7.5/10
113,010
165 user 78 critic

Trading Places (1983)

A snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.

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507 ( 122)
Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations. See more awards »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
Maurice Woods ...
Duke & Duke Employee
Richard D. Fisher Jr. ...
Duke & Duke Employee
Jim Gallagher ...
Duke & Duke Employee
Anthony DiSabatino ...
Duke & Duke Employee
Bonnie Behrend ...
Duke & Duke Employee
Sunnie Merrill ...
Duke & Duke Employee
James Newell ...
Duke & Duke Employee (as Jim Newell)
Mary St. John ...
Duke & Duke Employee
Bonnie Tremena ...
Duke & Duke Employee
David Schwartz ...
Duke & Duke Employee
...
...
Tom Degidon ...
Duke Domestic
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Storyline

Louis Winthorpe is a businessman who works for commodities brokerage firm of Duke and Duke owned by the brothers Mortimer and Randolph Duke. Now they bicker over the most trivial of matters and what they are bickering about is whether it's a person's environment or heredity that determines how well they will do in life. When Winthorpe bumps into Billy Ray Valentine, a street hustler and assumes he is trying to rob him, he has him arrested. Upon seeing how different the two men are, the brothers decide to make a wager as to what would happen if Winthorpe loses his job, his home and is shunned by everyone he knows and if Valentine was given Winthorpe's job. So they proceed to have Winthorpe arrested and to be placed in a compromising position in front of his girlfriend. So all he has to rely on is the hooker who was hired to ruin him. Written by [email protected]

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

They're not just getting rich... They're getting even. See more »

Genres:

Comedy

Certificate:

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Parents Guide:

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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

8 June 1983 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

De mendigo a millonario  »

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Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,348,200, 12 June 1983

Gross USA:

$90,404,800
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis also appeared in My Girl (1991), My Girl 2 (1994), and Christmas with the Kranks (2004). See more »

Goofs

When Louis is walking past the restaurant in the rain, the scene switches to him a number of times and you can hear the hard rain falling. The first time the camera shows a close up of Louis however, the camera is still inside the restaurant yet the sound of rain falling is heard, drowning out the crowd noises in the restaurant that are heard continuously (other than when Valentine is making his prediction about the Russian wheat crop) when the camera is inside. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Coleman: [holding a breakfast tray while Louis is still asleep] Your breakfast, sir.
See more »

Crazy Credits

Ron Taylor is credited as 'Big Black Guy' and James D. Turner as ' Even Bigger Black Guy' See more »


Soundtracks

ORALEE COOKIES
by Nicholas Guest & Robert Curtis Brown
Performed by "The Hot Toddies"
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Frequently Asked Questions

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User Reviews

Great Early Vehicle for Eddie Murphy
22 June 2005 | by – See all my reviews

This is probably one of the funniest films of the 1980's. It not only is a play on the classic nature vs. nurture theme, but it is also a somewhat comedic commentary on the "greed is good" decade of the 80's. However, it is also a nice bridging of the generations as it features two of the biggest stars to come from "Saturday Night Live" Eddie Murphy does a fine job as con man Billy Ray and Dan Ackroyd is great as Louis. Jamie Lee Curtis is also wonderful as Ophelia. In fact, it was good to see her do something other than the "scream queen" roles which she became famous for during the early part of her career. She definitely shows the comedic timing that she would display later in her career and would make her one of the finest comedic actresses in film today. However, the one that really steals it for me is Denholm Elliot as Coleman. He delivers a very low key performance that is befitting for that role. This is a real gem.


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