A Fish Called Wanda

A Fish Called Wanda
US theatrical release poster
Directed byCharles Crichton
Screenplay byJohn Cleese
Story by
  • John Cleese
  • Charles Crichton
Produced byMichael Shamberg
Starring
CinematographyAlan Hume
Edited byJohn Jympson
Music byJohn Du Prez
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • July 7, 1988 (1988-07-07) (New York City)
  • July 15, 1988 (1988-07-15) (United States)
  • October 14, 1988 (1988-10-14) (United Kingdom)
Running time
108 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States[2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7.5 million[3]
Box office$188.6 million

A Fish Called Wanda is a 1988 slapstick farce heist black comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and written by Crichton and John Cleese. It stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The film follows a gang of diamond thieves who double-cross one another to recover stolen diamonds hidden by their jailed leader. His barrister becomes a central figure – and jealousies rage – as femme fatale Wanda seduces him to locate the loot.

The picture grossed over $188 million worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film of 1988. It received three nominations at the 61st Academy Awards: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Kline, which he would go on to win.[4] A spiritual sequel, Fierce Creatures, was released in 1997. The British Film Institute ranked A Fish Called Wanda the 39th-greatest British film of the 20th century.[5]

  1. ^ a b "A Fish Called Wanda (15)". British Board of Film Classification. June 15, 1988. Archived from the original on November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  2. ^ "A Fish Called Wanda". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012.
  3. ^ "'A Fish Called Wanda' turns 30: an oral history of a comedy classic". SBS. April 2, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  4. ^ McCall, Douglas (July 21, 2014). Monty Python: A Chronology, 1969–2012 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-78647-811-8 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "British Film Institute – Top 100 British Films". Cinemarealm.com. 1999. Retrieved August 27, 2016.