''Scavenger Hunt'' is a 1979 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

with a large

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

which includes

Richard Benjamin Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known films, including '' Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), '' Catch-22'' (1970), '' Portnoy's Complaint'' (1972), '' Westworld'', ...

James Coco James Emil Coco (March 21, 1930 – February 25, 1987) was an American stage and screen actor. He was the recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Cable ACE Award and three Obie Awards, as well as nominations for a Tony Award, ...

Scatman Crothers Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986) was an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show ''Chico and the Man'', and Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick's '' The ...

Ruth Gordon Ruth Gordon Jones (October 30, 1896 – August 28, 1985) was an American actress, playwright and screenwriter. She began her career performing on Broadway at age 19. Known for her nasal voice and distinctive personality, Gordon gained internati ...

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

Cleavon Little Cleavon Jake Little (June 1, 1939 – October 22, 1992) was an American stage, film and television actor. He began his career in the late 1960s on the stage. In 1970, he starred in the Broadway production of '' Purlie'', for which he earned both ...

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) was a British-American actor whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across over 60 years. Born in London, he began his acting career as a child in his n ...

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, often in ...

Richard Mulligan Richard Mulligan (November 13, 1932 – September 26, 2000) was an American character actor. He was known for his roles in the sitcoms ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and '' Empty Nest'' (1988–1995). Mulligan was the winner of two Emmy Aw ...

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor of film, television and stage. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in the 1970–1975 television adaptation of ...

Dirk Benedict Dirk Benedict (born Dirk Niewoehner; March 1, 1945) is an American actor and author. He is best known for playing the characters Lieutenant Starbuck in the original ''Battlestar Galactica'' film and television series and Templeton "Face" Peck ...

Willie Aames Albert William Upton (born July 15, 1960), known professionally as Willie Aames, is an American actor, film and television director, television producer, and screenwriter. He is widely known for playing Tommy Bradford, one of the children of Tom ...

Stephanie Faracy Stephanie Faracy is an American actress. She is known for playing supporting roles in films including '' Heaven Can Wait'' (1978), ''Scavenger Hunt'' (1979), ''Blind Date'' (1987), '' The Great Outdoors'' (1988), '' Hocus Pocus'' (1993), ''Sidewa ...

Stephen Furst Stephen Furst (born Stephen Nelson Feuerstein; May 8, 1954 – June 16, 2017) was an American actor, director and producer. After gaining attention with his featured role as Kent "Flounder" Dorfman in the comedy film '' National Lampoon's A ...

Richard Masur Richard Masur (born November 20, 1948) is an American character actor who has appeared in more than 40 films. From 1995 to 1999, he served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). He is best known for playing David Kane on '' One ...

and

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor. He was known for his work in the horror film genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price ...

. The film was directed by

Michael Schultz Michael Schultz (born November 10, 1938) is an American director and producer of theater, film and television. Life and career Schultz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of an African-American mother Katherine Frances Leslie (1917–199 ...

, and released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. It includes an appearance by

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

, and features cameos by

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...

and

. Filming took place in and around

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, incorporating local landmarks such as Balboa Park and the

Centre City Building The Centre City Building (formerly known as the United Brethren Building) is an historic building at 36-44 South Main Street at the corner of East Fourth Street in downtown Dayton, Ohio. It was designed by Charles Herby and built in 1904 by ...

Plot

Milton Parker, an eccentric game inventor, dies after losing a video game with his nurse. Parker's greedy and estranged relatives show up at his mansion for the reading of his will. Lawyer Charles Bernstein tells them that the winner of a

scavenger hunt A scavenger hunt is a game in which the organizers prepare a list defining specific items that need to be found, which the participants seek to gather or complete all items on the list, usually without purchasing them. Usually participants work i ...

