The In-Laws (1979 film)

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The In-Laws
Directed by	Arthur Hiller
Produced by	Arthur Hiller William Sackheim
Written by	Andrew Bergman
Music by	John Morris
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The In-Laws is a 1979 comedy film starring Alan Arkin and Peter Falk. The film was remade in 2003, with Michael Douglas, Albert Brooks, Candice Bergen and Ryan Reynolds.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Selected cast 3 Trivia 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Plot

The daughter of mild-mannered, Manhattan dentist Sheldon Kornpett (Arkin), and the son of businessman Vince Ricardo (Falk), are engaged to be married. At an introductory dinner party, Vince tells hysterically exaggerated tales of his "consulting" work in 1954 Guatemala (a subtle CIA reference). Sheldon senses something suspicious right away, and this suspicion gets stronger for both Sheldon and the audience as the movie progresses. Ultimately, Vince dupes Sheldon into joining a rogue CIA plot to rob the U.S. Treasury on behalf of an insane Latin-American dictator (played by Richard Libertini) who talks to a face painted on his hand (à la Señor Wences).

As the adventures of Sheldon and Vince become more outlandish, Sheldon becomes convinced that Vince is also insane. Still somehow he cannot abandon Vince, perhaps due to the impending marriage of their children, or perhaps due to his general decency, and goes along with his crazy schemes, having his life threatened on more than one occasion.

Sheldon eventually realizes that Vince has been telling the truth about everything, and it all works out well (and profitably) for both Vince and Sheldon.

Also featured are a very young Ed Begley, Jr. and an even younger David Paymer in supporting roles.

The film was remade in 2003 to far lesser acclaim, starring Albert Brooks and Michael Douglas.

[edit] Selected cast

• Peter Falk as Vince Ricardo
• Alan Arkin as Sheldon Kornpett
• Richard Libertini as Gen. Garcia
• Nancy Dussault as Carol Kornpett
• Arlene Golonka as Jean Ricardo
• Penny Peyser as Barbara Kornpett
• Ed Begley, Jr. as Barry Lutz
• Michael Lembeck as Tommy Ricardo

[edit] Trivia

• The character of General Garcia pays homage to Señor Wences and his hand puppet, "Johnny." The General presents his own hand puppet, "Señor Pepe," who, like Johnny, is created from facial features drawn on the thumb and first finger of the General's hand. Señor Pepe is the General's closest, and perhaps only, advisor.

• Some of the exterior scenes (most notably where the FBI chase Sheldon into the car painter) were filmed in Englewood, NJ.

• The airport that Vince mentions (McGraw Airfield, located on Route 46 near Lodi) is a reference to Teterboro Airport, which is located on Rt. 46, near Lodi, NJ.

[edit] See also

The In-Laws (2003 film)

[edit] External links

• The In-Laws at the Internet Movie Database
• The In-Laws at Allmovie

v • d • e Films directed by Arthur Hiller The Careless Years (1957) • This Rugged Land (1962) • Miracle of the White Stallions (1963) • The Wheeler Dealers (1963) • The Americanization of Emily (1964) • Promise Her Anything (1965) • Penelope (1966) • Tobruk (1967) • The Tiger Makes Out (1967) • Popi (1969) • The Out-of-Towners (1970) • Love Story (1970) • The Hospital (1971) • Plaza Suite (1971) • Man of La Mancha (1972) • The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974) • The Man in the Glass Booth (1975) • Silver Streak (1976) • W.C. Fields and Me (1976) • The In-Laws (1979) • Nightwing (1979) • Making Love (1982) • Author! Author! (1982) • Romantic Comedy (1983) • The Lonely Guy (1984) • Teachers (1984) • Outrageous Fortune (1987) • See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) • Taking Care of Business (1990) • The Babe (1992) • Married to It (1993) • Carpool (1996) • An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997) • The Trouble With Frank (2005)