danny noonan caddyshack yacht club

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Caddyshack is among the most beloved of comedies. It’s endlessly quoted, referenced and parodied, its array of colorful goofballs embedded in our collective consciousness. But who’s the film’s main character? It’s not Bill Murray ’s Carl Spackler, Ted Knight’s Elihu Smails, Rodney Dangerfield ’s Al Czervik or Chevy Chase ’s Ty Webb. No, the man who drives the action is actually Danny.

You remember Danny Noonan, the young caddie trying to make some money and maybe get laid. Amidst Caddyshack ’s crazy, vain or smug weirdos, Danny comes closest to resembling ordinary human behavior. He’s not trying to murder gophers. He’s not making inappropriate comments loudly in public. Danny is just a poor local kid navigating a comic minefield of rich idiots. The actor who played Danny did such a good job that you tend to forget him. But as the film celebrates its 44th anniversary, Michael O’Keefe continues to hear from the movie’s fans. He’s appreciative but still a bit mystified all these years later.

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“If I was rating films by the worst acting I’ve ever seen,” he tells me with a laugh, “I would say Caddyshac k goes into my top five — and I would put me at the top of that list. Which is not to say it’s not funny. I was at this golf club in Canada about a year ago, and they brought me up for one of these events and they screened the movie. I hadn’t looked at the movie in a while, but I watched the last 20 minutes and I was like, ‘I suck in this movie. Everybody else sucks, too.’ Somehow, that doesn’t get in the way of it working.”

O’Keefe is now 69 and living in Woodstock with his wife Emily and their tween son Aidan. He’s been acting steadily since the mid-1970s, and when I speak to him over Zoom in mid-June, he’s in the midst of shooting a series with Jon Hamm , who plays his son. “They’re filming in Westchester where I grew up,” O’Keefe says. “The first location was at a house around the corner from the Westchester Country Club, which is where my parents had their wedding reception. My brother and my nephew are still members. My brother’s 60th birthday party was there last year at Thanksgiving.” He laughs, adding, “And it’s across the street from my high school girlfriend’s house. I had to resist the urge to go knock on the windows and say, ‘See, I told you I was going to be an actor!’”

As a kid, O’Keefe had been anxious to escape his family — especially his father, who O’Keefe once described as “a domineering, self-absorbed chauvinist who destroyed the childhood of his seven children and crushed the spirit of his wife.”

“When I was 15 years old, I was very clear that I had to get the fuck out of dodge,” he recalls. “These people were crazy. Thankfully, I started getting roles in commercials, which were paying quite well back then. In 1970, I did a Colgate tooth commercial, and I made $30,000. I stayed until I graduated high school, and then I did move out — and I never really looked back.”

O’Keefe has a boisterous, wisecracking energy. He’s got a dozen stories to tell and an engaging way of telling them. He’s devoted his whole life to acting — as well as writing and poetry — and he takes his passions seriously. And if you get him talking, he’ll tell you about his journey to Buddhism, an offshoot of his interest in transcendence that started when he was a teenager. But those seeds were also planted by Caddyshack , in which his character is pestered by self-satisfied scion Ty Webb, who offers Danny seemingly bizarre mantras of life while on the green. Those lines were dreamed up by Doug Kenney, the beloved co-founder of National Lampoon who was one of Caddyshack ’s writers. O’Keefe still misses his friend, who died in August 1980 at the age of 33, just a month after the film’s release.

“Doug had a kind of country-club thing about him, because his dad was a country-club tennis pro,” says O’Keefe. “He went to Harvard, so he kind of assimilated into the elite world, and he was a freak in the ‘60s and the ‘70s. His hair was down to his ass, but when he cut his hair short and put on a suit and a tie, he looked like one of those guys at the bar in the country club that you go hang out with after a round of golf. That was his M.O. He was the one (writing) all those Bashō references (in Caddyshack ): ‘A flute without holes is not a flute. A donut without holes is a Danish.’ That’s really funny, but he had to read all of those Zen poems in order to get there. He had to read Bashō and all those masters — all those death poems, all that stuff.”

O’Keefe was already nearly a decade into his career when the opportunity to play Danny came along. Caddyshack was only O’Keefe’s third film — his second earned him his only Oscar nomination to date, for Best Supporting Actor. In 1978’s The Great Santini , he played Ben, the son of a strict fighter pilot (Robert Duvall) who tries to bring his military training home, leading to a battle of wills. O’Keefe drew from his own childhood. As he puts it, “I love my father, but I got cast in The Great Santini for a reason.” After that film’s success, though, he was dying to do something lighter. Maybe a comedy about some wacky golfers at a country club? Not that everyone in his circle agreed with that decision.

“The (Oscar) nomination came out on Santini before Caddyshack was released,” he recalls. “So a couple of my friends, they were like, ‘What you got coming up next?’ And I said, ‘Well, I did this comedy with Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, and it’s these National Lampoon guys.’ My friends were like, ‘Why would you do that?!??’ I was like, ‘Are you out of your mind? What do you think, I’m going to be going toe-to-toe with character actors that are assholes for the rest of my life? There’s other things to do.’”

Somewhere, the original version of the Caddyshack script exists — the one in which Danny is really more of the central figure. O’Keefe doesn’t remember much of anything about it, though. “It’s so long ago,” he says. “I only probably read (it) twice — once when I was auditioning, once when I was preparing. None of Bill’s part was written, so as soon as Bill started doing his thing, they threw that script out. And then I just grabbed onto their coattails.”

It’s true that he thinks Caddyshack ’s acting is terrible, but he thinks Chase, Dangerfield, Knight and Murray are all really funny in it. “None of those characters had the place in the (script) that they have in the final version,” O’Keefe says. “But very quickly (on set), within a week, it was so clear that Rodney was going to hit home runs every time he opened his mouth, and that Ted was absolutely insane in the right way in the role, and that Chevy was going to bring a lot to the table. And then once Bill came, he started doing his thing. That’s when they realized we’ve got to abandon this ‘Danny Noonan grows up and learns his lesson’ (plot).”

He may have wanted to be part of a film that was less searing than The Great Santini , but he quickly grasped that he couldn’t compete with his Caddyshack co-stars. And it wasn’t simply because he was younger than them. “I have a good sense of humor, I’m a funny guy, I can get laughs,” O’Keefe says. “But I can’t get anything like the kind of laughs that Bill and Chevy and Ted and Rodney got in the movie and have gotten in their careers. I don’t know how to do that — I instinctively knew that. I might’ve been cocky and arrogant when I was young, but I wasn’t stupid.”

But if his role shrunk along the way, he got to see how these comedy superstars did their thing — and how co-writer Harold Ramis , making his directorial debut, kept all those egos in check. “Harold’s great skill was organizing Bill and Ted and Chevy and Rodney into a coherent ensemble — and I use the word ‘coherent’ loosely.” Asked if he felt intimidated by those four actors, O’Keefe replies, “There was a part of me that was intimidated, especially when they got competitive. It was never really Rodney or Ted who got competitive — it was the other two knuckleheads.”

Of course, Chase and Murray were famous for not getting along back in the early Saturday Night Live days. Did O’Keefe witness their continuing feud while making Caddyshack ? All O’Keefe will say is, “Those guys, Chevy and Bill, they don’t have technique — that’s not what they’re about. They’re not schooled in that collegial thing that creates an ensemble of people who have a mutually-shared goal. They were schooled in the ‘get a laugh or die’ thing where they were going to get pushed in front of an audience trying to break in at Second City in Chicago.”

That’s how Murray found his calling , but O’Keefe remembers as a high-schooler seeing Chase as part of the National Lampoon show Lemmings in New York. “He played the Hell’s Angel biker who got upset at the peace-freaks that touched his hog — he reamed out someone every night, with a leather jacket and his hair down to here. He actually singled me out the night that I saw it — I was in the first row of tables. First, I was shitting my pants I was laughing so hard, which made him just get more and more angry with me: ‘You fucking peace-freak, you touched my fucking hog, I’ll fucking kill you!’ I was laughing, he was screaming, and the audience was loving it.”

Over the years, the legend of Caddyshack ’s making has grown. (In 2018, film critic and author Chris Nashawaty wrote a book about the behind-the-scenes shenanigans.) It was an era of rampant drug use, and Caddyshack wasn’t immune. As O’Keefe puts it, “I (tell parents), ‘I really don’t think you should let your kids see Caddyshack until they turn 40 — it’s age-appropriate at that point. Until then, I would not let them watch it.’” He can joke about it now. He couldn’t always. He was 12 when he first got drunk. He had to battle alcoholism and drug addiction. But now he’s worked his way through that — he’s raising a son who’s about the age he was when he started drinking. He’s open with Aidan about his past. And he doesn’t want to lionize that part of Caddyshack ’s backstory.

“If you took cocaine out of the equation … those guys are funny and they didn’t need that to do the movie,” O’Keefe tells me. He pauses and then continues. “I think it’s okay to talk about this now because, from my point-of-view, there’s a certain amount of transparency that’s needed. Doug Kenney is a real victim of the drug culture. There’s no doubt that he was one of the comic geniuses of his generation — absolutely no doubt. And there was no doubt that he was addicted to cocaine, and there was no doubt that he committed suicide because of it. Even though, at Doug’s funeral the joke was, ‘Doug didn’t commit suicide — he tripped and fell when he was looking for a place to commit suicide.’”

When Caddyshack became a hit when it was released July 25, 1980, O’Keefe was 25 years old and part of an acclaimed Oscar-nominated drama and a crowd-pleasing comedy. That’s rare air. “In 1980, there was a list in Variety of the top five young actors,” remembers O’Keefe, “and it was Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks and me and then two other people I don’t remember — someone that was a ‘bankable young movie star.’” I don’t even have a chance to ask the follow-up question before he answers it himself. “Three years later, that was over for me,” he says. “(After Caddyshack ) I made three films that were progressively less-interesting, one of which I referred to as a film the entire family can miss. Then it was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to have to become a working actor if I want to do this — I’m going to have to find a niche.’”

It wasn’t just the films he said yes to but also the ones he passed on. He turned down Splash , convinced he wasn’t right for the part. “A lot of people, when I was younger, (would say), ‘You could have been as big a star as Tom Hanks.’ And I’m here to tell you, no, I could never have been that star, because I’m not an affable person. He is so affable, and I mean this as a compliment. He is one of the most likable, accessible, thoughtful guys on camera of his generation — it has been proven over and over again because of his longevity and the interest people still have in watching him parse out a role. I was never that guy — never. But they offered me the role in Splash first, and that was his real breakout role. When I read it, I knew I would not be able to score in that part because it was the romance and because it required that light touch. You know that old chestnut about ‘Dying’s hard but comedy’s harder’? That’s true — you have to really know that space.”

Instead, he signed up for duds like The Slugger’s Wife , although it sure seemed good on paper. (Directed by Hal Ashby? Written by Neil Simon? That sounds like a hit.) He’s philosophical about those post- Caddyshack stumbles. “I’ve turned down some movies that were pretty good in retrospect,” he says. “So I have to accept that aspect of my journey as an actor as my learning curve. A lot of what I did — my approach when my career tanked — was to take it as a character-development opportunity. An opportunity to learn about myself and learn about my character — my personal character — and what needed to be changed, what needed to be improved.”

It was around this time that he got serious about Buddhism. “I’ve always had a spiritual bent — I’ve always felt that way about things,” he says. Even as a teenager living in New York City after leaving home, he’d find himself at a bookstore, his attention turning to the shelves that had guides to Zen. Plus, he wrote poetry and studied Beat writers such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. In fact, in his 30s, O’Keefe studied with Ginsberg. “He liked my poems,” O’Keefe says with pride. “Didn’t like anybody else’s poems in the workshop.” Not that every one of his poems was a winner: “I read one poem at a reading with him while we were there. He was like, ‘That poem sucked.’ I was like, ‘Oh, thanks, Allen — thank you for your support.’” In his 50s, O’Keefe earned an MFA in writing from Bennington: “I’m actually getting more serious about my writing now as I get older,” he says.

But that greater spiritual dawning happened when O’Keefe was 30, almost by accident. “This buddy of mine, he was Leonard Cohen ’s bass player for a while, and for my 30th birthday, he said, ‘I’ve got a present for you.’ We were neighbors on the Upper West Side at the time, and he said, ‘You got to be at my apartment at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning.’ I literally said to him, ‘Man, there better be a bag of cash for me at your apartment at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning. This better be something.’” The friend drove him to a Zen Center to give him an introduction to Zen practice. “I remember the monk who led it, his name is Lou Nordstrom . He’s still a teacher in the lineage that I studied in for years. And then I never looked back. I started doing retreats with those guys.”

He was ordained as a Zen priest in 1994, crediting his practice for helping him with his addiction issues. But he also saw how Zen Buddhism could help make him a better actor. “With Caddyshack , what is it all rooted in? Is it rooted in behavior, or is it rooted in an idea — and the idea being, ‘This will be funny’?”

To O’Keefe’s mind, acting rooted in behavior is the better way to go. “Now, I’m not saying (acting rooted in an idea) is wrong — I’m just saying I don’t aspire to that. That’s not who I am. You can’t act an idea. You can act behavior, you can act relationships, you can take action. Which isn’t to say you (can’t have a situation) where you’re listening and just there — you need that, too. That’s one of the things that’s appealing about Zen or any kind of meditation for actors — to have a meditation experience, you don’t have to have a religious experience. There’s plenty of secular and/or atheistic traditions of meditation that are as sophisticated and as well-developed as any religious one. But for actors, stillness is the source of movement. That’s a really big thing — you have to find a still place inside. And if I was to go back and look at my role in Caddyshack , I would say my still place inside was not exactly of great depth. I would say it was a tad shallow.”

What’s funny is that part of what makes Caddyshack work is that Danny Noonan is the film’s still center. “I’m the stable part,” O’Keefe acknowledges about his character, “which is different than my internal stillness. But I’m the one that those fucking knuckleheads are acting out around. In that way, I’m the audience — when you watch the film, you identify with me, hopefully, because that’s the way into the movie. You’re certainly not going to enter the movie thinking, ‘That Carl Spackler guy is just like me!’ I don’t think that ever happened.”

Recently, O’Keefe renounced his priesthood, writing a moving piece about his decision for Tricycle . Zen had been part of his life for decades, but he felt he needed a change. “One of the things that happened for me that made my desire to abandon Buddhism clearer was that I met a Daoist priest up here where I live,” he tells me. “I got into it because I was studying tai chi and qigong and yangsheng and different kung fu martial arts. I was looking for teachers and sampling all the different teachers up here for that.”

Ultimately, his path led him to study in a sect that combines Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism. “They absorb this awakened truth from each of those traditions and then they use it to enhance their own tradition and their own personal and sect belief system about Daoism and what it’s about,” he tells me. “When we had moved up here, which was 10 years ago, I was already leaning away from Buddhism for my own reasons — I was just losing the juice. I didn’t feel compelled to practice as much — I was looking for something else. When the student’s ready, the teacher appears — that’s a cliché because it’s true.”

His acting résumé is impressive, including stints on Roseanne , Homeland , Masters of Sex and Sneaky Pete . But he’s modest about his career. “I think part of the reason why I succeeded…” O’Keefe stops himself. “I’m smiling, because I think my success is still in question. Even though I’m 69, I’m still waiting to grab the brass ring, if you know what I mean.”

