Coming to America (1988)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

John Landis

Writers (WGA):

Eddie Murphy (story)
David Sheffield (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

29 June 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

This summer, Prince Akeem discovers America.

Plot:

An African prince goes to Queens, New York City to find a wife whom he can respect for her intelligence and will.

Plot Keywords:

Fictional Country | African American Comedy | Prince | Cult Favorite | Quirky

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins

Cast

Eddie Murphy	...	Prince Akeem / Clarence / Randy Watson / Saul
Arsenio Hall	...	Semmi / Extremely Ugly Girl / Morris / Reverend Brown
James Earl Jones	...	King Jaffe Joffer
John Amos	...	Cleo McDowell
Madge Sinclair	...	Queen Aoleon
Shari Headley	...	Lisa McDowell
Paul Bates	...	Oha
Eriq La Salle	...	Darryl Jenks
Frankie Faison	...	Landlord
Vanessa Bell Calloway	...	Imani Izzi (as Vanessa Bell)
Louie Anderson	...	Maurice
Allison Dean	...	Patrice McDowell
Sheila Johnson	...	Lady-in-Waiting
Jake Steinfeld	...	Cab Driver
Calvin Lockhart	...	Colonel Izzi
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Hold-Up Man
Feather	...	Rose Bearer
Stephanie Simon	...	Rose Bearer
Garcelle Beauvais	...	Rose Bearer
Vondie Curtis-Hall	...	Basketball Game Vendor
Elaine Kagan	...	Telegraph Lady
Don Ameche	...	Mortimer Duke
Ralph Bellamy	...	Randolph Duke
Clint Smith	...	Sweets
Victoria Dillard	...	Bather / Dancer
Felicia Taylor	...	Bather
Midori	...	Bather (as Michele Watley)
Raymond D. Turner	...	T-Shirt Hawker
Billi Gordon	...	Large Woman
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Boy Getting Haircut
Uncle Ray Murphy	...	Stu
Ruben Santiago-Hudson	...	Street Hustler (as Ruben Hudson)
Paulette Banoza	...	Soul Glo Woman
Clyde Jones	...	Soul Glo Man (as Clyde R. Jones)
Patricia Matthews	...	Devil Woman
Mary Bond Davis	...	Big Stank Woman
Kara Young	...	Stuck-Up Girl
Karen Owens	...	Ex-Siamese Twin / Dancer (as Karen Renee Owens)
Sharon Owens	...	Ex-Siamese Twin / Dancer (as Sharon Renee Owens)
Lisa Gumora	...	Kinky Girl
June Boykins	...	Strange Woman
Janette Colon	...	Fresh Peaches
Vanessa Colon	...	Sugar Cube
Monique Mannen	...	Boring Girl / Dancer
Mindora Mimms	...	Awareness Woman
Cynthia Finkley	...	Awareness Woman
David Sosna	...	Cartier Delivery Man
Arthur Adams	...	Mr. Jenks
Loni Kaye Harkless	...	Mrs. Jenks
Montrose Hagins	...	Grandma Jenks
Tonja Rivers	...	Party Guest
Michael Tadross	...	Taxi Driver
Steve White	...	Subway Guy
Helen Hanft	...	Subway Lady
Birdie M. Hale	...	Elderly Passenger
Jim Abrahams	...	Face on Cutting Room Floor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leah Aldridge	...	Dancer
Aurorah Allain	...	Dancer
Paula Brown	...	Dancer
Dwayne Chattman	...	Dancer
Stephanie Clark	...	Dancer
Robin Dimension	...	Dancer
Carla Earle	...	Tough Girl, Death Row Inmate's Wife
Shaun Earl	...	Dancer
Eric L. Ellis	...	Dancer
Sharon Ferrol-Young	...	Dancer
Eric D. Henderson	...	Dancer
Gigi Hunter	...	Dancer
Debra Johnson	...	Dancer
Tanya Lynne Lee	...	Dancer
Jimmy Locust	...	Dancer
Donna M. Perkins	...	Dancer
Dionne Rockhold	...	Dancer
Gina Consuela Rose	...	Dancer
Randolph Scott	...	Dancer
Robbin Tasha-Ford	...	Dancer
Jerald Vincent	...	Dancer
Eyan Williams	...	Dancer
Roy Milton Davis	...	Homeless Man Around Garbage Can Bonfire (uncredited)
Dorian DeMichele	...	Viola (uncredited)
Alison Gordy	...	Blond Hooker / Bag Lady in Fast Food Place (uncredited)
Nick Savage	...	Toothbrusher (uncredited)
Scott Shepherd	...	Spectator (uncredited)

Directed by
John Landis

Writing credits (WGA)
Eddie Murphy		(story)
David Sheffield		(screenplay) &
Barry W. Blaustein		(screenplay)

Produced by
Leslie Belzberg	....	executive producer
George Folsey Jr.	....	producer
Mark Lipsky	....	executive producer
David Sosna	....	associate producer
Robert D. Wachs	....	producer

Original Music by
Nile Rodgers

Cinematography by
Sol Negrin
Woody Omens

Film Editing by
Malcolm Campbell
George Folsey Jr.

