Facts About ‘Caddyshack’ You Never Knew Before

Caddyshack is an incredible film. It’s beloved by many people across the world and has become one of the most-quoted films of all time, with some of the best movie quotes ever spoken. Nearly forty years later, we’re still enjoying it! How much do you know about the film though? Here’s 25 facts that may surprise you… Bill Murray Improvised All Of His Lines Despite having little experience as a no-name actor, Murray’s talent shone in Caddyshack. It was his first major film, but Murray is such a great comedian that even this early on, he ended up improvising all of his lines in the movie, including cutting the flower tops off with a grass whip. His lines have been called some of the greatest movie quotes of all time. Doug Kenney Was Drunk When He Wrote Caddyshack Writer and producer Doug Kenney (pictured, above) began writing at Harvard, where he co-founded the National Lampoon magazine. That’s an auspicious start in of itself, but he wasn’t happy. While working on Caddyshack, he was working through severe depression. He drank heavily, abused cocaine, misbehaved at press conferences, got into a drunken car-crash, and died after falling off a cliff in Hawaii. The Studio Rejected The Movie Until Chevy Chase Was Cast Scenes With the Gopher Were Shot After Filming The producers decided to use the gopher as a uniting theme after the filming was already wrapped. Unfortunately, they realized they had only one shot of Bill Murray trying to catch the gopher. They ended up having to shoot a bunch of scenes post-production to insert later. Dangerfield Thought All of His Jokes Were Terrible Caddyshack was Dangerfield’s first big movie. He was used to getting live laughs on The Tonight Show and The Dean Martin Show. When nobody laughed at his scripted jokes, he thought he wasn’t funny and complained. The other actors and crew had to explain that they couldn’t laugh, because it would ruin the take, not because he wasn’t funny. What two actors didn't get along in real life? Click "Next" to find out. Bill Murray and Chevy Chase Didn’t Get Along Murray and Chase didn’t have the best relationship before Caddyshack. Bill Murray actually replaced Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live, causing tension on the set of Caddyshack. To help, the producers originally intended that the two would never appear in the same shot, but after some time, the two worked their issues out long enough to film a scene entirely improvised by the actors where Chase’s character wanders into the gardening shack. The Explosives Were Real When the producers borrowed the country club, the owners expressed that they couldn’t use any fire at the golf course. The producers decided to ignore their wishes, and used several “incendiary packs” to create a real explosion. We don’t think they got asked back to the golf course after filming. Bill Murray Worked At An Indian Hill Country Club Bill Murray had a reason to be so in-character on the set of Caddyshack. He worked at the Indian Hill Country Club, the real golf club that inspired the setting of the movie. He was a groundskeeper, caddy, and ran a hot dog stand during his employment. Glamorous. Pilots At Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport Thought The Explosion Was A Plane Crash The explosion at the end of the movie was so large and loud that pilots at the nearby Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood airport became worried and reported a plane crash to air traffic control and airport security. Pink Floyd Was Asked To Record The Opening And Closing Credits Ramis really wanted Pink Floyd to record the opening and closing credits for the film. Pink Floyd declined the offer, though, so Ramis found Kenny Loggins and got him to record “I’m Alright” for the movie instead. What famous National Lampoon film was this particular film based off of? Click "Next" to find out. The Movie Was Based On ‘Animal House’ Animal House was an extremely successful film. So successful, in fact, that Hollywood wanted a repeat number. Doug Kenney and Harold Ramis originally pitched the idea for the film as “Animal House on the golf course” to get the studio’s attention. It worked! Chevy Improvised His “Na-na-na-na” Sound In his putting scene, Chevy Chase was advised by the director to make a “zen” noise when putting. Thus, the infamous “na-na-na-na” sound was born, and people have been quoting it ever since. When Hurricane David Stopped The Production, the Crew Partied DOWN. When Hurricane David swept through Florida, it put filming for Caddyshack on hold. The crew didn’t mind. Instead of filming, they decided to make the best of things and have a huge party in their hotel next to the golf course. Bill Murray Opened A Caddyshack Restaurant The Murray brothers— all six of them— liked the film so much that they opened a Caddyshack-themed restaurant in St. Augustine, Florida in 2001. The restaurant’s still there today! The Original Script Was 250 Pages Long That’s twice as long as most average screenplays! Director Harold Ramis and producer Jon Peters had to cut the script down a lot before the studio agreed to start filming. Even though the film is based in Illinois, where was it shot? Click "Next" to find out. The Fictional Illinois-Based Film Was Shot In Florida There were two problems with filming in California. The movie was supposed to be set in Illinois. There are no palm trees in Illinois. Director Harold Ramis also wanted to get away from studio execs while filming. So, he suggested moving the filming somewhere else. Florida was his first choice, but the golf course in Florida had palm trees, too. Rami decided he’d rather take the palm trees and avoid the studio executives, so the movie was filmed in Florida, palm trees and all. Bill Murray Was Supposed To Just Cameo When cast, Harold Ramis had only planned for Murray to cameo in Caddyshack, but he impressed the director so much that Harold Ramis asked him to stay on for six more days. The film launched Murray’s career, and the pair went on to star in several other comedies together. The Pitchfork Scene Was Improvised The scene where Bill Murray’s character tells the story about caddying for the Dalai Lama while threatening Peter Berkrot with a pitchfork was completely off-script. Peter was uncomfortable the whole scene, making for an incredibly genuine performance. Caddyshack Was Henry Wilcoxon’s Last Movie Henry Wilcoxon played the role of Bishop Pickering after having starred in some of Hollywood’s most classic films, such as Cleopatra (1934) and The Greatest Show on Earth in 1952. After Caddyshack was done with filming, he never did another film. He died in 1984, just four years after Caddyshack. It was the 1980s. Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield were put on set together. So, you can imagine there was a lot of partying. They partied so much, in fact, that filming often would have to wait until they finally stumbled onto set. Who was not having fun on set? Click "Next" to find out, Ted Knight Wasn’t Having Fun Ted Knight was the type of actor who lived by the book. It irritated him that the cast was so irresponsible, that they were always arriving late, partying, and going off script. Director Harold Ramis Wasn’t, Either While the rest of the cast and crew were having the time of their lives and arriving late to set, Harold was desperate to prove himself as a responsible director. He didn’t party while filming Caddyshack at all. Instead, he held off until they were done. Legend has it that he partied so hard that he had to be carried back to his room afterward. The Gopher Noises Are Actually Dolphin Noises Yep... We're for real. The Studio Had A Back-up List Of Directors Caddyshack was Harold’s first attempt at directing, and the first attempt of anything is usually kind of rough. He didn’t know quite what he was getting into. So, the studio had associate producer Don MacDonald draft a list of would-be substitute directors just in case. Mickey Rourke Was Originally Considered For The Part Of “Danny Noonan” Harold Ramis originally wanted Mickey Rourke for the leading role of Danny Noonan, but ultimately he chose to go with Michael O’Keefe. He decided O’ Keefe would play a better “goofy-kid-next-door.” One wonders how the film would have turned out had Rourke been selected for the part! Source: (History Garage)