Occasionally, he teaches acting. I’m curious if he’s ever shown Caddyshack to his students. He hasn’t.

“If I was going to, I would say, ‘The thing to emulate and the thing to appreciate and what everybody here does — myself included — is to try to risk everything. Just throw it out there. Don’t be shy. Throw the spaghetti on the refrigerator and see if it sticks.’”

In the past, he could have a difficult time when fans came up to him wanting to talk about Caddyshack . Of course, he was grateful for their enthusiasm, but couldn’t they ever bring up anything he’d done, you know, this century? But he has come to enjoy the attention for a film made so long ago, back when he was still trying to figure himself out.

In Caddyshack , Danny Noonan gets himself into a bizarre situation and has to make the best of it. You could argue Michael O’Keefe did the same when he signed up for that film. He’s been married for more than a decade. He loves being a dad. He’s an in-demand actor. He gets invited to conventions to talk about Caddyshack . It’s a good life, and a lot of it came about because of a movie filled with — to use O’Keefe’s go-to term — knuckleheads who basically made it up as they went along. If he’s right and the film’s performances are technically terrible, how did they pull off a comedy landmark?

“If I really knew the answer to questions like that,” he replies with a laugh, “there would be a path beaten to my door.”

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Culture Caddyshack Codes

Danny Noonan

Thick Description by Josh Glenn , Posted November 6, 2020

Smails bullies, then acts fatherly towards Noonan

This is the fifth installment in a series of posts offering a semiotic analysis of the 1980 golfing comedy Caddyshack . (Why select this particular, not very successful, deeply flawed movie? See the series introduction .)

In this series’ second installment , I introduced SEMIOVOX’s G-Schema, a purpose-built tool that I’ve developed (over the past 20+ years) in order to productively and insightfully map any product category’s, cultural territory’s, or cultural production’s network of meaningfulness. In constructing each new G-Schema, I proceed in a tried-and-true fashion — the idiosyncratic methodology of which this series aims to demonstrate.

By the end of this series’ fourth installment , we’d arrived at the mapping stage illustrated in Fig. 4 (above). As you can see , we’ve now completed our analysis of the paradigm Dr. Beeper, having surfaced and dimensionalized the source codes (“signs”) that bring its two thematic complexes to life. In this post, we’ll look at Dr. Beeper’s opposing paradigm: Danny Noonan.

As Fig. 4 indicates, the paradigm that I’ve named “Danny Noonan” governs the Caddyshack meaning-map’s UNWORK quadrant. I’ve titled this quadrant UNWORK because, as this series demonstrates, a resistance to the dominant discourse’s “work idea” can take many forms, from slacking to idling (not the same thing, as Mark Kingwell and I argue in our 2008 book The Idler’s Glossary ) to the two sorts of unwork of which Noonan is this movie’s avatar.

In my experience, the term located at a cultural-production G-Schema’s far-right vertex is almost always a Rebellious Hero, of one variety or another. Danny Noonan, the rebellious hero of Caddyshack , feels pressured to work or worm his way into the Establishment — represented by Bushwood in general, and Dr. Beeper in particular. As noted in the previous installment in this series, Dr. Beeper represents everything that Noonan does not want to become. If Noonan were to internalize the dominant discourse’s work idea, and diligently make his way through college and professional training, he could become a Beeper — which is to say, a ladder climber and weekend warrior. In this Hesse-like Bildungsroman , however, Noonan will in the end reject this shibboleth towards which we’ve watched him fitfully advancing.

NB: Those readers interested in storytelling will have already noted that, according to my G-Schema, the villain isn’t directly aligned with the oppressive culture, nor is the hero directly aligned with the counterculture. In any cultural production sufficiently complex to merit the sort of meaning-mapping that I do, it’s always more complicated than that.

Michael O’Keefe, who plays Noonan, was nominated in 1980 for an Academy Award for his portrayal of the character Ben Meechum, the sensitive son of the macho, combat-damaged Marine pilot Robert Duvall, in The Great Santini . Although the Newsweek review of Caddyshack would complain that the movie’s writers had “saddled themselves with a bland hero,” this was fortuitous. Let other Caddyshack characters — Ty Webb, Carl Spackler, Al Czervik — disrupt Bushwood’s repressive tranquility and decorousness. O’Keefe’s role here is — as it was in The Great Santini — to bear witness, sensitively, to the unpleasantness of becoming an adult male. Because he’s “fuzzy,” to use McLuhan’s terminology from Understanding Media (1964), which is to say undefined, still developing as a human being, the viewer engages sympathetically with Noonan. We root for him not to blow up the golf course, but to stick up for himself, to survive adolescence.

Adapting and building upon the terminology of C.S. Peirce’s existential graphs — a c. 1903 diagrammatic system to represent “the fundamental operations of reasoning” — we’d describe the Danny Noonan categorical proposition like so: “It must not be the case that Caddy Shack is Golf Club.” The two paradigms flanking Caddy Shack, on our diagram, are not entirely persuaded by that paradigm’s counter-discourse; unlike the slackers of the Caddy Shack, then, they are driven to combat the Golf Club’s ideological apparatchiks; in Danny Noonan’s case, the direct conflict is with Dr. Beeper.

We’ll turn now to an investigation of the paradigm Danny Noonan’s two thematic complexes . According to my analysis, as Fig. 5 (above) demonstrates, the thematic complexes Savvy Hustler and Romantic Dreamer are central to this semiosphere’s UNWORK quadrant.

Savvy Hustler

As mentioned when we analyzed the paradigm Caddy Shack, Danny Noonan is not a slacker. In fact, he’s a diligent — if disgruntled — laborer, who works long hours over the summer in order to pay for college. However, when he spots a less arduous opportunity to worm his way into the Establishment, via a college scholarship for caddies, another aspect of the UNWORK quadrant is revealed. Noonan becomes a savvy hustler.

According to Chris Nashawaty’s 2018 book on the making of Caddyshack , the movie’s director, Harold Ramis, originally leaned towards casting Mickey Rourke (who was 27, or three years older than O’Keefe at the time) in the Noonan role. Had they done so, Caddyshack would surely have become more of a streetwise con-artist movie: Think of Rourke’s small part in Body Heat 1981) as an arsonist, or the wised-up characters he’d play in Diner (1982), Rumble Fish (1983), and The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984). Fortunately for Caddyshack fans, Michael O’Keefe was cast instead. “He seemed like a real person,” Ramis has since said. “Maybe too real.”

We’re informed that Noonan is an independent, maverick type early on. As he leaves home by way of the fire escape (3:24), the Kenny Loggins theme song announces, “I’m alright / Nobody worry ’bout me.” Indeed, we’ll see him hustle, in small but telling ways. For example, Maggie sneaks him free food (26:08) from the snack shack; and earlier, his parents castigate him for squandering his caddying tips on Cokes. Although Maggie is an industrious laborer, Danny isn’t; when she encourages him to bus tables at the 4th of July gala, he says, “I don’t think I can handle that” (26:22). He does end up bussing tables, that night, but we understand that he does not see himself as someone who will get ahead in life by working his way up from the bottom.

When Lou Loomis announces that there’s a college scholarship to be won, Noonan seizes the opportunity. Despite being mocked as a brown-noser, he volunteers to be the Judge’s caddy — a gig to be avoided, we’re led to believe, since the Judge cheats, bullies his caddies, and is a lousy tipper. And brown-nose he does, taking one big swing after another. When Smails fumes — about Czervik’s antics — that “music is a violation of our personal privacy” (22:25), Noonan suggests that he’s often thought of becoming a lawyer who specializes in exactly this sort of thing. Smails’s unimpressed response, another of Ted Knight’s great line deliveries: “Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too” (23:10).

This is humiliating stuff, as Noonan is observed not only by fellow caddy Motormouth but by Lacey Underall — both of whom tease him — “I’ve often thought of becoming a golf club” (25:27) — for his clumsy efforts to ingratiate himself with Smails. PS: Motormouth, one now understands, after watching the movie many times, is Jiminy Cricket to Noonan’s Pinocchio.

However, after throwing his golf club in a fit of pique, thus injuring a Bushwood member, Smails gets into a pickle — and the quick-thinking Noonan doesn’t hesitate to capitalize on the situation. Taking blame for the incident upon himself (27:38), Noonan finally gets himself onto Smails’s radar. Sitting down together, Smails mentions the scholarship, Noonan mentions his poor grades, and Smails suggests that there are more important things than grades — such as winning the caddy tournament (28:20). Ted Knight’s exaggerated facial expressions provide subtitles for this exchange. They don’t shake hands, exactly, but there’s a handshake-like moment when Smails gives Noonan his (lousy, as expected) tip. Smails, unsure of himself when they first sat down together, has succeeded in gaining the upper hand once more; Noonan has become his protégé.

There’s no hustling going on, per se, during the caddy golf tournament — but through his victory, Noonan demonstrates, to Smails, who as we’ve seen judges his fellow men by their golf handicaps, that he has the right stuff. The outfit he wears during the tournament is also an aspect of his brown-nosing campaign. Whereas his rival D’Annunzio tees off in a silk shirt (while smoking a cigarette), Noonan is dorky in his tucked-in polo and chinos (40:26). He looks like a preppie; worse, he’s a wannabe preppie.

PS: As noted in this series’ Dr. Beeper installment, although Noonan manages to win the tournament, it’s not because he’s a weekend warrior — e.g., spending his down time improving his stroke, or tightening up his short game. In fact, we never see him practicing golf. It’s not as though he and Dr. Beeper, the villain to Noonan’s hero, secretly have something in common. Noonan is naturally athletic, and he knows how to keep his cool.

Invited to Smails’s yacht club, after he does some yard work for Smails, Noonan shows up in an even more embarrassing outfit: an ill-fitting blue blazer with gold buttons and a white yachtsman’s cap, which were no doubt scavenged from the club’s Lost and Found assortment of castoffs. Mocked by the Yacht Club’s teenage set, Noonan seeks the protective camouflage of older and younger members — among whom his outfit does not stand out. There’s also a funny moment (54:47), when Smails notices that Noonan and he are dressed exactly alike; Danny’s apery makes Smails look foolish.

At the yacht club, we’re briefly introduced to Chuck Schick (Scott Jackson), a law student who is clerking for Smails. Chuck is wealthier and better-educated than Danny, a well-bred preppie against whom he cannot compete. Trying to make small talk with the supercilious jerk (54:50), Noonan says, “Well, I’m going to law school, too.” “Really? You going to Harvard?” asks Chuck, literally looking down his nose at Danny. “No, St. Copius of northern, uh…” “Where?” asks Chuck. Danny finds himself out of his depth.

Luckily, Lacey swoops in to rescue him, dismissing her uncle’s law clerk, who moments earlier was assiduously massaging her feet, with a “Bye, Chuck!” (55:10) If this were another movie, Chuck would have played a larger role as Danny’s rival for Lacey’s affection and Smails’s esteem. Here, however, he vanishes immediately. His brief role was merely to provide a contrast to Danny, at the yacht club — he’s a privileged kid who doesn’t need to hustle.

Things will go sideways for Noonan, shortly after this moment of triumph — as we’ll discuss in the Romantic Dreamer section of this post. However, the following morning he’s given another opportunity to get into Smails’s good graces and secure his grasp on the elusive caddy scholarship. This involves a certain amount of toadying on Noonan’s part. In Smails’s office, he allows himself to be bullied and lectured to, before announcing “I want to be good,” and fake-laughing at Smails’s heavy-handed humorousness. It’s all very reminiscent of the moment when George Bailey nearly accepts a position working for Old Man Potter in It’s A Wonderful Life — including the creepy handshake moment (1:08:59), when Noonan looks at Smails’s hand with a certain fear and loathing before taking it: “Yes, sir. I’m your pal.”

This trajectory of Noonan’s, hustling his way towards a free ride to college — even though he doesn’t really want to attend college, or be a lawyer — culminates in Noonan’s caddying for Smails instead of his true mentor, Ty Webb, in the money match. Which involves helping Smails cheat. When Czervik drops out of the match, and Ty invites Noonan to take his place (1:26:32), it’s a momentous moment. When Noonan says, “I’ll play” (1:26:53), it’s reminiscent of George Bailey’s rejection of Potter’s creepy offer of friendship and sponsorship. (“You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think the whole world revolves around you and your money. Well, it doesn’t, Mr. Potter. In the whole vast configuration of things, I’d say you were nothing but a scurvy little spider!”) A moment of moral clarity.

One final note, before we move on. As Fig. 5 (above) indicates, the Savvy Hustler thematic complex is adjacent to our meaning-map’s Disgruntled Laborer complex. Just as we found a continuum within the WORK quadrant (from more to less leisurely, or less to more), as we study the UNWORK quadrant’s complexes we’ll also find a continuum of attitudes towards work and the work idea, and a continuum of practices shaped and guided by those attitudes. Whereas the disgruntled laborer is a Stakhanovite, who shrugs and works harder when ordered to do so, the savvy hustler looks for a way to beat the system. Other complexes within UNWORK, as we’ll see, involve different approaches to dealing with the work system.

Romantic Dreamer

Unlike the Savvy Hustler thematic complex, the Romantic Dreamer complex doesn’t valorize beating the system from within, playing the angles, keeping an eye out for the main chance, and so forth. It’s an idealistic, even quixotic complex. Less favorably, we might also regard this as an entitled complex; to daydream about a castle in the clouds (or tony suburb) is to harbor a not-so-sneaking suspicion that you are a naturally superior sort of individual.

Movies about savvy hustlers who beat an unfair system are fun — but Caddyshack isn’t only that sort of movie, and our rebellious hero isn’t only a rogue, flimflammer, or grifter. As the movie’s opening credits roll, Danny Noonan pedals his ten-speed — literally, from the “wrong” to the “right” side of the tracks (3:40) — to Bushwood. Admiring the stately homes as he pedals past them, we can see from the glazed expression on his face that he fantasizes about living in one of them, one day.

Kenny Loggins’s theme song, meanwhile, explains what’s going on Noonan’s head: “Who do you want [to become]? / Who you gonna be today? / And who is it really / Makin’ up your mind?” Noonan is “some Cinderella kid” (another line from the song), which is to say a romantic dreamer who wants to become something other than he is — not by hustling, nor through labor, but by listening to his “own heart beatin’.”

In the movie’s following scene, Noonan seeks counsel from Ty Webb — earnestly enquiring whether the feckless prepster has ever had trouble deciding what he wanted to do with his life. Noonan’s lost-ness, his status as an existential drifter, by the way, is communicated here via the haunting cinematography of Stevan Lerner, who’d been one of the directors of photography on Terrence Malick’s Badlands (1973); the golf course, here, looks like a lonesome prairie. In one of Chevy Chase’s many ad-libbed, drunken-master-ish non sequiturs, Webb responds with a question of his own: “You take drugs, Danny?” “Every day.” “Good. So what’s the problem?”

