Splash - A maiden on the hook

Movie
German title	Splash - A maiden on the hook
Original title	Splash
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1984
length	105 minutes
Age rating	FSK 6
Rod
Director	Ron Howard
script	Brian Grazer , ; Bruce Jay Friedman , ; Lowell Ganz ; Babaloo Almond
production	Brian Grazer, ; John Thomas Lenox
music	Lee Holdridge
camera	Donald Peterman
cut	Daniel P. Hanley , ; Mike Hill
occupation
	Tom Hanks : Allen Bauer; Daryl Hannah : Madison; Eugene Levy : Walter Kornbluth; John Candy : Freddie Bauer;
chronology
	Successor → ; Splash, too

A virgin on the hook - Splash : (AKA Splash is a) American comedy film from the year 1984. The director was Ron Howard , the writer wrote Brian Grazer , Bruce Jay Friedman , Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel . It is vaguely based on the fairy tale The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen . The main roles were played by Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah . Splash was the first film produced by the Disney subsidiary Touchstone Pictures , founded in 1984 .

action

Little boy Allen Bauer, who can't swim, falls off the ferry while on a family trip to Cape Cod and is rescued by a pretty girl.

Years later, Allen and his brother Freddie owned a fruit and vegetable store in New York City . He is dissatisfied with his life and has an unhappy relationship. When his girlfriend breaks up with him, Allen gets drunk and then decides to go back to Cape Cod. There he meets the paranoid marine biologist Dr. Walter Kornbluth. Allen can be crossed to the island in a tiny boat. But there was an accident in which everyone fell into the water and passed out. When he comes to he is lying on the beach and with him is a beautiful, blonde, naked woman who looks very familiar to him. But before he can find out more, she kisses him and swims away.

It turns out that the blonde woman is a mermaid and that the one Allen saved as a child. On land, her fish tail turns into legs so that she is not noticed. However, the legs immediately transform back into the tail when it comes into contact with water. She has fallen in love with him and wants to see him again, so she fishes his lost wallet out of the sea and swims to New York. You will also meet Kornbluth on a dive.

When she shows up at the Statue of Liberty , naked but in possession of the wallet, the police call anyone who picks her up. On a trip to town (to Bloomingdale’s ), she not only dresses up, but also learns the language from television. Since her name cannot be pronounced for humans (glass shatters), she names herself Madison (after Madison Avenue ).

Everyone quickly falls in love with her, which Madison replies. Nevertheless, he is surprised at her sometimes strange behavior (she doesn't know any cars or music and eats a whole lobster with a shell). She also tells him that she can only stay until the next full moon (six days).

Meanwhile, Kornbluth is obsessed with finding the mermaid. He is laughed at and even beaten up, but eventually manages to pour water over Madison in public, turning her legs into her mermaid tail. Madison is then taken to a laboratory for scientists to examine and even dissect her. But she begins to feel sorry for Kornbluth, so he helps Allen and Freddie to free her. After a long chase, Madison manages to jump back into the sea, Allen should come with her. At first he is afraid, but she reminds him that nothing can happen to him underwater when she is with him. But she also makes it clear to everyone that there is no going back ashore for him. He agrees and they both dive away together.

Reviews

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times of January 1, 1984 that Tom Hanks should have played the role of Allen Bauer's brother Freddie, who had been played by John Candy instead . He praised the portrayal of Daryl Hannah.

Dave Kehr criticized the film in the Chicago Reader as "infantile" and stylistically similar to the television films. He derided the comedy as a "lullaby" ("lullaby").

Helmut W. Banz characterized the film at the time as “[e] in modern fairy tales, which combines myth, fantasy and reality; hectic everyday world and the magical dreamland of the sea, nature and culture confronted in a comedic manner, whereby the innocent naivety of the mermaid triggers satirical attacks on the American consumer world. "

The lexicon of international films describes the film as a "modern movie fairy tale that is entertaining with its well-balanced mixture of romance and comedy."

The Internet portal Moviesection.de describes the story as entertaining and nicely told. Romance and tension are not neglected either, which is what makes the film so immortal. Especially the great portrayal of John Candy makes the film particularly entertaining.

Awards

The film was for Best Screenplay for the film award Oscar nomination. Daryl Hannah won the Saturn Award , for which Ron Howard , John Candy , make-up expert Robert J. Schiffer and the film were also nominated for Best Fantasy Film . The film was nominated for Best Comedy for the Golden Globe Award and the Young Artist Award . The script won the National Society of Film Critics Award and was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award .

Trivia

Screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandell both made cameos in the film. Stan, the tour guide at the Statue of Liberty, is complete, Mandell plays the skating lender who stops Allen when he tries to run after Madison.

Clint Howard has - as is often the case in his brother's films - a cameo: He plays a wedding guest (Allen - due to the separation from his girlfriend with his nerves at the end - suddenly yells at the unsuspecting and Freddie identifies him as the bride's brother) .

After the film, Madison became a popular female first name in the United States. While Tom Hanks says in the film that Madison is an unusual name, in 1995 it was number 29 of the most popular female first names in the United States.

Butch Hartman honored Eugene Levy's portrayal of Doctor Kornbluth by using him as a model for the character Denzel Q. Crocker in Cosmo and Wanda - When Elves Help . Both characters spend a lot of time and obsession proving that elves and mermaids exist, respectively. Because of this, they both have no private life and many enemies.

The mermaid costume was designed by Thom Shouse .

Daryl Hannah did all the underwater scenes and stunts herself.

DVD release

Splash. Special edition . Buena Vista Home Entertainment 2002

Soundtrack

Lee Holdridge , Will Jennings : Splash. Original motion picture soundtrack . Super Tracks Music Group / Lee Holdridge, Garden Grove o. J., sound carrier no. LHCD-02 - Original recording of the score, played under the direction of Lee Holdridge

Sequel / remake

In 1988 a sequel was published under the title Splash, Too - The Mermaid from New York . Due to the low budget (3.3 million US dollars ), with the exception of Dody Goodman (Mrs. Stimler), none of the actors in the first film could be won for this.
In 2016, producer Brian Grazer commented on a possible remake of the film. Actors Jillian Bell and Channing Tatum were in discussion for the lead roles.

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Review by Roger Ebert
^ Review by Dave Kehr
↑ Helmut W. Banz: Charming . In: The time . No. 40/1984 , September 28, 1984, Im Kino, p. 54 .
↑ Splash - A maiden on the hook. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film Service , accessed April 14, 2012 .
↑ Moviesection.de ( Memento from August 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
↑ themarysue.com , accessed December 30, 2019.
↑ deadline.com , accessed December 30, 2019.

[1] Review by Roger Ebert

[2] Review by Dave Kehr

[3] Helmut W. Banz: Charming . In: The time . No. 40/1984 , September 28, 1984, Im Kino, p. 54 .

[4] Splash - A maiden on the hook. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film Service , accessed April 14, 2012 .

[5] Moviesection.de ( Memento from August 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

[6] themarysue.com , accessed December 30, 2019.

[7] .com , accessed December 30, 2019.