The Gong Show Movie
| The Gong Show Movie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Chuck Barris |
| Produced by | Budd Granoff |
| Written by |
Chuck Barris Robert Downey |
| Starring |
Chuck Barris Robin Altman |
| Music by | Milton DeLugg |
| Cinematography | Richard C. Glouner |
| Edited by |
Jacqueline Cambas James Mitchell Sam Vitale |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $6,621,520[1] |
The Gong Show Movie is a 1980 American comedy film starring, written and directed by Chuck Barris.[2]
Plot
The film shows a fictional week in the life of Chuck Barris as the host and creator of The Gong Show, through a series of outrageous competitors, stressful situations, a nervous breakdown (which compels him to run away and hide in the desert) and other comic hijinks in his life and work on the TV show. Among the highlights included a group of men dressed as a Roman Catholic priest and three nuns lip-synching Tom Lehrer's song "The Vatican Rag", a man blowing out a candle with flatulence, and the uncensored version of Jaye P. Morgan's infamous breast-baring incident.
Reception
The film failed at the box office, not helped by its having opened on the same weekend as The Empire Strikes Back and The Shining. The film received a negative reaction, and was quickly withdrawn from theatrical release. Among the bad reviews at the time, George Burns, after seeing the movie, went on the record and said, "For the first time in 65 years, I wanted to get out of show business".[3]
Home video
The film was never issued on VHS or DVD by Universal, but finally received a Blu-ray release from Shout! Factory on March 29, 2016, nearly thirty-six years after its initial release.