Webb is not so much a mentor, we’re immediately led to understand, as he is an anti-mentor; like John C. McGinley’s Dr. Cox to Zach Braff’s J.D. on Scrubs , say, Webb rejects the notion that anyone can get to where they belong in life by following someone else’s advice or example. In a cruel-to-be-kind effort to prevent the young seeker from perceiving him as a mentor figure, he even calls Danny “Betty.” (Cf. Dr. Cox’s many girl’s names for J.D.) Our romantic dreamer isn’t about to embark on a Hero’s Journey, guided by a fairy godmother or a wise sage. Caddyshack teases us with the prospect that this is going to be a Dick Whittington folk tale, in which the virtuous young man’s every dream comes true — but it will not.

When Noonan wins the caddy’s tournament, he doesn’t walk away from that triumph with the world-weary irony of a hustler too cool to celebrate. Instead, he heads to the dormitory where Bushwood’s exchange students live, and gratefully receives their applause. The snaggle-toothed grin plastered across his mug at 42:08 is a beaming smile that we rarely see from him. He’s come to take Maggie for a swim; she takes him to her bedroom instead. This is a false ending to the movie: Our hero has won the contest, but has remained true to his roots. He’s uncorrupted by his brown-nosing. However, the movie’s not over yet. Noonan’s greatest test lies ahead.

When Lacey Underall rescues Noonan from Chuck Schick’s micro-aggression, she has an ulterior motive. The bored socialite wants to dally with the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. She seduces Noonan all too easily — because he’s still caught up in his Cinderella fantasy about being swept away from his life of poverty and toil, into a life of luxury and ease. When Smail’s niece — the closest thing this movie has to a princess — suggestively licks his palm and takes him back to the Smails’ house, Noonan seems to think that his fantasies are being made manifest at last.

There’s a visual gauziness to the erotic montage, a dreaminess to the instrumental/wordless vocal music, in the Danny/Lacey bedroom scene (58:33 – 59:05) that hearkens back to the bicycling scene in which we saw Noonan gaze longingly at the mansions near Bushwood. Although this is really happening, Noonan can’t quite believe it; he’s living out a fantasy. He’s been whisked away from his normal life into Judge Smails’s own home; he’s making love to Smails’s niece in Smails’s bed; he dons Smails’s robe. As Fig. 5 indicates, what’s transpiring here is the opposite of the ideology expressed by Ladder Climber complex. Noonan didn’t put in the work, jump through the hoops, elbow his way to the top. He was transported there, as though by magic. Work, as he’d half-suspected all along, is for suckers.

This idyll soon turns into a nightmare, of course. Adam and Eve’s sportive play is interrupted by a vengeful God, who drives them from paradise. We’ll get back to this entertaining sequence when we discuss the paradigm Judge Smails. Instead, let’s skip ahead to the moment when — after a cringing Noonan shakes Smails’s hand and agrees to be his creature — Noonan is picked by Ty Webb to be his caddy for the money match. He can’t bring himself to admit to Webb that he’s now Smails’s accomplice; instead, he wordlessly directs Ty to the care of the grinning Motormouth (1:21:27). Noonan’s romantic dream, it turns out, doesn’t feel so good. He has embarked on the road to becoming a Beeper, but wishes he hadn’t.

As the money match progresses, Noonan looks the other way when Smails cheats (1:22:43). Conscience-stricken, however, he eventually confesses to Ty that Smails is cheating (1:25:43), but — as ever — his anti-anti-mentor won’t let him off the hook so easily. “Nobody likes a tattle-tale, Danny. Except, of course, me.” As always, Webb’s wisdom is self-contradictory.

In fact, Webb — who is psychologically fragile, who doesn’t have his own shit figured out — begins to lose it, as the money match progresses. Once Noonan joins Webb’s team, the zen prepster who doesn’t play against other golfers becomes obsessed with winning. “See your future. Be your future,” he says, one of the movie’s oft-quoted lines. “Make, make, make it.” He’s reduced to stammering self-actualization platitudes. We’ll analyze this moment again, later in the series. The point is: Noonan is truly on his own, from here on out. He must, in this moment, listen to his own heart beatin’.

One final note about the Romantic Dreamer thematic complex. As Fig. 5 indicates, Romantic Dreamer is adjacent to one of the top-right vertex’s two paradigms; that is, it offers a clue about this paradigm. As we can see, the UNWORK paradigm’s complexes progress from Disgruntled Laborer to Savvy Hustler to Romantic Dreamer, i.e., from pragmatic-accepting through pragmatic-cynical to idealistic. What’s beyond idealistic, when it comes to unwork? When our analysis brings us to the complex adjacent to Romantic Dreamer, we’ll find out.

There you have it: the other half of Dr. Beeper vs. Danny Noonan, our Caddyshack meaning map’s second code. I’ve identified the paradigm Danny Noonan’s contrasting yet complementary thematic complexes, and brought these to life via a selection of source codes (“signs”) drawn from the movie. I’ve established not only what Noonan means — that is, what sense we Caddyshack viewers are encouraged to make of the character — but how Noonan means what he means. To that end, I’ve surfaced many of the visual and verbal cues, from speech acts to facial expressions, clothing, mannerisms, etc., via which we are encouraged to construe what Danny Noonan signifies not only within the movie, but also as an emblem of, you know, American Culture and Western Civilization c. 1980.

This series’ next installment will look at one-half (that is, one of two paradigms) of the third Caddyshack code: Judge Smails vs. Carl Spackler.

Click here for the Judge Smails post.

Tags: Caddyshack , Movies

Caddyshack: Where Was the Movie Filmed?

Described as one of the funniest sports movies ever made, ‘ Caddyshack ‘ has gained a cult following over the years. The story follows Danny, who works as a golf caddie at an upscale club to make enough money to get to college. Danny decides that he should cozy up to Judge Smails, who directs the Caddy scholarship program. Throughout the movie, Danny deals with various challenges and eccentric characters. Among them are Al Czervik, a rambunctious newly rich member who starts showing up at the club, and Carl Spackler, the nearly unhinged groundskeeper who engages in a war with the gophers destroying his golf course.

Almost all the action plays out at the Bushwood Country Club. Naturally, this might make you wonder where the club is located, and where ‘Caddyshack’ has been filmed. We have got you covered with all the details.

Caddyshack Filming Location

‘Caddyshack’ has been filmed mostly in Davie, South Florida , but some parts have also been filmed in Los Angeles . Notably, filming took place for 11 weeks in the Autumn of 1979. You can check out a tweet below stating that the cast and crew decided to film in Florida rather than entirely in Los Angeles to avoid studio interference.

DYK, one reason #Caddyshack producers chose FL as filming location over Los Angeles was to keep it from studio executive interference. — Film Florida (@FilmFlorida) June 4, 2015

Since the golf scenes make up a significant part of the film, let us get that out of the way first. Most golfing scenes were filmed at the Rolling Hills Golf Club , now known as the Grande Oaks Golf Club . It is located at 3501 W. Rolling Hills Circle, Davie . The movie is set in the Midwest, so the director hit upon a golf course that did not have any palm trees. You can check out an image of the golf course here.

11:00am, day 5, Caddyshack filming location pic.twitter.com/1XnBDaz3 — John Watson (@LawTalkingGuyNY) February 20, 2012

Some of the waterside scenes and the dinner dance scenes were filmed at Boca Raton, a wealthy coastal resort. Filming took place at Boca Raton Resort & Club at 501 East Camino Real . You can check out a post about it.

A comedy classic born in 1980! The dinner-dance in Caddyshack filmed at the Boca Raton Hotel & Club @CityBocaRaton . #ThrowbackThursday #TBT pic.twitter.com/UC0JamEjzi — Palm Beach Film & TV (@PBCFilmandTV) September 29, 2016

‘Caddyshack’ might be a movie about golf, but it has a pretty famous swimming pool scene. It has been filmed at the Coral Ridge Country Club in Fort Lauderdale . You can check out the relevant tweet below.

Did you know, while much of Caddyshack was filed at the Rolling Hills Golf and Tennis Club in Davie, Florida (now called Grande Oaks Golf Club), the famous swimming pool scene was filmed at Coral Ridge Country Club in Fort Lauderdale. pic.twitter.com/B1xTRLz60s — Film Florida (@FilmFlorida) July 12, 2019

Some of the other pool scenes have been shot at Plantation Country Club . However, it appears that the pool no longer exists, after renovations. Apart from that, ‘Caddyshack’ has also been shot at the Key Biscayne Yacht Club, and the yacht club scenes were captured at the Rusty Pelican Restaurant in Key Biscayne. You can check out a tweet about it here.

@bradaschenck if you're up turn on AMC, Caddyshack scene shot behind Rusty Pelican is on — @heartcenteredmaria (@vicequeenmaria) June 22, 2009

Los Angeles

At the beginning of ‘Caddyshack,’ when we see Danny ride his bike, the scene is filmed at Bel Air on Sunset Blvd . He also rides the bike on the street with train tracks. It appears to be at the intersection of Mission Street and Meridian Avenue, South Pasadena . It is also very close to the house where ‘Halloween’ was filmed. You can check out a relevant tweet below.

Danny’s house, where he climbs down the ladder, gets his bike from the porch and rides off, still exists. It is at 232 N Avenue 54 Los Angeles . You can check out a YouTube clip detailing the scenes filmed at this house while giving you some more information about the movie.

Reports suggest that scenes were shot at Wilson & Harding Golf Courses, at Griffith Park , and Woodland Hills Country Club as well. Therefore, it is evident that ‘Caddyshack’ has made good use of the locations in Florida and Los Angeles, to play out a story that has become an iconic part of Hollywood history.

The Castle Pines Connection

The story behind caddyshack.

“Noonan, Noonan … miss it, mmmiss it.” This famous crowd whisper and roar surrounded the 18th hole putt that made caddie Danny Noonan the big winner in the 1980 film and timeless cult classic, Caddyshack.

In anticipation of the BMW Championship this month, let’s reminisce about this golf movie. The “I’m Alright” theme song from Kenny Loggins and a dancing gopher are the backdrops for the hilarious comedy set at the fictitious Bushwood Country Club.

Caddyshack features Bill Murray as Carl Spackler, a half-witted, gopher-hunting groundskeeper; the late Ted Knight as Judge Smails, an uptight country club member and caddie scholarship program director; Chevy Chase as Ty Webb, a legitimate golfer and businessman; Rodney Dangerfield as Al Czervik, an obnoxious guest and land developer; and Michael O’Keefe as Danny Noonan, a young caddie determined to win a caddie scholarship so he can attend college.

Inspiration for the movie came in many forms, one of which was Bill Murray’s late brother, Ed, who was a 1963 Evans Scholarship recipient (see related article page 15). It was Ed who introduced the game of golf to his family in suburban Chicago by way of caddying starting at age 10. Ed went on to attend Northwestern University.

Versions of the film were pitched several times, but it was the angle of Animal House on a golf course that finally received the green light.

In later years, the Murray brothers went on to open themed restaurants, Murray Bros. Caddyshack in St. Augustine, Florida (2001) and Rosemont, Illinois (2018). They also host an annual golf tournament, The Murray Bros. Caddyshack Charity Golf Tournament in Florida.

Mr. Gopher, the nemesis of the groundskeeper in the 1980 classic, Caddyshack.

By Elean Gersack; photo courtesy of Orion Pictures

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Caddyshack (1980)

Updated: Oct 16, 2022

Plot Summary: Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe), a Caddy, seeks a college scholarship at the Country Club in which he works. In working to get the scholarship, he deals with a Zen golfer, Ty Webb (Chevy Chase), and the Club Leader, Judge Smails (Ted Knight). Noonan is soon caught up in a grudge golf match involving the Judge, Ty, and Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield), an obnoxious Neuro-Riche golfer.

*Recognition: The film has a cult following and was described by ESPN as "perhaps the funniest sports movie ever made." This film is also second on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies." The film is recognized by American Film Institute in 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #71 ; in 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: Carl Spackler: "Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac... It's in the hole! It's in the hole! It's in the hole!" – #92 ; and in 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10 - #7 Sports Film.

Did You Know:

Carl Spackler was originally a silent character in the script, in the manner of Harpo Marx, but after Bill Murray was cast, Harold Ramis encouraged Murray to speak and improvise.

Bill Murray improvised the "Cinderella story" sequence from two lines of stage direction. Director Harold Ramis simply asked Murray to imagine himself announcing his own fantasy sports moment. Murray simply asked for four rows of 'mums and did the scene.

The rowdy, improvisational atmosphere during the shoot created by Harold Ramis, Bill Murray , Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield , didn't sit well with all the members of the cast. Ted Knight, widely regarded as a very nice man, got fed up with the constant shenanigans. Initially, Murray's, Chase's and Dangerfield's roles were to be cameo appearances, but their deft improvising caused their roles to be expanded, much to the chagrin of Scott Colomby and some of the other cast members, whose roles were reduced as a result.

According to Chris Nashawaty's book "Caddyshack," Rodney Dangerfield was so unaccustomed to how films were made, Harold Ramis had to gently guide him to make sure he was comfortable. The first scene Dangerfield was in, the pro shop scene, was ready to go and Ramis called "Action." Nothing happened. Dangerfield just stood there. Ramis asked him if there was a problem. Was he ready? "Sure," Dangerfield said. Ramis called "Action" again. Again, nothing. Ramis walked over to him and said "Rodney, when I call 'Action,' that's your cue to come in and do the scene." "You mean, do my bit?" "Yes, do your bit." Ramis called "Action" for a third time. Silence. He then said "OK, Rodney, now do your bit." Dangerfield pounced into the room and delivered a perfect take, even improvising the line about getting a free bowl of soup. From then on, whenever Dangerfield was in a scene, Ramis never said "Action." He just said, "OK, Rodney, do your bit."

Bill Murray improvised the scene with Peter Berkrot in which Carl holds a pitchfork to Angie's throat. According to Bekrot, he was genuinely nervous during that scene, because the pitchfork was real.

The scene involving a Baby Ruth candy bar being thrown into the swimming pool was based on a real-life incident at Brian Doyle-Murray's high school.

Harold Ramis wanted to use Pink Floyd to write music for the film, but couldn't get them. After an audition, Kenny Loggins came up with the famous theme song for the film, "I'm All Right" and played it for the producers and got the job. Johnny Mandel, who wrote the film's musical score, was also hired immediately afterward.

Final film of Ted Knight.

What is this movie is about?/Elevator Pitch: Challenging the Traditional Snobs at the Symbol of their Snobbery - Country Clubs

Best Performance: Harold Ramis (Director)/Rodney Dangerfield (Al Czervik)

Best Secondary Performance: Bill Murray (Carl Spackler)/Ted Knight (Judge Smails)

Most Charismatic Award: Bill Murray (Carl Spackler)/The Gopher

Best Scene:

Former Greenskeeper, Masters Champion

Clubhouse Store

Best Round of My Life

Clubhouse Dinner

Be the Ball

Manganese - A Lot of People Don't Even Know What that Is...Cannonball It

Favorite Scene: Manganese-Cannonball/Dalai Lama or Former Greenskeeper, Masters Champion

Most Indelible Moment: It's in the Hole!/18th Green

In Memorium: G. Gordon Liddy

Best Lines:

Spaulding Smails: I want a hamburger. No, a cheeseburger. I want a hotdog. I want a milkshake.

Judge Smails: {Judge hits Spaulding in the back of his head} You'll get nothing and like it!

