Under the Rainbow (1981) User Reviews (36)

What a great underrated movie...

[jason-1086 · 5/10 · 10 November 2005]

What a great underrated movie. Everywhere I look it gets awful reviews, but they don't seem to take into account the campiness of the movie. It doesn't make fun on little people, or at least it doesn't poke more fun at them than anyone else! It makes fun of everyone! If you can find it, at least rent it and give it a try. If you watch it, you'll want to buy it... I did.

My whole family enjoyed the movie, and I believe yours will to... Wholesome fun for anyone who enjoys spoofs of spy movies or comedies in general.

Chevy Chase is at his prime and best in this movie, sure the script isn't great, but what movie in this genre is? The slap-stick of the movie is incredible and the acting is above most in the category!

I have several friends that happen to be little people, and they all enjoyed the movie, and didn't find it offensive in the least. The writers make fun of everyone, while not belittling anyone (except Nazi war criminals, give it a chance!)...

It was a spoof

[alive_still · 6/10 · 23 March 2005]

But it was supposed to be a spoof. I could not stop laughing as the movie was so much of a farce I found it to keep me laughing all the time. I would not recommend it for theater view but if you have never seen the movie I would say its worth watching as a rental as the cost of it is so little now. You could rent something much more costly and worse like Dead Calm. I found that all the dumb things that happened such as trying to keep the suicidal dog in the picture just more then my sides could take at times. When that dog jumped out of the window for the ball I lost it. How could you not think something as this movie which I assume was to be as "B" a movie as anyone could possibly make not be funny? I found it much better then the Vacation movies by far. I would say that this review has a spoiler but this movie cant be spoiled as there is no real plot.

Strange but True... sort of.

[moifee · 4/10 · 12 October 2005]

This movie is a farce. It's big, broad humor... or little broad humor, to be accurate because most of the actors are little people.

The Culver Hotel played host to all of the actors who played munchkins during the filming of The Wizard of Oz. Apparently, it was a debacle. The actors partied, drank, and wreaked havoc on the hotel during a stay that has become legendary in Los Angeles.

While the specific events of this film are fictional, most of the movie is indeed based on a true event.

Now, of course a great story doesn't always make for a good movie. This is indeed a broad, goofy, slapstick comedy. Whatever your level of offense at ethnic and physical stereotypes, some of the humor is groan-worthy.

A funny satire of stereotypes

[james-429 · 14 June 2004]

This is a great movie that satirizes Hollywood stereotypes in a fun filled slapstick romp. Sadly, many people miss the point of satire, and will only see the stereotypes. They will not enjoy the movie, but then why do people with no sense of humor even pick up a comedy??

The main character is led through an unbelievable sequence of events while staying at a hotel awaiting a tryout for "The Wizard of Oz". The hotel is filled with hopefuls for the Munchkin parts, and has been chosen as a supposedly quiet meeting place for a Japanese and German spy to exchange info.

The German is a midget, and the addition of a Japanese tour bus stopping at the hotel makes the meeting of these two spies quite a mess.

toss in lots of slapstick, satire, and chase fun, and you have a comedy romp that the whole family can belly laugh to.

The pearl is in the river...

[karenlynn1 · 5/10 · 14 February 2006]

Campy at it's best. A lighthearted look at one of the best movies ever made. It's a spoof, not to be taken too seriously. A spoof about the making of the Wizard of Oz possibly based on a rumor started by Ms. Judy Garland herself.

During an interview she was asked what the midget actors were like to work with. Her reply "They were drunks!" (she was joking, of course.)

Take that rumor, ad a little espionage, Chevy Chase in his SNL days, Carrie Fisher in her Star Wars days, throw in the incomparable Billy Barty...

And you'll have plenty of laughs.

True, as one other commentator said, it's not very PC. A few movies in the early 80's had that flaw...and mind you it takes place in an even earlier decade.

It's also very slapstick, and cheeky. But I loved it for it's slapstick and cheekiness.

It's a spoof. And, if you enjoy spoofs you'll enjoy Under The Rainbow.

6.5/10 from me, for pure laughs.

