Named by ESPN as “perhaps the funniest sports movie ever made,” Harold Ramis’ Caddyshack is one of the most beloved comedy classics of all time. Drawn from a 250-page script by Ramis, Douglas Kenney, and Brian Doyle-Murray and shaped by hours of improvisation by a talented cast including Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Rodney Dangerfield, Caddyshack has a rapid-fire gag rate that doesn’t give you a second to breathe before bringing on more laughs.
A National Lampoon movie in all but name, Caddyshack had a lengthy, troubled production process filled with obstacles. So, here are 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Caddyshack.
Carl was a non-speaking role before Bill Murray was cast
In the original script for Caddyshack, Carl Spackler was supposed to be a non-speaking role. He would instead be a master of silent comedy, a la Harpo Marx. As soon as improvisational genius Bill Murray was cast in the role, this was scrapped and the character became a speaking part. Director Harold Ramis encouraged Murray to improvise lines during his scenes.
Some of Carl’s funniest scenes were ad-libbed, like his “Cinderella story” monologue near the beginning of the film, which Murray improvised from just two lines of stage direction in the script. Ramis simply asked Murray to do a sports announcement for himself.
The assembly cut clocked in at around four-and-a-half hours
Caddyshack was not short on material. The first draft of the script (which should be around 90-120 pages) came in at a whopping 250 pages. The script for The Irishman wasn’t even that long. And so much was shot for the movie that the assembly cut by editor William C. Carruth clocked in at around four-and-a-half hours.
Bill Murray had ad-libbed a speech that was cut down to 30 minutes in the edit. The studio and the producers stepped in to replaced Carruth with another editor to fix the runtime and pacing, but they were unhappy with that cut, too, leading to a lot of pesky meddling.
Not everyone in the cast enjoyed the freedom of improv
Director Harold Ramis allowed all of his actors to improvise, creating a manic comedic energy on the set of Caddyshack. This was great for the actors with a background in standup or improv, like Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, and Bill Murray. But it didn’t work for everybody.
The more traditional actors in the cast, like Ted Knight, grew frustrated with the constant ad-libbing. Actors like Scott Colomby were also bothered, because as the comics improvised their way to larger roles in the film, Colomby and others saw their roles reduced.
Don Rickles was originally considered for Rodney Dangerfield’s part
While the role of Ty Webb was written specifically for Chevy Chase, the writers didn’t have any specific performer in mind for Al Czervik. Originally, Don Rickles was under consideration for the part.
The producers eventually chose Rodney Dangerfield for the role, despite his lack of acting experience, because he frequently appeared on The Tonight Show during Johnny Carson’s tenure and delivered hysterical standup performances.
Harold Ramis wanted to make a western and a movie about neo-Nazis instead of Caddyshack
After the success of National Lampoon’s Animal House, its co-writer Harold Ramis pitched two movies to be his next project, intending to direct them: a “revisionist Marxist western,” and a satirical comedy about neo-Nazis in Illinois. Neither of these movies ended up getting made, since the producers just wanted more of the same.
Douglas Kenney and Brian Doyle-Murray pitched “Animal House on a golf course,” which is more what the producers were looking for. The idea was to essentially do the same movie again, but with a different setting.
Kenny Loggins was the second choice for the soundtrack after Pink Floyd
Harold Ramis initially wanted Pink Floyd to write the soundtrack for Caddyshack, but he struggled to get them onboard. So, open auditions were held for pop stars to offer their take on the movie’s soundtrack. Kenny Loggins came into these auditions with “I’m All Right,” which ended up becoming Caddyshack’s iconic theme song. When he played it for the producers, they pretty much hired him on the spot.
After Loggins was hired, Johnny Mandel was brought on to write the actual score. Pink Floyd’s prog-rock sound definitely would’ve set a different tone for the movie.
Rodney Dangerfield was so new to filmmaking that he didn’t respond to “Action!”
Since he was a standup comic and not an actor, it took Rodney Dangerfield a long time to get used to the film production process. He didn’t respond to “Action!” whenever director Harold Ramis called it out. No matter how many times Ramis explained it to Dangerfield, when he called “Action!,” Dangerfield wouldn’t budge. Eventually, Ramis decided it would be easier to just say, “Okay, Rodney, now do your bit,” every time Dangerfield was involved in a scene.
In his first couple of scenes, Dangerfield thought he was bombing, because no one was laughing. He had to be told that laughter would ruin the take and that’s why no one was laughing.
Caddyshack was originally conceived as a simple coming-of-age tale
Initially, Caddyshack was conceived as a simple, relatable coming-of-age story about a bunch of kids working at a golf course over summer, with Danny and Tony serving as the lead protagonists. This was inspired by the real-life experiences of the film’s writers when they were growing up.
However, as Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Rodney Dangerfield became the stars of the movie – setting the comedic rhythm with their improvisations – the caddies were increasingly sidelined and Caddyshack morphed into an ensemble piece.
Co-writer Douglas Kenney objected to the gopher gag
When the assembly cut came in at four-and-a-half hours and the producers brought in a second editor to trim it down, they found that the shorter version didn’t have much of a structure. In order to give the story a spine, the producers came up with the gopher gag.
The film’s co-writer Douglas Kenney objected to this gag, and fought the studio on it every step of the way. This contributed to Kenney’s spiral into depression during Caddyshack’s post-production process, and he died in Hawaii shortly afterwards. Puppeteer Jeff Burke was paid $5,000 to create the gopher puppet, and was given the puppet after shooting ended.
Bill Murray and Chevy Chase didn’t have a scene together in the original script
In the original script for Caddyshack, Bill Murray and Chevy Chase’s characters didn’t share any scenes. Director Harold Ramis decided to add one, because it would be crazy not to include a scene featuring the movie’s two biggest stars. In the scene, which is now widely regarded to be one of the film’s funniest moments, Ty’s golf ball smashes into Carl’s banged-up house.
Murray and Chase weren’t on good terms, due to a feud dating back to their SNL days, but they reportedly remained civil during the shoot and didn’t let their personal problems get in the way.