Ty Webb: You take drugs, Danny?

Danny Noonan: Every day.

Ty Webb: Good. Then what's your problem?

Danny Noonan: I don't know.

Judge Smails: I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.

Carl Spackler: This place gotta pool?

Ty Webb: Pool and a pond... Pond be good for you.

Dr. Beeper: I thought you'd be the man to beat this year.

Ty Webb: I guess you'll just have to keep beating yourself.

Al Czervik: Hey Moose! Rocko! Help my buddy here find his wallet! (Turns to crowd) Hey everybody! We're all gonna get laid!

Danny Noonan: I've always wanted to go to college.

Judge Smails: Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too.

Funniest Line:

Al Czervik: He called me a baboon, he thinks I'm his wife.

Al Czervik: Oh, this is the worst-looking hat I ever saw. What, when you buy a hat like this I bet you get a free bowl of soup, huh?

Looks at Judge Smails, who’s wearing the same hat.

Al Czervik: Oh, it looks good on you though.

Sandy: Carl I want you to kill all the gophers on the golf course

Carl Spackler: Correct me if I'm wrong Sandy, but if I kill all the golfers they'll lock me up and throw away the key.

Sandy: Not golfers, you great fool. Gophers. The *little* *brown*, *furry* *rodents*.

Carl Spackler: We can do that. We don't even need a reason.

Carl Spackler: In the immortal words of Jean Paul Sartre, ‘Au Revoir, Gopher’!

Danny Noonan: I haven't even told my father I'm not gonna get that scholarship. I'm gonna end up working in a lumberyard the rest of my life.

Ty Webb: What's wrong with lumber? I own two lumberyards.

Danny Noonan: I notice you don't spend too much time there.

Ty Webb: I'm not quite sure where they are.

Carl Spackler: So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga... gunga, gunga-galunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

Carl Spackler:

Oh Mrs. Crane, you're a little monkey woman. Yeah, you're lean, mean, and I bet you're not too far in between are ya. How'd you like to wrap your spikes around my...

Carl Spackler: What an incredible Cinderella story! This unknown, comes out of nowhere, to lead the pack...at Augusta. He's at his final hole. He's about 455 yards away, he's gonna hit about a 2 Iron I think. [Swings, pulverizes a flower] Oh, he got all of that. The crowd is standing on its feet here at Augusta. The normally reserved crowd is going wild... [pauses] for this young Cinderella who's come out of nowhere. He's got about 350 yards left, he's going to hit about a 5 iron it looks like, don't you think? He's got a beautiful backswing... [Swings, pulverizes another flower] That's- Oh, he got all of that one! He's gotta be pleased with that! The crowd is just on its feet here. He's a Cinderella boy. Tears in his eyes, I guess, as he lines up this last shot. He's got about 195 yards left, and he's got a, looks like he's got about an 8 iron. This crowd has gone deadly silent... Cinderella story, out of nowhere, former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters Champion. [Swings, pulverizes yet another flower] It looks like a mirac- It's in the hole! It's in the hole!

The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 9.5

Impact/Significance: 6

Classic-ness: 5

Rewatchability: 8

Audience Score: 8.75 (88% Google, 87% RT)

Total: 46.25

Remaining Questions:

How did these guys function with that much drugs and alcohol all over the set?

Why is Maggie Irish?

Who is Ty Webb, what does he do, and is he Mitch Cumstein?

Why would Judge Smails take the final bet?

Greatest Movie of All-Time Podcast

21 Funny "Caddyshack" Quotes to Slip Into Everyday Conversations

"See you on deck, Senator!"

Via Getty Images/Movie Poster Image Art

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Although the classic screwball comedy "Caddyshack" came out in 1980, decades later it remains one of the most beloved sports movies in Hollywood history. The premise of the film is simple: the peace and quiet of elite golf club Bushwood Country Club is disturbed when a loud, obnoxious new member (played to perfection by the late Rodney Dangerfield) joins the club. Meanwhile, a young caddy named Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe) attempts to raise money for college by winning the club's annual Caddy Day golf tournament, getting advice from wealthy n'er-do-well Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) along the way.

While the movie was written by Harold Ramis, much of the dialogue was ad-libbed by the actors on the fly. Allowing hilarious actors like Dangerfield, Chase, Knight, and Bill Murray the freedom to make up dialogue as they went along resulted in one very funny movie.

Here's a cheat sheet of the top "Caddyshack" quotes for you to slip into everyday conversations.

"So I Got That Going for Me, Which Is Nice."

Via YouTube

In this scene, groundskeeper Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) discusses his first encounter with the Dalai Lama.

100% of this speech was improvised by Murray, and it's one of the most subtle "Caddyshack" quotes you can use to let others know you're a fan.

"Be the Ball"

Ty Webb (Chase) gives caddy Danny Noonan (O'Keefe) some existential advice.

Another notable quote from this scene: "Don't be obsessed with your desires, Danny. The Zen philosopher, Basho, once wrote, 'A flute with no holes, is not a flute. A donut with no hole, is a Danish.'"

"How Do You Measure Yourself Against Other Golfers?"

Here the (clearly taller) Ty answers this question about scorekeeping with a succinct and hilarious slam: "By height."

"You Buy a Hat Like This I'll Bet You Get a Free Bowl of Soup, Huh?"

Via YouTube

"Oh, it looks good on you , though," said Al Czervik (Dangerfield) to an angry, hat-wearing Judge Smails (Knight).

Who among us hasn't put our foot in our mouth by saying something mean about a person standing right there ?

"You Know I've Often Thought of Becoming a Golf Club."

After Danny waxes poetic about becoming a lawyer, hinting to Judge Smails that he needs help accomplishing that goal, a fellow caddy imitates him with this quick, funny line.

"You'll Get Nothing and Like it!"

The judge's nephew, Spaulding Smails (John F. Barmon Jr.), is a spoiled private school jerk. As he approaches the snack bar, he's running a list of things he wants to buy for lunch: "I want a hamburger. No, a cheeseburger. I want a hotdog. I want a milkshake...."

Judge Smail's curt reply is an instant classic!

"Somebody Step on a Duck?"

Ah, the famous dinner scene! In this short scene, Rodney flings zingers around the room like the true comedian he was. Fun fact: Rodney was the only cast member who refused to improvise. He needed to have all of his jokes scripted in advance in order to feel comfortable performing.

"You Wanna Make 14 Dollars the Hard Way?"

Dangerfield can't resist hitting on Judge Smails' shocked wife, and we can't stop laughing!

"Now I Know Why Tigers Eat Their Young."

One last one from the dinner scene. This is a quick joke tossed out by Dangerfield when he sees Spaulding stuffing his face at dinner.

"Ahoy, Polloi"

Hoi polloi is a term for the masses, or common people. When Danny shows up at the rich folks' garden party dressed in his finest country club couture, Spaulding can't resist getting in this dig.

"Hey, You Scratched my Anchor!"

After the madcap yachting scene, Al Czerzik drops an anchor straight through Judge Smails' new yacht.

"It's a Cinderella Story"

"Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac...It's in the hole! It's in the hole! It's in the hole!"

Groundskeeper Carl seems to be doing more harm than good as he cuts the heads off flowers and daydreams about becoming a famous golfer.

"How 'Bout a Fresca?"

Judge Smails is trying to butter Danny up in this scene. This is a great line to use whenever you're in the position to offer someone a beverage. Guaranteed laughs from those "in the know!"

“Don’t Sell Yourself Short, Judge."

"You’re a tremendous slouch."

Ty always manages to put Judge Smails down in the most subtle but devastating ways.

"My Enemy Is an Animal"

"...and in order to conquer him, I need to think like an animal, and if possible, to look like one."

Another improvised Bill Murray moment, this one complete with hysterical facial expressions.

“The World Needs Ditch Diggers, Too.”

Ouch! This is one of the most underhanded remarks every uttered on film!

As Danny appeals to Judge Smails for a caddy scholarship to college, Smails tells him not everyone (read: not poor people) are meant to go to college.

"We Have a Pool or a Pond."

"Pond would be good for you."

When Carl meets Ty and tries to fanagle an invite over to his house to swim, Ty suggests a dirty pond might suit the grubby groundskeeper better than his pool.

This entire scene was improvised by Murray and Chase. One other memorable line: "Buddies for life, I'd say."

"Oh, Rat Farts!"

The Bishop on a bender attempts to golf in the middle of a thunderstorm. He's having the best game of his life until he misses a put, at which point he screams "Oh, rat farts!" just before being struck down by lightning.

"Me Winning Isn't. You Do."

Ty's so flustered during this scene with Danny that he loses all grasp of grammar,

"Well? We're Waiting!"

Right before Danny makes the winning put, the judge utters this exasperated line. An instant classic, and perfect for everyday use!

"Hey Everybody..."

"...We're all gonna get laid!"

Last but certainly not least, this is the last line of the movie, yelled exuberantly by Rodney Dangerfield.

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User reviews

An exclusive golf course has to deal with a flatulent new member and a destructive dancing gopher.
Something fishy is going on at the elitist Bushwood Country Club, and the scheming president of the clubhouse, Judge Elihu Smails, has something to do with it. But suave golf guru Ty Webb and distasteful, filthy rich construction magnate Al Czervik are on to him. Meanwhile, young caddie Danny Noonan struggles to get his life back on track, and the only way to do it is by winning the demanding Caddie Day golf tournament, a prestigious competition that can earn him a scholarship from the judge himself. Now, war breaks out and all bets are off. Will Danny ever make his dream come true? Does he know that a subterranean menace is threatening to put in jeopardy everyone's plans? — Nick Riganas
Comical goings-on at an exclusive golf club. All the members are wealthy and eccentric, and all the staff are poor and slightly-less eccentric. The main character is 'Danny'; he's a caddie who will do almost anything to raise money to go to college. There are many subplots, including the assistant groundskeeper's pursuit of a cute (obviously stuffed) gopher. — Rob Hartill
Danny Noonan is a young caddie at Bushwood Country Club who has no idea about where his future will lead. His best chance at getting his life on track is to earn a caddie scholarship from Judge Elihu Smails, the owner of the Country Club. Al Czervik is a rude, overly-eccentric millionaire who has interests in purchasing Bushwood. Judge Smails shows a quick dislike towards Al and soon there is a conflict between the Judge and Al, the Judge and Danny, and even between the Judge and Ty Webb, the charming golfer who is slowly helping Danny figure out his real goals. On the outside of this is Carl Spackler, the club's groundskeeper, who is determined to eliminate a rampaging gopher who is chewing up holes throughout the golf course. — jezzy t
Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe) is an underacheving 17-year-old guy who works as a caddy at the upscale Bushwood Country Club in Beverly Hills to earn enough money to go to college. Danny often caddies for Ty Webb (Chevy Chase), a suave and talented golfer and the son of one of Bushwood's co-founders. Danny decides to gain favor with Judge Elihu Smails (Ted Knight), the country club's stodgy co-founder and director of the caddy scholarship program, by caddying for him. Meanwhile, Carl Spackler (Bill Murray), one of the dim-witted greenskeepers, is entrusted with combating a potentially disastrous gopher infestation. Throughout the film, he tries a variety of methods to kill the gopher (e.g. shooting, drowning) without success. Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield), a brash and obnoxious nouveau riche real estate developer, begins appearing at the club. Smails is heckled by Czervik as he tees off, causing his shot to go badly wrong. Smails throws a putter away in frustration and accidentally injures a member of the club. Danny takes responsibility for the incident, as a ploy to gain Smails' trust. Smails encourages him to apply for the caddy scholarship. At Bushwood's annual Fourth of July banquet, Danny and his girlfriend Maggie (Sarah Holcomb) work as servers. Czervik continues to irritate Smails and the club members, while Danny becomes attracted to Lacey Underall (Cindy Morgan), Smails' promiscuous niece. Danny wins the Caddy Day golf tournament and the scholarship, earning him praise from Smails and an invitation to attend the christening ceremony for his boat. The boat is sunk at the event after a collision with Czervik's larger boat. On returning, Smails discovers Lacey and Danny having a tryst at his house. Expecting to be fired or to have the scholarship revoked, Danny is surprised when Smails only demands that he keeps the incident secret. Unable to bear the continued presence of the crude-mannered Czervik, Smails confronts him and announces that Czervik will never be granted membership. Czervik counters by announcing that he would never consider being a member: he insults the place and is merely there to evaluate buying Bushwood and developing the land into condominiums. After a brief scuffle and exchange of insults, Ty Webb suggests they discuss a resolution over drinks. After Smails demands satisfaction, Czervik proposes a team golf match with Smails and his regular golfing partner Dr. Beeper (Dan Resin) against Czervik and Webb. Against club rules, they also agree to a $20,000 wager, quickly doubled to $40,000, on the outcome of the match. That evening, Webb practices for the game against Smails and meets Carl, where the two share a bottle of wine and a joint. The golf match is held the following day. Word spreads of the stakes involved and a crowd builds. During the game, Smails and Beeper take the lead, while Czervik, to his dismay, is "playing the worst game of his life". He reacts to Smails' taunts by impulsively redoubling the wager to $80,000 per team. When his own ricocheting ball strikes him, Czervik feigns injury in hopes of having the contest declared a draw. Lou, the course official who is acting as an umpire, tells Czervik his team will forfeit unless they find a substitute. When Webb chooses Danny, Smails threatens to revoke his scholarship, but Czervik promises Danny that he will make it "worth his while" if he wins. Danny eventually decides he would rather humiliate the selfish, conceited Smails than take the scholarship. By the time they reach the final hole, the score is tied. At the climax of the game, with Danny about to attempt a difficult putt to win, Czervik again redoubles the wager to $160,000 per team. Danny's putt leaves the ball hanging over the edge of the hole. At that moment, Carl, in his latest attempt to kill the gopher, detonates a series of plastic explosives that he has rigged around the golf course. The explosion shakes the ground and causes the ball to drop into the hole, handing Danny, Webb, and Czervik the victory. Smails refuses to pay, so Czervik beckons two hulking men, named Moose and Roco, to "help the judge find his checkbook." As Smails is chased around the course, Czervik leads another wild party attended by all of the onlookers at the match, shouting, "Hey everybody! We're all gonna get laid!" In the final scene, the gopher emerges, unharmed, and dances amid the smoldering ruins of the golf course.

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Where is Caddyshack Filmed? Uncovering the Iconic Golf Comedy’s Locations

by Alexander March 14, 2024, 6:27 pm 1.7k Views

“Caddyshack,” the quintessential sports comedy of the 1980s, left an indelible mark on the hearts of movie-goers with its quirky characters and quotable one-liners. Beyond the memorable dialogue and slapstick humor, the film’s setting plays a notable role in giving “Caddyshack” its unique flavor.

Prized for its sunny landscapes and manicured greens, the backdrop for the eccentric escapades of the Bushwood Country Club members holds a certain allure.

Filming of “Caddyshack” mainly took place at what was once known as the Rolling Hills Golf Club in Davie, Florida. This locale offered lush, expansive views that added a layer of authenticity to the golf-centric storyline.

It’s in these well-curated grounds that viewers witness the storyline’s wacky shenanigans unfold, contributing to the movie’s standing as a comedy classic with a dedicated cult following.