Under the Rainbow was such an underwhelming mess for Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, and cast

[tavm · 3/10 · 2 August 2013]

After a little more than thirty years, I once again watched Under the Rainbow, another of Chevy Chase's early starring features after leaving "Saturday Night Live". This time he's a secret service agent guarding a duke and duchess on a trip to America during a pre-production of "The Wizard of Oz" of which Carrie Fisher is in charge of handling the little people cast who are also staying at the Hotel Rainbow. To tell the truth, it wasn't very funny then and while I discovered a few more punchlines and gags to be amused by, it's still not that much funny now. It's even a little tasteless what with all the innocent Japanese tourists that accidentally get killed in the chaos. The fact that, like the classic movie that starred Judy Garland, it all turned out to be a dream by one of those "Munchkins" doesn't excuse any of it. Such familiar comic players like Eve Arden and Billy Barty are mostly wasted here though Barty made a pretty good villain here. Seeing Ms. Fisher being stripped was also good eye candy here, I have to admit. But it all was mostly pretty routine and boring so on that note, I'd only recommend Under the Rainbow for the curious and nothing more.

Promising comedic story and players get lost in the frantic shuffle...

[moonspinner55 · 2/10 · 18 November 2006]

A gloriously promising idea: 1930s movie-studio executives have a difficult time controlling all the "little people" they've hired to play Munchkins for the movie "The Wizard Of Oz". Director Steve Rash opens the film with the right amount of edgy whimsy and queasy sentimentality, hinting this may have been a twisted, funny fracas with a little bit of heart amongst its grosser gags. Unfortunately, the script seems half-completed, and stars Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher (a likable screen-duo) are lost along the way. Scattered laughs cannot compensate for headache-inducing final third, with Adam Arkin screaming until he's hoarse. Even comedy legend Eve Arden fails to register, which is criminal. * from ****

The pearl is in the river!

[weenawoman · 7/10 · 20 February 2008]

I am sorry that everyone did not see the humor in this movie like I did. I love this movie!! Of course I love anything with Chevy Chase in the80's. How can anybody not love a movie with all of those little people?!!! (notice the PC term) Somebody please add some classic quotes from this movie. I will have to go home tonight and watch this again to add some zingers. When I purged my huge pile of VHS tapes I kept this one. I won't let it go until I find the DVD.

For those who didn't find this movie even a little amusing, check it out again. Maybe you were just having a bad day.

To this day, when I want to be intimate with my husband, I just look at him and say "The pearl is in the river" and he just smiles.

Something to offend everyone

[urthmothr · 5/10 · 9 October 2009]

Sorry - I think "Blazing Saddles" used that first, and that's a much better satire! This is just silliness - we always get laughs out of this, it's not prejudiced against anyone because everyone gets skewered! Also, part of the fun is star-watching, it has a lot of our favorite character actors, including Billy Barty, Mako, Eve Arden! Surely they all realized that it was a bit of froth, and not to be taken seriously. I brought out the VHS because of the recent interview with surviving Munchkins. We would like to have a DVD because my husband, who is deaf, depends on captions or subtitles to get the jokes.SPOILER - It opts out in the end, making it a dream and not based on reality!

This is a good movie

[Sober-Friend · 7/10 · 24 February 2018]

I do not not understand the low rating. Its funny. Trust me you will laugh. This film is based on the myth that the "Little People" who were in "The Wizard of Oz" became party animals when they were all staying at the same hotel when the film was in production.

However in this film also has winks to the audience that will even make the hardest critics smile. It has a few things "Oz" related plot points. It also a screwball comedy that spoof's natzi's .

Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher star. Look fast for Zelda Rubinstein (Poltergeist).

Goodbye, Yellowbrick Road.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 27 August 2013]

The Singer Midgets return to Hollywood and face the many legends which have filled movie books for years. Of course, they don't mention Nazi agents on the set and a fancy royal couple with a pooch named Strudel. Chevy Chase is a government agent guarding the Duke and Duchess and Carrie Fisher guarding the residents of Munchkinland and the winged monkeys. This leads to chases all over the Rainbow Hotel and MGM studios, visiting the "Gone With the Wind" set, pretty remarkable considering it was filmed at Selznick. The actual surviving "Wizard of Oz" munchkins appear as themselves, many ageless considering that Oz was made 40 years before.