Casting by
Jackie Burch

Production Design by
Richard Macdonald

Art Direction by
Richard B. Lewis
Christopher Nowak

Costume Design by
Deborah Nadoolman

Makeup Department
Rick Baker	....	special makeup effects
Norman Cabrera	....	special makeup effects technician: Rick Baker Cinovation
Matt Rose	....	special makeup effects crew: Cinovation Studios
Robert L. Stevenson	....	hair department head

Production Management
Michael Tadross	....	unit production manager
William Watkins	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles Brescia	....	additional second assistant director
Richard Patrick	....	second assistant director
Tracy Rosenthal-Newsom	....	second second assistant director (as Tracy Rosenthal)
David Sosna	....	first assistant director
Michael-McCloud Thompson	....	dga trainee (as Michael-McCloud Thompson)

Art Department
William Apperson	....	construction foreman
Stan Cockerell	....	assistant property master
Luigi Mugavero	....	set dresser
Andrew Neskoromny	....	set designer
Daniel E. Rogers	....	signs and graphics
Philip Saccio	....	property master
Drew Struzan	....	poster artist
Edward Staten Vance	....	construction foreman
Dave Weinman	....	leadman
Ron Yates	....	set designer
Christopher Nelson	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
James Beshears	....	adr supervisor
Paul Timothy Carden	....	supervising sound editor
William B. Kaplan	....	sound mixer
James Sabat	....	sound mixer (as James J. Sabat)
Charles Ewing Smith	....	foley editor

Special Effects by
Clive R. Kay	....	special effects contact lenses

Visual Effects by
Syd Dutton	....	special visual effects
Bill Taylor	....	visual effects co-supervisor
Albert Whitlock	....	matte painting supervisor

Stunts
Lindell Blake	....	stunts
Alex Brown	....	stunts (as Alex A. Brown)
Andy Duppin	....	stunts
Peter Hock	....	stunts
Carlton Holder	....	stunts
John Sherrod	....	stunt coordinator
Carlton Holder	....	stunt double: Arsenio Hall (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Cambria	....	second assistant camera
Joseph Cosko Jr.	....	second assistant camera
John W. DeBlau	....	gaffer: New York
Ken Fisher	....	assistant camera
Richie Ford	....	electrician
Douglas C. Hart	....	first assistant camera: New York
Sunny Johnson	....	grip
Eric Leigh	....	electrician
Bruce McBroom	....	still photographer
Rick Robinson	....	assistant camera
Norman Glasser	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Casting Department
Rae Lockett	....	extras casting assistant

Music Department
Bob Bornstein	....	music preparation
Jerry Greenberg	....	executive producer: soundtrack album
Mark McKenzie	....	orchestrator
Wayne Karr	....	music recording engineer: songs (uncredited)

Other crew
Paula Abdul	....	choreographer
Deborah Ambrosino	....	senior milliner
Mattie Caruthers	....	script supervisor
Marilyn Gill	....	production assistant
Debra D. Jeffreys	....	production assistant
Enrico Mastracchi Manes	....	production assistant
Joe McDougall	....	production assistant
Brian McMillan	....	head animal trainer
Charles Miller	....	location manager: New York
Debbie Schwab	....	production coordinator
Tim Sullivan	....	parking coordinator
Janet L. Wattles	....	production accountant
Quincy Z. Gunderson	....	location assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Eddie Murphy Productions
• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1988) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1989) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• CBS Television (1991) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD) (HD-DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (199?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video (19??) (Australia) (VHS)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount (1988) (France) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• ATCO Records  soundtrack published by
• Cinema Research  opticals
• Record Plant Scoring  music recorded at
• Reel People Inc.  negative cutting
• Sylvia Fay/ Lee Genick & Associates Casting  extras casting

Also Known As:

Prince in New York (Europe: English title) (video title)

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:PG (TV rating) (cut) | South Korea:15 | West Germany:12 (f) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Norway:11 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Big Sky Ranch - 4927 Bennett Road, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company:

Eddie Murphy Productions

Trivia:

Airport scenes in Into the Night (1985/I) and Coming to America (1988) have a call over the PA system for a "Mr. Frank Oznowicz" to pick up the white courtesy phone. This is Frank Oz's real name.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Akeem goes to get his ponytail cut, the stand-in for the old Jewish man is visible in the mirror.

Quotes:

Saul: A man has the right to change his name to vatever he vants to change it to. And if a man vants to be called Muhammad Ali, godammit this is a free country, you should respect his vishes, and call the man Muhammad Ali!
Morris: His mamma call him Clay, imma call him Clay.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fade to Black (2004)

Soundtrack:

Pride And Joy

Eddie Murphy's greatest movie.

If "Trading Places" is Dan Ackroyd's greatest movie, then "Coming to America" is Eddie Murphy's greatest movie, and for much the same reasons. Although the movie may be considered a comedy, and indeed has its humorous moments, the theme of this movie is quite serious. For it's about a man who is willing to sacrifice money, privilege, power, and position in quest for personal happiness. This is a powerful role and Eddie Murphy is great in this role. This movie is proof that when given the chance, a comic actor like Eddie Murphy is capable of playing a complex character that is central to a story. The producers of this movie evidently knew that in Eddie Murphy they had a actor around whom they could create an excellent movie, and with this movie they were right.