Do you want to know more about where is Caddyshack filmed? Let’s check out the main filming location and the supporting locations.

Key Takeaways

“Caddyshack” is a classic comedy with a beloved golf setting
Filming primarily occurred at the Rolling Hills Golf Club in Davie, Florida
The film has a strong cult following due to its iconic scenes and characters

Origins and Development

Exploring the origins of Caddyshack , it’s clear that the film’s development is steeped in the personal experiences of its creators. They turned relatable experiences and a love for sports movies into a comedic classic.

Concept Creation

The kernel of Caddyshack began with a simple real-life connection. Douglas Kenney , one of the film’s writers, drew inspiration from his younger days working as a caddy at a country club in Ohio.

Joining him in the concept creation was Harold Ramis and Brian Doyle-Murray , who infused their own touches to the screenplay, merging the comedy with the niche of sports movies.

Screenwriting Team

Kenney, along with Ramis and Doyle-Murray , formed the screenplay’s backbone. Ramis, who directed the movie and was a seasoned comedian from Second City and SCTV , brought a unique flavor to sports movies, making Caddyshack stand out.

As with many passion projects, they each poured their own experiences and love for golf into the script, ensuring the authenticity and humor were in every swing and putt.

Key Filming Locations

The legendary comedy Caddyshack , beloved by fans for its humor and memorable scenes, made a lasting mark with its choice of filming locations in Florida. The film, which follows the escapades at a golf club, found its primary settings in the sun-soaked landscapes of Florida, offering an authentic backdrop for the golf-course hijinks. Let’s see where is Caddyshack filmed.

Main Golf Course

Grande Oaks Golf Club Originally named Rolling Hills Golf Club during the time of filming, this location served as the fictional ‘Bushwood Country Club.’

Situated at 3201 West Rolling Hills Circle, Davie, near Fort Lauderdale, the Grande Oaks Golf Club offered lush greenery and expansive landscapes essential to the movie’s backdrop.

Its notable fairways and greens are where much of the on-course action unfolded, cementing its place in film history.

Supporting Venues

Boca Raton & Surrounding Areas Additional scenes were set against the luxurious backdrop of Boca Raton , Florida, known for its stunning beaches and lavish lifestyle that definitely added a touch of class to the film’s setting.

Several other locales around Boca Raton also featured in the film, including the renowned Boca Raton Hotel and Club , bringing diversity to the film’s locations.

Miami’s Rusty Pelican Restaurant & Yacht Club They provided maritime scenes that juxtaposed the landlocked golf course setting.

The energy of the Miami region complemented the film’s dynamic, while Davie’s United Methodist Church , Coral Ridge Country Club , and Plantation Preserve Golf Course also served as integral settings that helped to stitch together the storyline’s setting seamlessly.

Iconic Scenes and Moments

Caddyshack, renowned for its blend of slapstick comedy and memorable character encounters, boasts scenes that have etched their place in film history. Its filming locations provided the perfect backdrop for moments filled not only with humor but also with unique character dynamics.

One of the most memorable and chuckle-inducing segments is the pool scene, in which the highbrow atmosphere of the Bushwood Country Club is disrupted by a floating candy bar mischievously thought to be something far less sanitary.

Panic and chaos ensue in a sequence that showcases the film’s comedic heart, with the country club’s pristine pool becoming the unlikely stage for a good-natured prank.

Characters involved:

Judge Smails (Ted Knight)
Danny Noonan (Michael O’Keefe)

Yacht Club Scenes

Rodney Dangerfield’s Al Czervik brings his larger-than-life personality to the yacht club scenes, creating a stark contrast with the more conservative club members.

His brash manner and flashy boat, aptly named ‘Seafood’, disrupt the traditional sailing regatta, much to the chagrin of Judge Smails.

Tensions rise, culminating in comedic clashes that test the patience of the staid club members and endear Czervik to the audience.

Key interactions:

Al Czervik vs. Judge Smails

Gopher Chase

But perhaps the film’s most enduring legacy is the ongoing battle of wits between the hapless greenskeeper, Carl Spackler (Bill Murray), and a pesky gopher.

Ingeniously improvised by Murray, Carl’s absurd and futile attempts to catch the crafty rodent using extreme measures ripple throughout the movie, providing a comedic subplot that balances out the human drama.

The clever gopher, animated to mischievous perfection, becomes a symbolic antagonist and a cult figure in its own right.

Main showdown:

Carl Spackler vs. The Gopher

Cast and Characters

Let’s talk about the talented folks who brought “Caddyshack” to life. This film didn’t just score a hole-in-one with its humor; the cast of characters really drove it down the fairway. You’ll get to know who the lead characters were and which actors stepped in to support the comedy that’s still got us chuckling today.

Chevy Chase played the smooth-talking golfer Ty Webb. He’s the kind of guy who can make the audience smirk and think, “I wish I had that charm”
Rodney Dangerfield brought his A-game as Al Czervik, the loudmouth tycoon. His one-liners? They’re like a perfect putt: spot on
Ted Knight was the uptight Judge Elihu Smails. It’s amazing how he made being grumpy look so funny
Michael O’Keefe took on the role of Danny Noonan, the eager caddie chasing that elusive scholarship and finding himself amidst all the chaos

Supporting Cast

As for those who filled out the ensemble with their own strokes of comedy genius, we’ve got:
Bill Murray as Carl Spackler, the greenkeeper with a vendetta against a certain dancing gopher. He turned what could’ve been a background role into comedic gold, improvising his way into film history

Cultural Impact

“Caddyshack” is more than just a film; it’s a phenomenon that reshaped golf’s image and left an indelible mark on cinematic comedy.

Cult Status

“Caddyshack” has ascended to cult classic status, resonating with audiences well beyond its 1980 release.

Fans often don costumes of their favorite characters and recite lines verbatim, reflecting the movie’s deep penetration into pop culture. Its quirky blend of humor has fostered a dedicated fan base, making it a staple of the comedy genre.

Influence on Golf and Cinematography

The film’s setting in South Florida , at what was then Rolling Hills Country Club (now Grande Oaks), played backdrop to a comedy that altered golf ‘s traditionally serious reputation.

It infused the sport with a spirit of fun, challenging the norm of golf as an exclusive game for the elite.

On a broader cinematic level, “Caddyshack” championed a blend of satire and slapstick, influencing the comedic direction of future films.

Written by Alexander

Caddyshack Minute 54: Welcome to the Rusty Pelican

Hug your loved ones close because we’re finally at the yacht club, where Danny Noonan appears as Dick Cavett to a table of stoners, Dr. Beeper electrocutes himself, and Mrs. Smails announces that it’s time to christen the sloop. Bonus: Mike uses science on a Baby Ruth.

Career Lessons You Missed From Caddyshack

Ty Webb : Remember Danny – Two wrongs don’t make a right, but three rights make a left.

Anyone who knows me knows that Caddyshack is by far my most favorite movie of all time (yes, even above Star Wars). I have a signed movie poster in my basement, Rodney Dangerfield’s autographed red tie, and Judge Smails’ hat.

But along the way of watching the movie, let’s say, 600+ times, I noticed there were underlying career lessons that you might have missed if you were laughing non-stop at Al Czervik’s one-liners. So without further ado, the career lessons I learned from Caddyshack…

HAVE A GOAL

It’s not like Danny Noonan’s family was poor, but when your father yells at you for having lunch and 4 or 5 cokes (“What are you, a diabetic?”) instead of putting that money in the “College Fund” jar, then yeah, you need to do something .

So Danny made a goal, and that goal was to go to college. He was going to get there by any means necessary. Whether it be to work for the tuition at the golf course, win the Caddy Tournament for a scholarship, beg Ty Webb for it, or engage in a little illegal gambling, gosh darn it, it was going to happen.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO SUCK UP A LITTLE BIT

“Brown noser!” his friends yell, but he doesn’t care. He wants to engage in conversations with the power brokers of the club. He knows they’re living the lives he wants to live, and getting in with them is a good idea.

And so even though he strikes out by saying he is interested in noise statute law when Al Czervik is blasting Journey on the course, or when he insists on joining the Lutheran Youth organization to the Bishop, Danny is insistent on making his goal a reality…regardless of what his friends say.

So don’t be afraid to rub elbows with the power brokers, even if you do strike out initially.

ALWAYS BE NETWORKING

Danny just doesn’t stop at Judge Smails and the Bishop, he tells his story to everyone he can, albeit sometimes the wrong way. He tells Ty Webb who replies with, “Why do you need to go to college? This isn’t Russia, is this Russia?”

Ty sees that Danny is persistent and then gives him some advice: “Don’t be obsessed with your desires Danny. The Zen philosopher, Basho, once wrote, ‘A flute with no holes, is not a flute. A donut with no hole, is a Danish.’ He was a funny guy. “

Basically, what happened is that Ty saw right through Danny, and knew that he was desperate. Networking is about creating relationships. Simply telling people you need business or you will be a failure will indeed make you fail. Desperation is never an attractive approach.

But Danny does get it that networking will get you much farther that simply sitting back and doing nothing, so he gets credit for having the right idea.

SOMETIMES SMALLER ROLES HAVE THE BIGGEST IMPACT

The role of Carl Spackler, the club’s junior groundskeeper who’s a complete and total slob and haphazardly stumbles his way through the film trying to kill off a gopher, being told that the pond out back is probably good enough for him, and fantasizing about some of the elder female members of the club was supposed to be a really small role.

Really small.

Bill Murray, having worked on Saturday Night Live and the movie Meatballs, still took the bit part.

And he killed it. So much so that they kept calling him back to film more scenes and making the part a little bit larger.

But he was still all wrapped up in six days.

And in those six days, Bill Murray took off on the trajectory that led him to Ghostbusters, Scrooged, Groundhog Day and everything else for which we know and love him.

It’s hard to argue with those results.

DRESS THE PART

Again, his peer group destroys him as Spaulding sees him and comments “Ahoy, Polloi, where’d you just come from? A Scotch ad?” and takes great pleasure in pointing out that Danny isn’t a club member, but just a caddy who works there.

Danny could care less – he wants to impress the Smails’ and does so with flying colors.

The lesson here: Always dress the part. You would never want to wear something that would throw off a potential client or business partner.

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU PUT YOUR FAITH IN

Or so he thinks at first.

As the movie unfolds, Danny starts to clue in to what everyone besides him knows from the outset – Smails isn’t looking out for Danny. Smails is never going to help Danny. Smails is stringing Danny along with little tidbits of backhanded praise, or getting him to mow his yard for free with a promise of coming to the yacht club…which is really all about Smails having one more person to flaunt his wealth in front of more than anything else, or any of a number of times when Danny should have clued in but hasn’t…

…until he finally does.

It’s really simple, folks – not everyone has your best interests at heart, and you have to keep your eyes open at all times, and see people for who they are…and their intentions.

WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS, ANSWER THE DOOR

Czervik is golfing horribly so he fakes an injury, and Ty Webb asks Danny to golf with them. Danny stops and thinks for a moment, and Czervik adds, “We’ll make it worth your while!”

So now Danny is in the middle of a conundrum: Lose what he worked so hard with in regards to building a relationship with Judge Smails, or go for a better alternative route that will attain his goal quicker and easier.

Opportunity is knocking.

Danny chooses to golf with Ty and wins the round, thus achieving his goal and making enough money to pay for college. It’s not the way he thought it would happen, and he ticked off the person he’d been building a relationship with, but it got him to his goal and that’s what really mattered.

Opportunity knocked, and he answered the door. He took a calculated risk, and it paid off for him big time.

That’s all for this time. Go check out our other “Career Lessons You Probably Missed” from The Breakfast Club and Scarface , or something else …

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when blindfolded and boasting that he had the power of intuition, Ty gave advice to Danny: ("I'm going to give you a little advice. There's a force in the universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it. Stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball!"); later, Ty made other Zen-like pronouncements: ("A flute without holes is not a flute. And a donut without a hole is a Danish" or "You're rather attractive for a beautiful girl with a great body")
the club's elitist, snobbish, wealthy and arrogant hotshot Judge Elihu Smails pulled into the club in his Rolls Royce; he was immediately upset when he viewed a gopher tunneling through the greens of the club's massive golf course

the club's lunatic, deranged, and dim-witted greenskeeper Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) was given a misinterpreted request by an enraged Smalls and his Scottish boss Sandy McFiddish (Thomas A. Carlin), to destroy an intrusive and pesky gopher who was ruining the golf course: "I want you to kill every gopher on the course" - with Carl's reply: "Check me if I'm wrong Sandy, but if I kill all the golfers, they're gonna lock me up and throw away the key." Sandy clarified: "Gophers, ya great git! Not golfers! The little brown furry rodents!"; for the remainder of the film, Carl became fixated with his task and attempted numerous ways to destroy the pesky rodent
Judge Elihu Smails was accompanied by his sex-loving, bra-less young blonde niece Lacy Underall (Cindy Morgan), who was judged by one ogling male as "Madonna with meatballs"
a boorish, crude, abrasive nouveau-riche real estate developer - brash wisecracking, loudmouth named Al Czervik (stand-up comedian Rodney Dangerfield in his feature film debut) wearing colorful golf clothing drove up in his convertible with personalized plates - the disrespectful Czervik immediately began to heckle everyone by spouting many offensive one-liners in the golf shop, with some of the insults directed toward Judge Smails' hat: ("Oh, this is the worst lookin' hat I ever saw. You buy a hat like this, I betcha get a free bowl of soup, huh? (to Smails) Oh, it looks good on you though!")
shortly later, Czervik continued to harrass and upset Smails' nearby golf group on the green by playing loud music from his golf bag, and hitting Smails in the groin with one of his drives; the aggravating Czervik suggested that the golf course was the perfect place for a condo and shopping mall development; as the Judge's golf game was ending, Czervik bet him $1,000 dollars he couldn't make his final putt; after missing the hole, the frustrated Judge threw his golf club into the air and it struck a woman and rendered her unconscious; to ingratiate himself to the Judge (to help his scholarship chances), Danny took the blame for not putting stick-um on the Judge's golf grips
in one of the film's most memorable vignettes, the speech-impaired, wacky Carl Spackler recounted, to another incredulous caddy, how he once caddied for the Dalai Lama in Tibet: ("So we finish 18, and he's gonna stiff me. And I say: 'Hey, Lama! Hey, how about a little somethin', you know, for the effort, you know.' And he says: 'Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.' So I got that goin' for me, which is nice")
the demented Spackler also became fixated and obsessed with destroying the intrusive gophers; throughout the film, Spackler used various methods to eradicate the gopher pest, including a high-pressure water hose to flood the gopher's holes, as he threatened the 'varmint': ("Scum, slime, menace to the golfing industry! You're a disgrace. You're varmints. You're one of the lowest members of the food chain, and you'll probably be replaced by the rat"); his initial attempt caused the flooding of the entire course