Sounds promising, yes? NO! This is one of the great comic disasters over the past 40 years, a film so unfunny that I wanted the witch to swoop down and cover them with the poison from her hourglass. Eve Arden tries very hard with a Eastern European accent to be amusing but is defeated by tasteless material concerning her beloved pup whom she fails to recognize with changing looks. Joseph Maher also tries as the Duke with similar results. Billy Barty gets a few good pratfalls as the German spy who starts his mission by hailing Hitler right in the no-nads. With its Mel Brooks style humor, you think there would be some humor but all it ends up being is a Bugs Bunny cartoon where all the gags land with a thud. And oh, those songs, which sound like the original munchkin songs sped up to make the voices even higher.

It's a Funny Movie

[clarkpark · 8/10 · 24 July 2005]

Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, Pat McCormack, Billy Barty, Eve Arden, Joseph Maher, Adam Arkin, Cork Hubbard, Robert Donner – how could it not be good. The temporary manager (Arkin) of the Culver Hotel, across from MGM in 1939, changes its name to Hotel Rainbow to take advantage of the publicity surrounding the soon-to-be shot Wizard of Oz. It works as the studio's talent agent (Fisher) books rooms for all of their wouldbe munchkins. So, we start with hundreds of partying little people who make a Shriners convention look like a religious retreat. Throw in an FBI agent (Chase) protecting a traveling Duke (Maher) and Duchess (Arden) from a crazed assassin (Donner), and then a couple of dozen photo- snapping Japanese tourists whose bus breaks down in front of the hotel. Finally, sift in a Japanese agent (Mako) and a dwarf Nazi spy (Barty) who are looking for each other in a hotel full of Japanese and dwarfs. The plot is decent without getting in the way of the comedy, the acting is great, and the dialogue is often superb (What floor do you want? Ballroom. Oh' I'm sorry, I didn't know I was crowding you.) All in all, it's a great way to spend an afternoon.

Make what you will of those dreams.

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 16 July 2009]

As for a Chevy Chase vehicle (and I remember this being my first encounter of his work in films and still a favourite), it's not much of one, but I still don't get the negativity towards this extravagantly wacky period comedy enterprise. I love Chevy Chase (and most of his films), but here he goes about things in kind of a laid back manner with everything else soon rising head over heels with its madcap humor and zany visuals. Truly there's so much going on (plenty of episodic sub-plots for the fodder), making it very unforeseeable with the style of 'Under the Rainbow' being very old-fashioned, but amusingly daring and erratically insane in its lack of respect for correctness. It looks cheap (but from my understanding it wasn't), but has a grand feel to it.

The story sets up the events of 1938, when a major studio with plans to make a fantasy film called 'Wizard Of Oz', assembles 150 midgets to play munchkins and book them into the Culver Hotel… only to find that there reservations were lost and leaves their talent coordinator Annie Clark (a completely delightful Carrie Fisher) with a headache. Also at the hotel is an American secret Agent Bruce Thorpe (smoothly played by Chase) looking after two international guests the Duke (a terrific Joseph Maher) and Duchess (a perfectly airy Eve Arden) with an assassin (A fidgety Robert Donner) close behind. No it's over yet, because a very miniature German spy (who gets mistaken as one of the cast members) arrives at the hotel looking for a Japanese spy to hand over some very important documents, but his luck the hotel is filled with Japanese tourists. Now watch how everything raucously mingles together. Nothing is safe from the onslaught.

There's something that's engaging about this gimmicky idea, which it caps it off rather nicely when it comes to the closing. Quite a clever touch. The cartoon-like screenplay is potent and elastic, although feels a little on the rushed side. Some of the gags do get tiredly reused, but its concentration on the eccentrically bumbling details of accidents, mischief and distractions getting out of hands and then coming together amongst a party atmosphere holds some charm. Everything falls into place… for some it might be like watching a car smash… but I liked this recklessly spontaneous fiasco.