will inherit the $200 million estate. The potential beneficiaries form five teams and get involved in various misadventures. The five teams consist of: # Parker's widowed son-in-law Henry Motley and his four children. # The servants: French cook Henri, valet Jenkins, limo driver Jackson and French maid Babbette. # Dim-witted taxi driver Marvin Dummitz. # Parker's widowed sister Mildred Carruthers, her attorney Stuart Sellsome, and her son Georgie. # Nephews Kenny and Jeff Stevens, and Mildred's step-daughter Lisa. Each group is given a list containing clues to acquire 100 items with various point values ranging from 5 to 100 points. The items are to be acquired by any means necessary, with the exception of being purchased. They are to be placed in five different pens on the grounds of the estate. The winner of the scavenger hunt will be the person or team to acquire the most points by 5 p.m. that day. Chaos and carnage ensue, with scavengers returning occasionally to the Parker mansion to deposit items under the supervision of Bernstein and the scorekeeper, Cornfeld. Mildred, Stuart and Georgie's adventure has them trying to win a stuffed toy bear at a local carnival, trying to haul a heavy safe out of Stuart's office building, and stealing the false teeth of a Native American. Stuart gets roughed up by a motorcycle gang led by Scum after attempting to steal a stuffed fox tail off one of the gang's motorcycles. Late in the game, the team steals items from the servants and the Stevens/Lisa teams. The servants' adventure has them stealing a toilet from a fancy hotel, partaking in a robbery at a convenience store to steal a cash register and getting locked in a university laboratory while trying to steal a microscope. Kenny, Jeff and Lisa's adventure has them "borrowing" items such as the head of Jack from a Jack in the Box restaurant, recruiting an obese Duane, although they soon discard him. A bulletproof vest is borrowed from a self-defense-obsessed lady named Arvilla and they acquire "laughing gas," steal a uniform from a motorcycle cop, and get stuck in a football team's locker room trying to steal a helmet. Dummittz' adventure has him trying unsuccessfully to steal a Rolls-Royce front grill and getting run over many times while trying to replicate an insurance scam he witnesses. A bridal shop security guard named Sam catches him attempting to steal a bridal dress. Sam joins the hunt. Together they steal a knight's suit of armor from a museum, with Marvin dressing up as a mummy and Sam putting on the armor. Sam, knocked unconscious, is stolen by the Mildred-Stuart-Georgie team. Motley's adventure has him attempting to make his kids proud while acquiring a beehive, a life preserver and a parachute. Motley tries to get a medicine ball from a gym and to impress the instructor Lars, which gets Motley thrown out of a second floor window trying to catch a medicine ball thrown to him. Each team steals an ostrich from the

San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park. It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its ...

, much to the dismay of the zookeeper. This leads to a car chase back to the Parker mansion. The three remaining teams give up their individual chances to win in order to help Kenny, Jeff and Lisa win against the unethical Mildred-Stuart-Georgie team. With seconds to go, Sam, still wearing the armor, crawls out of the Carruthers' pen and into the other pen to win the contest for the Stevens brothers and Lisa. The victors decide to share their new wealth with the rest, except for Mildred, Stuart and Georgie, who are being chased away by the native American looking for his false teeth.

Cast

Reception

''Scavenger Hunt'' did not receive good reviews. The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

termed the film "excruciatingly dull", observing that "Coco and Little disconnect a toilet; Randall gets knocked down by a safe; Benjamin steals items from another team. Isn't that a scream? Are your sides splitting?"

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote, "When a movie's jokes are so noticeably without punch lines, only a mood of uproarious confusion can save the day. Mr. Schultz takes an orderly approach that only makes the movie more of a mess." ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' wrote that "An all-star cast ..plays unsuccessfully for laughs". ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' called the film "An all-star, all-stupid comedy attempt that proves, once again, no actor can triumph over bad material."

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...

called it an "utterly wretched comedy".

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

opined that the film is "Not at all good, but almost fascinating for its cast and the wrongheadedness of its approach to comedy." Blu-ray.com wrote, "It's a silly endeavor, but it's also exhausting to watch, with its inherent harmlessness evolving into a threat as the one-dimensional picture is stretched over nearly two hours of screen time."

Home media

''Scavenger Hunt'' was first issued on video cassette (both Beta and VHS formats) in 1983 by

CBS/Fox Video 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 10, 2017.

References

External links