in his quarters, Spackler grabbed his shotgun (with an attached flashlight), as he explained why the Varmint Cong (gophers) had to die: ("License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy. In this case, my enemy is a varmint, and a varmint will never quit. Ever! They're like the Viet Cong. Varmint Cong! So what you gotta do, you gotta fall back on superior firepower and superior intelligence. And that's all she wrote"); dressed in camouflage that night, he attempted to shoot the gopher with his rifle - but missed
Danny learned that the club's caddy college scholarship had become available when the recipient of the award had died from a severe anxiety attack during summer school; his desire to acquire the money meant befriending Judge Smails who was the director of the scholarship program; Danny volunteered to caddy for the Judge and expressed an interest in going to college, and added: "It looks like my folks won't have enough money to put me through college"; all of the caddies, including Danny, were immediately impressed by the Judge's sexy young blonde niece Lacy Underall, who was visiting for the summer from Manhattan
during dinner at the club's restaurant that evening, Czervik continued to make loud and vulgar jokes; after farting, he asked: "Oh, (did) somebody step on a duck?"; he criticized the food: ("I had better food at the ballgame! I tell you, this steak still has marks where the jockey was hitting it"); he also personally insulted the Judge's older, white-haired wife: "Oh, this is your wife, huh? A lovely lady. Hey baby, you're alright. You musta been somethin' before electricity, huh?"; he also continued to harrass and insult other guests at the Judge's table, with lines such as: "The last time I saw a mouth like that, it had a hook in it"; he livened up the music on the dance floor, and then grabbed the Judge's wife to be his dance partner as he sexually grabbed her: "Hey, you wanna make $14 dollars the hard way?"
after dinner and on an outer balcony with the tempting Lacey, Ty awkwardly and nervously delivered a pick-up line to her: ("What brings you to this nape of the woods, neck of the wape. How come you're here?"); she replied: "Daddy wanted to broaden me"; she coyly invited herself to join him that evening: "I'll bet you've got a lot of nice ties....You want to tie me up with some of your ties, Ty?"; he demonstrated his method of drinking tequilas - by snorting the salt, sucking the lemon and tossing the booze over his shoulder; later, he also attempted to seduce the Judge's promiscuous niece
Danny competed in the Caddy Day golf tournament to obtain the caddie scholarship - and won; as a result, he was invited by the Judge to attend the Sunday christening of the Judge's sloop at the Rolling Lakes Yacht Club

a Busby Berkeley-style, synchronized swimming water ballet was performed by the male golf caddies in the country club's pool; during a scatological moment, a floating "Baby Ruth" candy bar was thrown into the pool (a young girl reacted: "Doodie!"); it sent swimmers screaming from the water in a Jaws -inspired panic - shock and fainting was caused when Spackler (after the pool was "scrubbed, sterilized and disinfected") ate the brown object and claimed: ("There it is! It's no big deal!")
at the Rolling Lakes Yacht Club's christening of the Judge's sloop, Lacey distracted Danny (handsomely dressed in a naval uniform), and enticingly invited him to leave and get high with her back at the Smails' house: ("Hey, Cary Grant. You want to get high?"); after they left, the Judge's boat was christened as "The Flying Wasp," but then Czervik's gigantic "Seafood" Cruiser disrupted the ceremony, collided with the Judge's small sloop, and destructively dropped anchor onto its deck - it quickly sank
Danny and Lacey were discovered making out in his bedroom by Smails, who then chased Danny (in his underwear) out of the house with a golf club
in the film's memorable "It's In the Hole!" Cinderella story and golf fantasies, Spackler pretended to be an announcer and player - imagining himself winning the championship Masters golf game at Augusta, while he was actually practicing teeing off by whacking down rows of planted flowers: ("The crowd is standing on its feet here at Augusta, the normally reserved Augusta crowd, going wild, for this young Cinderella. He's come outta nowhere. He's got about 350 yards left. He's gonna hit about a 5-iron, I expect, don't you think? He's got a beautiful backswing -- that's -- oh, he got all of that one! He's gotta be pleased with that. The crowd is just on its feet here. He's the Cinderella boy, uh -- tears in his eyes I guess, as he lines up this last shot, he's got about 195 yards left. And he's got about a -- it looks like he's got about an 8-iron. This crowd has gone deathly silent, the Cinderella story, outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper and now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac- it's in the hole! IT'S IN THE HOLE!")
complications arose the next day when Maggie found Danny sleeping in the caddy shack, and confessed that she was "late" (pregnant), but also added: "I don't hold you responsible! It's my problem. I can handle it"; Danny promised to stand by her: ("I'm not going to let you go through this alone"), although she wanted to keep the baby: ("I'm going to have it! I've already decided!"); when he offered to get married, she declined his offer ("It might not be yours. Okay?...I'm not making it up"); shortly later, she was happy to report to Danny that she wasn't pregnant after all
later in Smails' club office, Danny expected to be fired or to have his caddy scholarship revoked for romancing Lacey, but the uptight Smails only asked Danny to keep the incident quiet: ("The last thing any of us needs now is a lot of loose talk about her behavior"), after admitting that Lacey had "a certain zest for living"; the Judge ended their short meeting by asking: "Are you my pal - "Mr. Scholarship Winner'?" - and Danny agreed: "Yes, sir! I'm your pal!"
a major showdown developed in the film's conclusion when Czervik arrogantly called the club a "dump" and a "crummy snobatorium," but offered to buy it; an 18-hole team golf tournament was organized between two pairs of golfers to settle the matter -- Judge Smails (playing with his regular golfing partner Dr. Beeper (Dan Resin)) and Czervik (playing with Ty Webb); a $20,000 bet (that was eventually increased to $40,000 and then to a double-or-nothing bet up to $160,000) was made on the outcome
meanwhile, the crazed Spackler threatened the detestable gopher by planting plastic explosives (inside clay squirrels and rabbits) that were to be inserted into the gopher holes: ("I have to laugh, because I've often asked myself. My foe, my enemy, is an animal, and in order to conquer him, I have to think like an animal. And, whenever possible, to look like one. I've gotta get inside this dude's pelt and crawl around for a few days. Who is the gopher's ally? His friend? The harmless squirrel and the friendly rabbit. I'm gonna use you guys to do my dirty work for me")

once the tournament commenced, Spackler threatened the animal as he sneakily planted his explosive rabbits and squirrels in the gopher's hole, as he asked his opponent: ("Anybody home? Uh, hello, Mr. Gopher. Yeah, it's me, Mr. Squirrel. Yeah, hi. Uh, just a harmless squirrel, not a plastic explosive or anything, nothing to be worried about. I'm just here to make your last hours on earth as peaceful as possible...In the words of Jean Paul Sartre, 'Au revoir, gopher.' This is gonna be sweet")
when Czervik faked an arm injury as an excuse for his poor playing, Danny substituted for him (even though he knew it might jeopardize his scholarship); on his final shot of the game, Danny's putt was perched on the edge of the hole; it was nudged in by a massive, plastic explosives blast set off by Spackler to kill the gopher, and Czervik's team won the game, although the golf course was destroyed in the process
Smails (on the losing team) refused to pay off two of Czervik's enforcers Moose and Rocco who were called upon to make him pay up: ("Help the judge find his checkbook"), and he fled as Czervik delivered a curtain-closing invitation: "Hey everybody, we're all gonna get laid!"; in the midst of everything, the unharmed gopher appeared after having survived the explosions

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Danny Noonan is a young caddy at Bushwood Country Club who has no idea about where his future will lead. His best chance at getting his life on track is to earn a caddy scholarship from Judge Elihu Smails, the owner of the Country Club. Al Czervik is a rude, and overly eccentric millionaire who has interests in purchasing Bushwood. Judge Smails shows a quick disliking towards Al and soon there is a conflict between the Judge and Al, the Judge and Danny, and even between the Judge and Ty Webb the charming golfer who is slowly helping Danny figure out his real goals. On the outside of this is Carl Spackler the Golf Course Grounds keeper, who's goal is eliminate a rampaging gopher who is chewing up holes throughout the golf course.

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Ed Murray Dies, Bill's Oldest Brother & Caddyshack Inspiration Was 76

The Murrays are in mourning as Caddyshack inspiration and eldest brother Ed has passed away.

Bill Murray Responds to Doobie Brothers Complaint by Offering Up Some 'Ugly Golf Shirts'

The Doobie Brothers sent hilarious cease and desist notice to Bill Murray for using their music in his commercials without their consent.

Doobie Brothers Hilariously Ask Bill Murray to Pay Up for 'Ugly Golf Shirt' Commercials

Bill Murray has been using The Doobie Brothers song Listen to the Music in his Zero Hucks Given golf shirt commercials without permission.

Caddyshack Star Michael O'Keefe Offers His Caddying Services to the U.S. Open

Michael O'Keefe played Danny Noonan in the 1980 comedy classic Caddyshack and he's ready to show off his skills again.

Pat Brymer Dies, Caddyshack Gopher Puppeteer and Team America Collaborator Was 70

Caddyshack and Team America: World Police puppeteer Pat Brymer has reportedly died after a battle with cardiomyopathy.

Caddyshack Fest Is Coming from the Creators of Lebowski Fest

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Bill Murray Allegedly Assaulted a 71-Year Old Photographer

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Bill Murray Is Opening a Caddyshack Bar Near Chicago

Bill Murray and his brothers are set to open a Caddy Shack golf-themed restaurant near Chicago, where the icon got his start in comedy.

Harold Ramis Passes Away at 69

The actor, writer and director of such classic hits as Ghostbusters, Stripes, Caddyshack and Groundhog Day died from a rare blood vessel disease.

The Wizard of Oz Gets 3D Conversion in Honor of Warner Bros.' 90th Anniversary

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The SUNDAY FUNNIES: Harry Potter's Literal Trailer and Kick-Ass Copycats in Seattle

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Hot Tub Time Machine Kicks Some Past on DVD and Blu-ray June 29th

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Caddyshack Returns to DVD and Blu-ray on June 8th

We have all the details on this 1980 comedy classic's 30th anniversary set.

Harold Ramis Takes Us Back to Year One [Exclusive]

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Why Danny Noonan From Caddyshack Looks So Familiar

Caddyshack is considered an all-time comedy classic, and it's easy to see why. It stars some of the biggest names in comedy from the 1980s, including Bill Murray , Rodney Dangerfield, and Chevy Chase, and is filled with instantly quotable lines like, "In order to conquer an animal, I have to think like an animal, and whenever possible, look like one." It's hard to believe that at the time of its release in 1980, it wasn't exactly seen as the cream of the crop. The San Francisco Chronicle even looked back at the negative review the newspaper gave the film when it first came out, and reflected on how general audience sentiment has changed over the last few decades. While the plot may be sacrificed at points for the sake of making a joke or visual gag, the whole thing is held together by a down-on-his-luck teenager, Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe), who just wants to make a little money at the local country club before he heads off to college.

O'Keefe may not be as recognizable as Murray is today, but he's had a steady career over the last 45 years, starring in a wide range of projects from comedies to dramas. It's hard to narrow down his most prominent performances, but here's where you've likely seen the actor more recently.

Michael O'Keefe had a far more dramatic role as John Redmond on Homeland

Few shows were able to capture the kind of post-9/11 anxiety that was prevalent throughout American society as well as Showtime's Homeland . The show may begin with CIA officer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) suspecting Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) is a threat to the safety of the United States after he's released as a prisoner of war. When that story line wraps up, there are plenty of directions for the show to go from there, and one of the most exciting involved the introduction of CIA deputy station chief John Redmond (O'Keefe).

He was introduced to the show during season 4 and really mixed things up with the cast. He was someone you were never really sure if you could trust, and he was capable of pushing all the right buttons to manipulate people to his whim. Unfortunately, he only lasted in eight episodes of the series before getting killed off. His time on Homeland may have been short-lived, but it wouldn't be the last time you'd be able to see O'Keefe on your TV screen.

Michael O'Keefe then appeared on another Showtime series — Masters of Sex

Michael O'Keefe went from political intrigue to marital discomfort when he starred in Masters of Sex , which also happened to be a Showtime original. The series primarily follows Virginia Johnson (Lizza Caplan) and William Masters (Michael Sheen), who study human sexuality in the 1950s. You probably don't want to watch the critically-acclaimed series with your parents (it gets pretty graphic), but it provides a fascinating glimpse into this taboo field of study.

In the third season, we got introduced to Virginia's parents — Edna (Francis Fisher) and Harry Eshelman (O'Keefe). They appear throughout seasons 3 and 4, and over the course of their run, their marriage gradually falls apart. It all comes to a head in the series finale when Edna states she doesn't love Harry anymore and even goes so far as to refuse to give Virginia her blessing for her upcoming nuptials. It provides an impactful contrast for the last episode — as one marriage begins, another falls apart. It keeps with the theme of the show about how fluid romance, sex, and friendship all are.

Michael O'Keefe had a recurring role on season 1 of Sneaky Pete

It seems like, as of late, O'Keefe's characters just can't seem to catch a break. Whether they end up getting killed or lose their wives, they appear to end up in tough spots, and that trend continues with one of his most recent roles in Amazon's Sneaky Pete .

O'Keefe plays Detective Winslow in the first season, a crooked cop who's hot on the trail of Marius Josipović (Giovanni Ribisi) and threatens to turn him over to the criminal who has a vendetta against him. He's not a threat for too long, as Audrey (Margo Martindale) kills him and covers up the crime.

Like we said, O'Keefe has a knack for playing characters who don't necessarily get happy endings. The one thing that does get a happy ending is O'Keefe's career: He has his first acting credit dating back to 1974, and he's still regularly appearing in a vast variety of projects.

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by Peter Feb 24, 2023

'Caddyshack' is not your typical sports movie. It is a masterpiece that transcends the genre and becomes a timeless classic that has endured for more than four decades. Directed by the brilliant Harold Ramis, the film tells the story of the hilarious and absurd happenings at a golf club during a summer tournament.

The movie stars a slew of comedic geniuses such as Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, and Bill Murray, each of whom brings their unique style of humor to the film. The film's plot revolves around the wealthy and eccentric members of the Bushwood Country Club, who are more interested in indulging their vices than playing golf.

One of the film's standout performances comes from Rodney Dangerfield, who portrays the loud, brash, and hilariously outrageous Al Czervik. Dangerfield's comedic timing is impeccable, and his one-liners are memorable and endlessly quotable. Another standout is Ted Knight, who plays the uptight and pompous Judge Elihu Smails. Knight's performance is so convincing that you can't help but feel a sense of satisfaction when he finally gets his comeuppance.

The film's humor is not limited to its cast of characters. The various hijinks that take place at the golf course, such as the infamous gopher, add to the film's absurdity. And who could forget the scene where Bill Murray's character, Carl Spackler, takes on the gopher in an epic battle of wits? Murray's performance is hilarious, and his manic energy perfectly complements the film's overall tone.

'Caddyshack' was a financial success and grossed over $60 million at the box office. The film's popularity has only grown over the years, and it has become a cult classic. Its humor has transcended generations, and it remains one of the most quotable films ever made.

In conclusion, 'Caddyshack' is a film that continues to stand the test of time. It's a comedic masterpiece that will have you in stitches from beginning to end. Whether you're a golf fan or not, this movie is a must-see. So grab some popcorn, sit back, and get ready to laugh out loud.

Caddyshack is a classic comedy film that tells the story of Danny Noonan, a young caddie who works at the Bushwood Country Club to earn money to pay for college. The movie is set in Illinois and features a cast of hilarious characters, including the mischievous Ty Webb, the haughty Judge Elihu Smails, and the mentally unstable greenskeeper Carl Spackler.