Steve Rash's busy handling is direction-less, but cheerfully staged with moments of a gliding camera working the action considerably well. The score is a bellow of dramatic sounds. The cast really do give it their all and I enjoyed watching them. Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher made for a likable pairing. A flighty Cork Hubbert is fine. Bill Barty is quite fun as the dwarf German spy and Mako as the icy Japanese spy. Adam Arkin as the fill-in hotel manager is rather fitting too. Also appearing were Richard Stahl, Phil Fondacaro and Debbie Lee Carrington.

Go rescue your elevator.....

[FlashCallahan · 1/10 · 16 February 2016]

In 1938 Los Angeles, the manager of the Culver Hotel leaves his nephew in charge for a weekend.

The nephew changes the name to the Hotel Rainbow and overbooks with royalty, assassins, secret agents, Japanese tourists, and munchkins from the cast of 'Wizard of Oz'.

Secret Service agent Bruce Thorpe and casting director Annie Clark find romance amidst the intrigue and confusion........

So,e films can be very hard to find because the makers of the film had a little disagreement with the studio, so it can be very hard to get a proper release, so it just pops up on TV every now and again (think Michael Mann's The Keep).

Others just remain hidden because they are so bad, that everybody involved wants to forget that it ever existed.

And this has to be the prime example of such a film.

What Chase and Fisher are doing in this film is anyone's guess, maybe the studio had something on them, photographic evidence of some sort of major crime, because they do nothing, absolutely nothing, to add a little depth to the proceedings.

But then they must have seen the dailies and realised that whatever they would try, would not add any coherence to the film.

Because the film is just an exercise in the offensive, being abhorrent to almost every single character on screen. So the last two acts consist of dog murders, vertically challenged people really showing themselves up, and the entire Asian cast getting murdered for some strange reason.

But regarding the dwarf element of the chaos, surely they must have realised that they were having so many liberties taken from them, and their disability. Shouldn't have there have been a spokesperson or something to observe the atrocities that were being committed on screen.

It's a woefully unfunny, offensive film, that should have never seen the light of day.

Don't search for it, it's not available for a reason.

Give it a chance

[Woody-110 · 17 May 2001]

I remember this film film as among my favorites growing up. Forget the fact that it is absolutely politically incorrect. Of all my friends growing up (Japanese, African-American, and yes event a "little person") we all have found it hysterical over the years. The movie excited my imagination beyond most other films. While no jewel of the cinema, it will always hold a spot in my psychological toy chest, with Fletch, Foul Play, Time Bandits, and other movies too busy entertaining than to think about oversensativities.

OH...the pain! The pain!

[udar55 · 1/10 · 22 January 2007]

To first hear of UNDER THE RAINBOW is to disbelieve. No, a big studio wouldn't be dumb enough to fund a spy comedy caper set against the backdrop of the filming of THE WIZARD OF OZ with 150 drunken midgets. You're pulling my leg, right? Wrong! It is real and it is terrible. It feels like every exec's 70s drug binge induced dreams were all wrapped up tightly into one project and spat out at audiences in the early 80s.

In 1938, Adolf Hitler (yes, that Adolf Hitler) sends his top spy (Billy Barty!) to the US to meet up with Japan's no. 1 spy (Mako!) to deliver a map of American military targets to get the US into WWII. Unbeknownst to Barty, his rendezvous is a hotel (run by Adam Arkin) across the street from a movie lot where 150 Munchkin extras are staying. Also at the hotel are a Duke and Dutchess (Joseph Maher and Eve Arden) who are being guarded by Secret Service man Bruce Thorpe (Chevy Chase) who also has his eye on OZ midget wrangler Annie Clark (Carrie Fisher). You still with me? You shouldn't be.

