C1A964948260 | publisher=[[The New York Times]] | date=1982-12-10 | accessdate=2012-07-09}}</ref> Ten of the eleven reviewers of the film listed on RottenTomatoes.com gave the film a negative rating ("rotten"), while only one reviewer gave the film a positive ("fresh") review. Both of the "top reviewers", one of whom was Vincent Canby, gave the film a negative review. As of 2015 the film has an 11% critic score and 53% of audience score (with over 16,000 reviewer votes).<ref>[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/toy/ The Toy on RottenTomatoes.com]</ref> The film earned roughly [[United States dollar|$]]47 million at the box office, making it the 14th-highest grossing movie of 1982. Since that time, it has grossed more than $24 million in rentals. ==References == {{Reflist}} == External links == * {{imdb title|id=0084809|title=The Toy}} * {{tcmdb title|93741|The Toy}} * {{Amg movie|50634|The Toy}} * {{Mojo title|toy|The Toy}} {{Richard Donner}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Toy, The}} [[Category:1982 films]] [[Category:1980s comedy films]] [[Category:American films]] [[Category:American comedy films]] [[Category:American remakes of French films]] [[Category:Columbia Pictures films]] [[Category:English-language films]] [[Category:Film scores by Patrick Williams]] [[Category:Films directed by Richard Donner]] [[Category:Films shot in Louisiana]]'