The plot follows Danny as he tries to impress Judge Smails by caddying for him, while also trying to win the heart of Lacey Underall, the judge's promiscuous niece. Meanwhile, Carl Spackler is on a mission to hunt a gopher that is damaging the golf course. He tries everything from rifles to high-pressure hoses but fails miserably.

Adding to the mix is the arrival of Al Czervik, a loud and free-spirited golfer who loves to cause trouble. He distracts Judge Smails during his tee-off, causing his shot to go wrong. Bored by slow play, Czervik makes a bet with the judge and wins, causing the judge to throw his putter and injure an elderly woman. Danny takes the blame to impress the judge and gain acceptance into the caddie scholarship program.

At the Fourth of July banquet, Danny and his girlfriend Maggie work as wait staff under Lou Loomis. Czervik continues to bully Smails and the older club members while entertaining and befriending the younger ones and staff. He consistently hands out generous amounts of cash as tips, making himself quite popular. Danny wins the Caddy Day golf tournament and the scholarship, earning him an invitation from Smails to attend the christening ceremony for his boat at the nearby Rolling Lakes Yacht Club. Unfortunately, Smails' boat is sunk at the event after a collision with Czervik's larger boat.

Returning home, Smails discovers Lacey and Danny in bed at his house. Expecting to be fired or to have the scholarship revoked, Danny is surprised when Smails only demands that he keeps the escapade secret. Unable to bear the continued presence of the uncouth Czervik, Smails confronts him and announces that he will never be granted membership. Czervik counters by announcing that he would never consider being a member: he insults the country club and claims to be there merely to evaluate buying it and developing the land into condominiums.

After a brief fight, Webb suggests they discuss the situation over drinks. After Smails demands satisfaction, Czervik proposes a team golf match with Smails and his regular golfing partner Dr. Beeper against Czervik and Webb. Against club rules, they also agree to a $20,000 wager on the match, which quickly doubles to $40,000. That evening, Webb practices for the game against Smails and his errant shot brings him to meet Carl; the two share a bottle of wine and a joint.

The match is held the next day. Word spreads of the stakes involved, drawing in a crowd of club members and employees. During the game, Smails and Beeper take the lead, while Czervik is "playing the worst game of his life." Webb grows increasingly distracted and also plays a poor game. Czervik reacts to Smails' heckles by impulsively doubling the wager to $80,000 per team. When his own ricocheting ball strikes his arm, Czervik fakes an injury in hopes of having the contest declared a draw. Lou, who is acting as an umpire, tells Cz

When it comes to classic comedy films, few have achieved the cult status of "Caddyshack." Released in 1980, the movie is a hysterical romp through the world of golf, as seen through the eyes of a motley crew of characters that populate Bushwood Country Club.

At the heart of "Caddyshack" is its all-star cast, which includes Chevy Chase as Ty Webb, the laid-back and wealthy son of one of the club's founders. Rodney Dangerfield steals scenes as Al Czervik, a brash and flashy nouveau riche golfer who shakes up the stuffy club's traditions. Ted Knight plays Elihu Smails, a judge who directs the caddy scholarship program and is one of the club's founding members. And Michael O'Keefe shines as Danny Noonan, a young caddy who dreams of winning a college scholarship.

But it's Bill Murray's turn as the unhinged greenskeeper, Carl Spackler, that steals the show. His hilarious antics as he tries to rid the course of a pesky gopher are some of the movie's most memorable moments. With his maniacal laugh and zany antics, Murray delivers a performance that has become a comedy classic.

And the rest of the cast is equally impressive, with Cindy Morgan as Lacey Underall, the niece of Elihu Smails, and Scott Colomby as Tony D'Annunzio, Danny's obnoxious co-worker. Even the minor characters, like Hamilton Mitchell's Motormouth and Brian Doyle-Murray's Lou Loomis, the head of the caddy shack, are expertly played and add to the film's humor and charm.

Through it all, the cast of "Caddyshack" expertly balances the film's mix of slapstick comedy, witty one-liners, and offbeat characters. And with so many iconic scenes and quotable lines, it's no wonder the movie has become a beloved classic that still resonates with audiences today.

The making of the 1980 classic comedy "Caddyshack" was inspired by the Murray family's real-life experiences. Brian Doyle-Murray, who co-wrote and starred in the film, drew from his teenage years working as a caddy at the Indian Hill Club in Winnetka, Illinois, where he encountered many of the quirky characters who would eventually populate the movie. Director Harold Ramis, who also had worked as a caddy, shared similar experiences, as did Bill Murray, who served as a production assistant and played a caddy extra in the film.

Production on "Caddyshack" lasted for eleven weeks, beginning in the autumn of 1979, with Hurricane David delaying filming by several days in early September. Ramis chose Rolling Hills Golf Club in Davie, Florida, as the primary filming location, as he wanted the film to feel as if it was set in the Midwest, not Florida. The golf scenes were filmed here because the course lacked palm trees, which would have made the film's location apparent. Explosions were also filmed on the course, which worried pilots nearby.

Other scenes were filmed at the Boca Raton Hotel and Club and the Rusty Pelican Restaurant in Key Biscayne, Florida. The famous scene in which Chevy Chase and Bill Murray appeared together was not part of the original script. Director Harold Ramis realized that the two stars had yet to appear together on camera and so wrote the scene, which involved Ty Webb's golf ball crashing into Carl Spackler's shack.

Bill Murray's role was only supposed to be a small one, but it expanded when he was repeatedly recalled from New York, where he was working on "Saturday Night Live," to film additional scenes. Much of Murray's lines were unscripted, and he improvised much of the "Cinderella story" scene in which his character fantasizes aloud about winning a major golf tournament.

The film's characters, including the doddering Haverkamps and the young woman upon whom the character of Maggie was based, were based on real people the Murray family and Ramis encountered while working at the Indian Hill Club. The scene in which Al Czervik hits Judge Smails in the groin with a struck golf ball was based on an incident that happened to Ramis himself.

'Caddyshack' is a comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, which was released on July 25, 1980. The film revolves around a clash between the wealthy members and the working-class caddies of a golf club. Despite receiving underwhelming reviews at the time of its release, the film has gained cult status over the years.

The film grossed $3.1 million in its opening weekend in North America and went on to make $39,846,344 in the region and $60 million worldwide. While the film's disorganized plot received criticism, the comic performances of Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, and Bill Murray were highly praised.

Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, describing it as "a movie that was written rather loosely, so that when shooting began, there was freedom—too much freedom—for it to wander off in all directions in search of comic inspiration." Gene Siskel gave the film three out of four stars, saying it was "funny about half of the time it tries to be, which is a pretty good average for a comedy." Vincent Canby of 'The New York Times' gave the film a mixed review, describing it as "A pleasantly loose-limbed sort of movie with some comic moments, most of them belonging to Mr. Dangerfield."

Dave Kehr, in his review for the 'Chicago Reader', wrote, "The first-time director, Harold Ramis, can't hold it together: the picture lurches from style to style (including some ill-placed whimsy with a gopher puppet) and collapses somewhere between sitcom and sketch farce."

Despite the mixed reviews, 'Caddyshack' has since become a cult classic, known for its memorable characters, hilarious one-liners, and absurd scenes, such as the gopher that terrorizes the golf course. It has even been hailed as one of the funniest films of all time, with its influence still being felt in popular culture today.

In conclusion, while 'Caddyshack' may not have been a critical darling upon its release, its enduring legacy as a beloved comedy film has cemented its place in cinema history.

The 1980 American sports comedy film "Caddyshack" was a hit among audiences and critics alike, thanks in no small part to its iconic soundtrack. One of the standout tracks on the album was Kenny Loggins' "I'm Alright," which became a chart-topping hit in the weeks leading up to the film's release.

With its upbeat tempo and catchy lyrics, "I'm Alright" perfectly captured the carefree spirit of the movie and its characters. The song's infectious chorus, "I'm alright, nobody worry 'bout me," became an anthem for anyone looking to shake off their worries and enjoy life to the fullest.

The "Caddyshack" soundtrack was more than just one hit song, though. Featuring a mix of rock and pop tracks, the album perfectly captured the sound of the early 80s. Other highlights included "Any Way You Want It" by Journey, "Nocturnal Pleasure" by Night Ranger, and "Make the Move" by the band The Trammps.

But perhaps what makes the "Caddyshack" soundtrack so special is how it perfectly captures the feeling of being young and carefree, living in the moment and enjoying life to its fullest. The songs on the album are filled with energy, excitement, and a sense of playful rebellion that perfectly embodies the spirit of the film.

In many ways, the "Caddyshack" soundtrack is like a time capsule, transporting listeners back to a time when life was simpler and the future was full of endless possibilities. It's the perfect soundtrack for anyone looking to escape the stresses of modern life and reconnect with their youthful spirit.

So whether you're a fan of 80s music, a lover of classic films, or just someone looking to let loose and have some fun, the "Caddyshack" soundtrack is a must-listen. So turn up the volume, sing along to the catchy tunes, and let yourself be transported back to a time when life was full of endless possibilities.

Oh, 'Caddyshack II,' the sequel that shouldn't have been. In 1988, eight years after the original movie's success, a follow-up film was released to the world, but it was far from impressive. The sequel failed to live up to the expectations of fans of the first movie and was a disaster at the box office.

The only familiar face in the movie was Chevy Chase, who reprised his role as Ty Webb, a character from the first movie. The rest of the cast was relatively unknown, which might have contributed to the film's lack of success. Critics and fans alike panned the film, citing its weak plot, lame jokes, and cheap gags.

'Caddyshack II' is often listed among the worst sequels of all time, and it's not hard to see why. It failed to capture the magic of the first movie, and it felt like a cheap imitation that nobody asked for. It was a complete disappointment and a flop at the box office.

Perhaps the sequel's producers should have left the original movie as it was, a perfect standalone classic. Sometimes, it's best not to mess with a good thing. 'Caddyshack II' was a prime example of a sequel that should never have been made.

For fans of the classic comedy film 'Caddyshack,' there are a few books that provide interesting insights and perspectives on the movie. 'The Book of Caddyshack' is an illustrated paperback retrospective that was released in 2007 by Taylor Trade Publishing. The book features interviews with cast and crew members, giving readers an inside look at the making of the film. It was written by Scott Martin and is a great addition to any fan's collection.

In 2018, Chris Nashawaty published 'Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story' through Flatiron Books. This tell-all book goes into great detail about the making of the movie, including the production process, casting decisions, and behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Nashawaty's book is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about the creation of this classic film.

Both of these books offer unique perspectives on the making of 'Caddyshack.' Whether you're a die-hard fan of the movie or just a casual viewer, they're both excellent reads that shed new light on this beloved comedy. So if you're looking for something to add to your bookshelf, consider picking up a copy of 'The Book of Caddyshack' or 'Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story.'

Caddyshack restaurants

Caddyshack, the classic 1980 comedy film, has left a lasting impression on audiences and the Murray brothers, who starred in the movie. They have taken their love for the film to a new level by opening a themed restaurant, with the original located at the World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida.

The restaurant has been designed to replicate the fictional Bushwood Country Club from the movie and serves up delicious American cuisine. Bill Murray and his brothers are active partners in the restaurant and occasionally make appearances there to meet with fans and diners.

Over the years, three more Caddyshack restaurants were opened, with locations in Myrtle Beach, Orlando, and Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Unfortunately, these restaurants have since closed, leaving the original St. Augustine location as the flagship location.

In 2018, another Caddyshack restaurant was opened in Rosemont, Illinois, with Bill Murray and two of his brothers, Andy and Joel, in attendance for the grand opening.

These restaurants are a must-visit destination for any fan of the film, where they can enjoy delicious food, drinks, and the unique ambiance of being surrounded by Caddyshack memorabilia and references. The restaurants have become a way for fans to connect with the film, and the Murray brothers have continued to keep the legacy of Caddyshack alive through these dining experiences.

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Where was Caddyshack filmed?

City locations.

Davie, Boca Raton, Miami, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Key Biscayne

Location Types

Apartment, Bars/Clubs, Naturescapes, Hotels/Motels, Restaurant, Ship Docks

Location Styles

Dated/50’s-60’s-70’s Building, Hotel/Motel Style, Luxury Hotel, Resort, Shipping Yard/Dock

About Caddyshack

Considered one of the greatest sports movies of all time, Caddyshack is one of those gems that still retains its shine, over 40 years after its release. Although the budget of the film was less than 5 million, Caddyshack manages to incorporate some of the greatest comedic geniuses in the 80s including Bill Murray and Chevy Chase. Spoiler Alert: This guide will discuss some of the major events and plot points that occur throughout the film!

Caddyshack revolves around a caddie Danny Noonan, played by Michael O’Keefe, who attempts to gain enough money to go to college. He does this by currying favor with the arrogant co-founder of Bushwood Country Club, Judge Elihu Smails, to get a chance at a caddie scholarship program that could potentially save him from working at a lumber yard. In the meanwhile, a mentally unstable groundskeeper, played by Bill Murray, is sent on a mission to get rid of a gopher that is destroying the golf course.

Along the way, chaos is caused by Al Czervik, considered a nouveau riche golfer by the other members due to how he made his money by becoming a real estate developer. He disrupts Judge Smails’ games consistently and is considered a thorn in his side. They later decide to settle this feud over a match in which Danny Noonan later participates on Al Czervik’s side, revoking his potential to receive this caddie scholarship but having the chance to receive compensation for winning this game with a wager of $80,000 per team.

As Danny Noonan hits the last shot, it falls short of the hole and all seems lost, but then Carl Spackler detonates rigged explosives throughout the course to try to get rid of the gopher and this shakes the ball into the hole, winning the game for Danny Noonan.

Caddyshack Locations

With a relatively small budget of 4.8 million dollars to create a movie centered around golf, Caddyshack had to get creative with the locations they utilized to give the illusion that the famous Bushwood Country Club was one massive resort and club. Many of the locations used were close to each other and were used in a variety of ways to create illusions that either made the shots look connected or a totally different location.

Since the movie Caddyshack was set to be in the US Midwest, the producers had to look for filming locations and golf courses that didn’t have any palm trees. This led to them choosing the famous Rolling Hills Golf Club, now known as the Grande Oaks Golf Club, as the main site for where their shooting was to take place. To add to the luxury and grandeur of the film, producers decided to use other resorts and restaurants like the Boca Raton Hotel and Club as well as the Rusty Pelican Restaurant to add a more refined look to the locations used in the film.

The final scene for the 18th hole was not shot on an actual golf course but was built from scratch. The pyrotechnicians used so many explosives that pilots that flew over the area reported the explosion as if a plane crash occurred.

The chaotic family scene in Caddyshack

Los Angeles, USA

The introduction of the movie presents to the audience the dysfunctional family of Danny Noonan. Danny initially sits down to eat breakfast as his morning starts out, but his father begins to pester him about his future. As his father continues to pester Danny about his plans for college, Danny decides to abandon his breakfast plans and just head out to work. On the way out of his house, the audience hears his father talk with his mother as he says, “He isn’t gonna be a caddy all his life, is he?”