So how bad is this flick? Well, the opening ten minutes have Billy Barty saluting Hitler and hitting him in the crotch. Nothing like Nazi humor in 1981. Perhaps the filmmakers were influenced by the "success" of Spielberg's 1941? And who exactly is this made for? The reliance on slapstick, dogs and midgets would suggest kids. But the midgets are all boozing it up and there is a brief sojourn through a woman's locker room. There are also some weak attempts at humor involving the Japanese. Get this...the Japanese take lots of pictures and mispronounce things! Amazingly, it took 5 writers to make a movie this unfunny (proving that DATE MOVIE isn't just an age thing). Perhaps the film's biggest copout is that, in the end, it is all just a dream of a guy who got knocked on the head a la THE WIZARD OF OZ. To the film's credit, there is one funny gag involving Tony Cox, who has since gone on to become Hollywood's leading little funnyman. Also featuring Zelda Rubenstein and Phil Fondacaro alongside his brother Sal Fondacaro (who is also a little person despite them being born years apart).

Silly mess

[Maziun · 1/10 · 27 August 2013]

I've heard that „Under the rainbow" is a cult movie for some people. It's not surprising for me. It's such a silly and cheesy mess that somebody must have liked it . After all Chevy Chase plays here a private detective , Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia from "Star wars" trilogy) appears in underwear and there are midgets . A LOT of midgets . There is also some Nazi spy here and a bit of "Wizard of Oz" there.

I don't think that this movie shows midgets in bad light. In the end it shows they are humans just like us and should be treated that way. After all , I doubt that any of those midgets that starred in this movie was ashamed .

It's a rather forgettable comedy , or maybe it was too campy for my taste . Maybe you will find something interesting here . I give it 1/10.

Beneath contempt....

[Mister-6 · 1/10 · 16 September 1999]

I thought they did away with movies like this.

"Under the Rainbow" purports to tell the story of how hundreds of midgets apply for parts as Munchkins in "The Wizard of Oz" being filmed in the 1930s, and then proceed to trash one unfortunate hotel during their stay. It also horns in details such as how an assassination plot is foiled, a nefarious Nazi plot is thwarted as one certain midget (Hubbert) learns self-esteem.

All this while the movie makes demeaning caricatures out of midgets, Japanese, women, blacks, Italians and if there's any race, creed or color that was left out, they must have been running out of film stock by that time.

They even kill off a lot of dogs, all for the sake of laughs. Do they get any? No, not even then.

Chase is wasted (again), Fisher is still too well identified as Princess Leia to be convincing as anyone else, and when the screenplay isn't being racist, misogynistic or tasteless, it's just downright dumb ("The pearl is in the river"? Please; I was a junior in high school when this came out and I could have written better than that!).

If you just want to watch something for sheer stupidity's sake, here's your "Rainbow". Just don't expect a pot of gold at the end - just potshots.

One star. And never let midgets borrow your elevator cable.

Funny movie about little people

[capn_wac · 7/10 · 23 October 1998]

I really enjoyed the funny movie. It is about these people who are staying in the same hotel as the midgets are from the wizard of oz. it is really campy and hard to find.

Ok

[dellamorte-82282 · 4/10 · 26 April 2023]

The film is moderately enjoyable. A lot of the humor doesn't translate well. This film seems mean spirited almost by today's contemporary moral/social barometer. It's a weird premise but entirely original. One of the most original films imo of this or any era. The production value is undeniably wonderful it's the best aspect to the film's period setting; offering a unique interpretation. The film is not the best but it's definitely original! The performances are muted. It's a very physical comedy as well. Not to the detriment of the story just the kind of humor mainly expressed. Surprisingly a lot of the physical comedy does not come from the male lead which would immediately be the basis for casting said individual I would imagine. I'm sure the casting decision in theory was for Chevy to work AGAINST type which just does not come across adequately.

Those Munchkins know how to party

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 15 March 2015]

Not even the real Wizard Of Oz movie had so many midgets and dwarfs in its cast as Under The Rainbow. This nicely paced comedy starring Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher has Chase as a secret service agent and Fisher as an agent and handler for the various little people hired to play the Munchkins in The Wizard Of Oz. They're staying at Adam Arkin's hotel or I should say Richard Stahl's hotel where Stahl has left Arkin in charge.

