Trading Places

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

• Director: John Landis
• Genre:Comedy
• Runtime:116 minutes

Cast

Denholm Elliott : Coleman
Dan Aykroyd : Louis Winthorpe III
Maurice Woods : Duke & Duke Employee
Richard D. Fisher Jr. : Duke & Duke Employee
Jim Gallagher : Duke & Duke Employee

Randolph (Ralph Bellamy) and Mortimer Duke (Don Ameche) are the snobbish heads of a successful commodities brokerage firm, hold opposing positions on the issue of “nature versus nurture”. Mortimer believes that a well-bred individual will be able to conquer whatever challenges are presented to him, while an ill-bred one will fail even if he is given many advantages over others. On the other hand, Randolph thinks that the former will degenerate if stripped of his position, but the latter will become a changed man if given the proper opportunities. To settle the dispute, the Dukes decide to ruin a successful man’s life, allow a poor man to take his place, and observe the results. They wager their “usual amount” on the outcome.

For the experiment, they choose their soon-to-be nephew-in-law, Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd), Harvard educated, silver spoon manager of the firm’s Philadelphia office, and street hustler Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy). To destroy Winthorpe’s reputation, Duke operative Clarence Beeks (Paul Gleason), publicly frames him as a thief. Winthorpe is promptly arrested and fired from his job, and he soon learns that his bank accounts have been frozen and he has been locked out of his home (as it is technically property of the Dukes). When his snobby fiancée Penelope, (Kristin Holby) who is also the Dukes’ niece comes to post bail for him, a prostitute named Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis) kisses him and asks him to give her drugs, promising to do anything he wants her to do in return. Upset, Penelope calls off the engagement on the spot. Louis soon finds himself ostracized by Penelope and all of his friends and colleagues, who refuse to help him. Ophelia soon admits that someone paid her to act in this fashion, and later takes pity on Louis and allows him to stay at her apartment for the time being, on the agreement that if she helps him become reestablished in society he will reward her financially.

Valentine and Winthorpe had previously bumped into each other, leading to Valentine being arrested at Winthorpe’s insistence because of a supposed robbery attempt. Valentine is soon bailed out by the Dukes, who claim to be running a program that provides assistance to “culturally underprivileged members of society”. Installed in Winthorpe’s former position, the streetwise hustler soon learns to use his experience of reality to predict the movement of futures contracts and thus make money for the firm. He is also given the use of Winthorpe’s house, which he initially opens up to the customers at his favorite bar for a party. Upon seeing this unsavory crowd treat his new house like a zoo, though, Valentine condemns them all as freeloaders and kicks them out. Winthorpe’s butler Coleman (Denholm Elliott) becomes friends with Valentine, who has already begun to act as a more upstanding person than he used to be, especially as he thanks Coleman for his services. Read more

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