Located in Los Angeles, this filming location of Caddyshack can still be reached to this day and it's easily accessible too. With it being so close to a bus station, there are plenty of ways to reach this filming location, including public transport. For those that prefer a physical address, it is located at 232 N Avenue 54 Los Angeles. To get there with the help of a bus, you could travel with the Highland Park/Eagle Rock bus along North Avenue 54 and stop by the intersection where North Avenue 54 meets Monte Vista Street. Walking a little distance down will allow you to see the house where this scene was shot. Although it’s painted a little differently compared to the movie, you can be sure that this is the right house!

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Ty Webb talks to Danny Noonan scene in Caddyshack

Grande Oaks Golf Club, Davie, USA

With Danny confused and looking for a third opinion on what he should do with his life, he goes to work as a caddy at Bushwood Country Club. He caddies for Ty Webb, a golfer who seems well off. Mr. Webb is notorious for not remembering names and calls Danny a multitude of wrong names to which Danny corrects him. One such instance comes in the introductory stage of the movie where Mr. Webb says, “I like you, Betty.” To which Danny replies, “That’s Danny, Sir.” Afterward, he gives Danny some “words of wisdom” to help him find direction in his life.

Most of the shooting for the golf course scenes took place at Grande Oaks Golf Club, which was formerly known as Rolling Hills Golf Club. To get to Grande Oaks Golf Club, drive along Southwest 82nd Way or the West Rolling Hills Circle to get to the famous golf course used for the shooting of Caddyshack’s action scenes. Some of the landmarks close to the golf course include the HCA Florida University Hospital as well as a variety of restaurants.

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Dinner scene in Caddyshack

Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton

Supposed to be one of the more calm and collected events, the dinner scene in Caddyshack was supposed to be a nice way to end the night for Mr. Smails. While he shows off his eccentric suit that supposedly originated from Scotland, Mr. Czervik makes a scene and goes up to Mr. Smails and upon meeting his grandson mentions one of the many one-liners spewed throughout the film, “Now I know why tigers eat their young, you know.”

Although most of the shooting for the film took place within Davies, several shots, including the dinner scene that showed the interior of several luxury clubs were shot at the Boca Raton Resort & Club at Boca Raton. It’s located at 501 East Camino Real and to get there, drive along the East Camino Real and take a turn down Boca Resort Drive. Featuring a full resort, you’re sure to get your fill of luxury staying at one of Caddyshack’s many film sets.

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Pool scene in Caddyshack

Plantation Preserve Golf Course & Club, Plantation

With the exclusive Bushwood Country Club hosting a Caddy day at their pool, the caddies do all they can to enjoy the time they have at this resort’s pool. The caddies enjoy this time to the fullest, even pushing the lifeguard tower into the pool for fun. With the audience simply observing from the sideline, they can see that even more chaos is about to take place as the older regulars come to visit the pool. When the older women come from the bushes, they are startled at all this madness, and one lady decides to shoo the caddies away from the pool by saying, “I want you out of that pool at once!”

One of the best scenes in Caddyshack, the pool scene full of confusion and laughter was filmed in Plantation Preserve Golf Course & Club in Plantation, Florida. Although the pool has since been demolished, which is ironic considering the name of the golf course, you can still reach Plantation Preserve Golf Course & Club today. You can drive along West Broward Boulevard and take a turn down Southwest 70th Avenue to reach Plantation Preserve Golf Course & Club.

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Danny drops his family off at church scene in Caddyshack

Davie, Florida

There were many deleted scenes in Caddyshack that were aired on television throughout the 1980s and one of these scenes included Danny dropping off his family at church. Here we see that as he drops off his family at church, his mother stays a bit longer behind and asks him why he doesn’t attend. She does, however, know about his plans and says, “You’re going to the yacht club party, yeah I know all about it, great for you.”

This scene was shot within Davie, much like the introduction of the film, and was supposed to be in between Lacey’s visit to Ty and the yacht club scene. To get to the filming location of one of Caddyshack’s deleted scenes, you can drive along Davie Road, or you could take the number 9 or 12 bus that also travels along Davie Road. You make a turn down Southwest 47th Court and you’re bound to see the famous Davie United Methodist Church that was used to film one of the scenes in Caddyshack.

Uncover Miami Filming Locations

Yacht Club scene in Caddyshack

Rusty Pelican Restaurant, Key Biscayne

With Danny winning the Caddy Day golf tournament, Judge Elihu Smails invites him to attend the christening ceremony for his boat at the Rolling Lakes Yacht Club which is located close to the golf course. Before the ship can sail, however, when Mrs. Smails says, “I christen thee, the Flying Wasp.” and attempts to break the bottle on the pulpit of the ship, it breaks off. When Mr. Czervik sees Mr. Smail’s sloop he tries to reach there but causes many problems for the smaller boats, and when he finally drops his anchor, it smashes through Mr. Smails’ ship causing it to sink.

This scene was all filmed along the Rusty Pelican Restaurant in Key Biscayne. This is one of the many funny scenes in Caddyshack and features a lot of the famous Floridian coastline. Getting to this location is simple and you can reach it by driving along the Rickenbacker Causeway. Not only is the restaurant present at this location, but there are also many other attractions at the Rickenbacker Marina that you can explore. As a bonus, you can also reach this location through public transport by taking the B bus that leaves Brickell Station.

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Although Caddyshack is over 4 decades old, there are still relevant points to take from this timeless classic, including the fact that it takes a hit at the modern class war that still occurs today. It gives a glimpse into the lives of two classes of people on opposite sides of life and although it’s considered a comedy, many of the tropes it introduces including celebrating the underdog really make it an enjoyable film to watch and rewatch.

Caddyshack (1980)

At an exclusive country club, an ambitious young caddy, Danny Noonan, eagerly pursues a caddy scholarship in hopes of attending college and, in turn, avoiding a job at the lumber yard. In order to succeed, he must first win the favour of the elitist Judge Smails, and then the caddy golf tournament which Smails sponsors.

Filming Locations

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Filming Dates

5 September 1979 - 21 November 1979

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Where to Watch

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Orion Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures

Boca Raton Resort & Club

Rolling hills golf & tennis club, rusty pelican restaurant, wilson & harding golf courses, griffith park, plantation country club, key biscayne yacht club, woodland hills country club, hancock park, are we missing a location.

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IMAGES

Danny Noonan in 1980 trying desperately to fit in at the yacht club
Danny Noonan from Caddyshack
Danny Noonan Caddyshack Yacht
Caddyshack: Danny gets invited to yacht club . . . mmm . . . mmm . . . mmm
Danny Noonan Caddyshack Yacht
Danny Noonan Caddyshack Yacht

COMMENTS

Caddyshack YachtClub
Caddy Shack Video Clip 1980. Judge Scmales (Ted Kight) invites Danny Noonan to his yacht. Funny Ted Knight Facial expressions. Cracks me up!
Caddyshack
Caddyshack is a 1980 American sports comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis and Douglas Kenney, and starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe and Bill Murray with supporting roles by Sarah Holcomb, Cindy Morgan, and Doyle-Murray.It tells the story of a caddie, vying for a caddie scholarship, who becomes involved in a feud on the ...
The Zen of Danny Noonan
The Zen of Danny Noonan. 'Caddyshack' helped make a star of Michael O'Keefe, who played the film's mild-mannered caddie. He tells 'Cracked' what it was like to hang out with comedy legends — and how his path to Zen Buddhism changed him both as a man and as an actor. July 25, 2024.
Caddyshack (1980)
Danny Noonan : One coke. [gives Tony a bottle of Coke and 50 cents] Tony D'Annunzio : Hey wait a minute. That's only 50 cents. Danny Noonan : Yeah well Lou raised the price of coke he's been losing at the track. Tony D'Annunzio : Well I ain't paying no 50 cents for no coke. Danny Noonan : Oh then you ain't getting no coke.
Michael O'Keefe
Michael O'Keefe (born Raymond Peter O'Keefe Jr.; April 24, 1955) is an American actor, known for his roles as Danny Noonan in Caddyshack, Ben Meechum in The Great Santini, for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Darryl Palmer in the Neil Simon movie The Slugger's Wife.He also appeared as Fred on the television sitcom Roseanne from 1993 to 1995.
Is Caddyshack Based on a True Story?
Harold Ramis' sports film 'Caddyshack' centers around Danny Noonan, who works at the Bushwood Country Club as a caddie to earn money for his college education. Regarded as one of the funniest sports films of all time, the movie progresses through the adventures of Danny and the people around him, whose lives are associated with the club in varying degrees.
Danny Noonan
Mocked by the Yacht Club's teenage set, Noonan seeks the protective camouflage of older and younger members — among whom his outfit does not stand out. There's also a funny moment (54:47), when Smails notices that Noonan and he are dressed exactly alike; Danny's apery makes Smails look foolish. Danny vs. Chuck.
Caddyshack: Where Was the Movie Filmed?
Described as one of the funniest sports movies ever made, 'Caddyshack' has gained a cult following over the years. The story follows Danny, who works as a golf caddie at an upscale club to make enough money to get to college. Danny decides that he should cozy up to Judge Smails, who directs the Caddy […]
The story behind Caddyshack
The story behind Caddyshack. "Noonan, Noonan … miss it, mmmiss it.". This famous crowd whisper and roar surrounded the 18th hole putt that made caddie Danny Noonan the big winner in the 1980 film and timeless cult classic, Caddyshack. In anticipation of the BMW Championship this month, let's reminisce about this golf movie.
Caddyshack (1980)
Plot Summary: Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe), a Caddy, seeks a college scholarship at the Country Club in which he works. In working to get the scholarship, he deals with a Zen golfer, Ty Webb (Chevy Chase), and the Club Leader, Judge Smails (Ted Knight). Noonan is soon caught up in a grudge golf match involving the Judge, Ty, and Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield), an obnoxious Neuro-Riche ...
The Funniest "Caddyshack" Quotes
21 Funny "Caddyshack" Quotes to Slip Into Everyday Conversations. "See you on deck, Senator!" Although the classic screwball comedy "Caddyshack" came out in 1980, decades later it remains one of the most beloved sports movies in Hollywood history. The premise of the film is simple: the peace and quiet of elite golf club Bushwood Country Club is ...
Caddyshack (1980)
Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe) is an underacheving 17-year-old guy who works as a caddy at the upscale Bushwood Country Club in Beverly Hills to earn enough money to go to college. Danny often caddies for Ty Webb (Chevy Chase), a suave and talented golfer and the son of one of Bushwood's co-founders. Danny decides to gain favor with Judge Elihu ...
Where is Caddyshack Filmed? Uncovering the Iconic Golf Comedy's Locations
"Caddyshack," the quintessential sports comedy of the 1980s, left an indelible mark on the hearts of movie-goers with its quirky characters and quotable ... Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe) Yacht Club Scenes. Rodney Dangerfield's Al Czervik brings his larger-than-life personality to the yacht club scenes, creating a stark contrast with the ...
Caddyshack Minute 54: Welcome to the Rusty Pelican
Caddyshack Minute 54: Welcome to the Rusty Pelican. March 9, 2017 Tom Episodes. Hug your loved ones close because we're finally at the yacht club, where Danny Noonan appears as Dick Cavett to a table of stoners, Dr. Beeper electrocutes himself, and Mrs. Smails announces that it's time to christen the sloop. Bonus: Mike uses science on a ...
Career Lessons You Missed From Caddyshack
DON'T BE AFRAID TO SUCK UP A LITTLE BIT. First thing in the morning, Lou the Caddy Master comes out with a four-some…"Smails, Dr. Beeper…" and Danny is the first one to jump up to take them. "Brown noser!" his friends yell, but he doesn't care. He wants to engage in conversations with the power brokers of the club.
Caddyshack (1980)
Title Screen : Movie Title/Year and Scene Descriptions: Screenshots: Caddyshack (1980) In director Harold Ramis' feature-film debut - a much-loved, crass sports-golf comedy set at the elite Bushwood Country Club (fictitious) in Nebraska; it was a cult favorite with many quotable lines of dialogue; the film told about two major threats to an exclusive country club's golf course - a boorish ...
caddyshack (1980)
Summary. Danny Noonan is a young caddy at Bushwood Country Club who has no idea about where his future will lead. His best chance at getting his life on track is to earn a caddy scholarship from ...
Why Danny Noonan From Caddyshack Looks So Familiar
Caddyshack is considered an all-time comedy classic, and it's easy to see why. It stars some of the biggest names in comedy from the 1980s, including Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, and Chevy ...
Caddyshack (1980)
Film Editing: Robert Barrere, William Carruth, Rachel Igel. Cast: Chevy Chase (Ty Webb), Rodney Dangerfield (Al Czervik), Bill Murray (Carl Spackler), Michael O'Keefe (Danny Noonan), Ted Knight (Judge Smails), Sarah Holcomb (Maggie O'Hooligan). A young caddy strives for success at an exclusive golf club.
Caddyshack
"Caddyshack" is a 1980 American sports comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, and Bill Murray. The movie follows the story of a young caddy, Danny Noonan, and his efforts to win a caddy scholarship. The film was a commercial success, grossing almost $40 million and is considered a cult classic with a significant fan ...
Where was Caddyshack filmed?
Caddyshack revolves around a caddie Danny Noonan, played by Michael O'Keefe, who attempts to gain enough money to go to college. He does this by currying favor with the arrogant co-founder of Bushwood Country Club, Judge Elihu Smails, to get a chance at a caddie scholarship program that could potentially save him from working at a lumber yard.
Where was Caddyshack filmed?
Caddyshack (1980) Caddyshack. At an exclusive country club, an ambitious young caddy, Danny Noonan, eagerly pursues a caddy scholarship in hopes of attending college and, in turn, avoiding a job at the lumber yard. In order to succeed, he must first win the favour of the elitist Judge Smails, and then the caddy golf tournament which Smails ...

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21 Funny "Caddyshack" Quotes to Slip Into Everyday Conversations

"So I Got That Going for Me, Which Is Nice."

"Be the Ball"

"How Do You Measure Yourself Against Other Golfers?"

"You Buy a Hat Like This I'll Bet You Get a Free Bowl of Soup, Huh?"

"You Know I've Often Thought of Becoming a Golf Club."

"You'll Get Nothing and Like it!"

"Somebody Step on a Duck?"

"You Wanna Make 14 Dollars the Hard Way?"

"Now I Know Why Tigers Eat Their Young."

"Ahoy, Polloi"

"Hey, You Scratched my Anchor!"

"It's a Cinderella Story"

"How 'Bout a Fresca?"

“Don’t Sell Yourself Short, Judge."

"My Enemy Is an Animal"

“The World Needs Ditch Diggers, Too.”

"We Have a Pool or a Pond."

"Oh, Rat Farts!"

"Me Winning Isn't. You Do."

"Well? We're Waiting!"

"Hey Everybody..."

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More from this title

Where is Caddyshack Filmed? Uncovering the Iconic Golf Comedy’s Locations

Key Takeaways

Origins and Development

Concept Creation

Screenwriting Team

Key Filming Locations

Main Golf Course

Supporting Venues

Iconic Scenes and Moments

Yacht Club Scenes

Gopher Chase

Cast and Characters

Supporting Cast

Cultural Impact

Cult Status

Influence on Golf and Cinematography

Written by Alexander

Caddyshack Minute 54: Welcome to the Rusty Pelican

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