Chase is staying at the hotel with Joseph Maher and Eve Arden a pair of displaced nobility from Europe who are in fear of an assassin who keeps trying for them, Chase is their security. In the meantime a German and a Japanese agent are trying to connect with Mako and Billy Barty playing those roles respectively. They're both trying desperately to make contact with each other because who knew a convention of little people would be staying there. Hard especially for Mako to find Barty in that situation.

While all the cloak and dagger intrigue is going on, the would be Munchkins have taken over the hotel and have turned it into party central. Where did they think they were, on the Animal House set?

Chase and Fisher prove to be valiant troopers in the midst of all the hullabaloo. This one is a real gem, one definitely to lift your spirits.

There's a party going somewhere both Over and Under The Rainbow.

Camp Classic

[delbruk · 8/10 · 25 November 2003]

It does amaze me at times to see what are considered camp classics and then see how so many people can miss an obvious one. This is one film that truly has it all...drunken midgets, nazi spies, princess leia, and a host of off-colour jokes sure to offend ALL. Seriously, if your a member of the PC thought police this film will give you reason to write your congressman (or is it congressperson?) but if you are intelligent enough to realize that when everyone is being poked fun at no one is stigmatized then you might just enjoy this comedic spoof which is as frantic and disjointed as the plot.

One last point regarding the "munchkins": although it might be easy to see this film as taking liberty with the rumors (and some were true) that the midgets who acted in the Wizard of Oz were wild drinking partiers, it should be noted that this notion goes just as far to show how normal this population is; just as interested in getting drunk, laid, and having a good time as the rest of society. A very human face which has not always been offered to actors who are seen primarily in fantasy films (Oz, Willy Wonka, Time Bandits, and even Tiny Town). I do know that the actors on this film were paid better than those on Oz and certainly had no problem with the script in giving their enjoyable performances.

A fun ride

Not Chevy Chase's best film, but I enjoyed it.

[Aaron1375 · 7/10 · 24 October 2010]

Though this film has a rather low score here at the internet movie database, I thought this film was a funny light comedy. Nothing great mind you, but to me it worked. Basically, a story of crime and intrigue and the little people who would go on to star in the famous movie "The Wizard of Oz". I enjoyed Chevy Chase in this role as I usually do. I always find him very funny, mainly during the 80's, he kind of disappeared in the 90's. Carrie Fisher is also in this one, one of her few movies outside the "Star Wars" universe. I enjoyed the whole dog subplot and a few of the other jokes like the mistaken identities and such. Billy Barty is in this one too and I usually enjoy seeing him in a movie too. Though not in that Roger Corman film where he played an imp. The film is not perfect though, I did not enjoy the way the film ended as I usually hate the ending presented here as to me it is a cop out. Sure they can try to paint it as a tribute, but I say it is because you do not really have an idea on how to end your movie. Still, while it is nothing really grand, I did enjoy this light comedy.

Like A Seinfeld episode

[mcguffin-7 · 8/10 · 1 March 2002]

That's right...this movie is as campy and goofy as you can get and one almost wonders why the stars that were in it (at the time) decided that THIS was a film that they wanted to be in...but...to watch it again...it's almost like a precursor to a Seinfeld episode whereas the many plots all come together at the end to make a very funny and often overlooked film...come on...if Rocky Horror is regarded as a classic, why can't this film?...it has a plethora of midgets, Japanese tourists and spies...Chevy Chase in his prime...and is a takeoff of the Wizard of Oz?...how much more odd can you get...a definite rental that grows on you!

A Magnificent Comedy of Errors

[Darguz · 9/10 · 24 May 2001]

With a bit of dark humor thrown in. This is one of my top favorite movies. Mistaken identities and foiled evil plots abound. Those concerned with its lack of "political correctness" should relax and not be so serious. One reviewer said that, if there was anyone they missed making fun of, it must have been only because they ran out of film stock. Exactly! This film has equal opportunity humor. A Japanese friend of mine, personally not known for his tremendous sense of humor, thought the film was hilarious, and has watched it several times, laughing hardest at the Japanese caricatures.

I highly recommend this overlooked gem. Get it, watch it, loosen up and laugh.