Cabin Boy: Difference between revisions

For other uses, see Cabin Boy (disambiguation).

Cabin Boy
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Adam Resnick
Written by	Story: Chris Elliott Adam Resnick Screenplay: Adam Resnick
Produced by	Barry Bernardi (Executive Producer) Tim Burton (Producer) Denise Di Novi (Producer) Steve White (Executive Producer)
Starring	Chris Elliott Andy Richter James Gammon Melora Walters David Letterman Alfred Molina
Cinematography	Steve Yaconelli
Edited by	Jon Poll
Music by	Steve Bartek
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures
Release date	January 7, 1994
Running time	80 Min
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10,000,000

Cabin Boy is a 1994 fantasy comedy film directed by Adam Resnick and produced by Tim Burton, which starred comedian Chris Elliott. Elliott co-wrote the film with Adam Resnick. Both men worked for Late Night with David Letterman in the 1980s, as well as the short-lived Fox sitcom Get a Life in the early 1990s.

The project was originally to be directed by Tim Burton, who had contacted Chris Elliott after seeing Get a Life episode "Neptune 2000". Writer Adam Resnick took over the direction after Burton was offered the film Ed Wood.

Plot summary

Elliott plays a virginal snobby "fancy lad" school boy named Nathaniel Mayweather, who, upon graduation, mistakes the fishing ship The Filthy Whore for the Queen Catherine, a luxury cruise liner bound for Hawaii. Mayweather learns of his mistake only after the ship sets sail, so he is forced to do his best to convince the four filthy seamen to take him to Hawaii to be reunited with his hotel-owner father, played by Elliott's real life father, Bob Elliott.

Nathaniel convinces the ship's cabin boy, Kenny, to change course for Hawaii, but when they land in a storm in Hell's Bucket, Kenny is knocked overboard and Nathaniel must take over the role of ship's cabin boy. The crew (and accidental passenger) of The Filthy Whore then encounter a number of strange and disturbing beings as they continue on through Hell's Bucket, including an iceberg monster and Chocki the man-shark. Nathaniel also fishes out a woman from the ocean, iron worker and swimmer Trina, played by Melora Walters.

The film includes a brief appearance from Elliott's former boss, David Letterman, as the crusty fishing village sock monkey salesman. He utters his famous line; "Would you like to buy a monkey?" Letterman preferred to be credited as "Earl Hofert" for his role. It also features former Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien sidekick Andy Richter as the Filthy Whore's dullard of a first mate, Kenny. Cabin Boy also features a brief, uncredited cameo appearance by Alfred Molina as Nathaniel's teacher.

The crass fishermen are played by Ritch Brinkley (Get A Life), Brian Doyle-Murray (Get A Life), James Gammon (Major League) and Brion James.

Legacy

Hip hop producer Dan "the Automator" Nakamura named his publishing company, Sharkman Music, after the film. References to the film have appeared in multiple works by Nakamura. For example, the Bulk Recordings edition of Kool Keith's debut solo album Dr. Octagonecologyst, contains a dialogue excerpt from the film preceding the song "halfsharkalligatorhalfman".

Post-hardcore band A Static Lullaby reference the film in their song "Half Man, Half Shark; Equals One Complete Gentleman", the title of which is a paraphrase of an Elliot line spoken in the film. The song can be found on their Faso Latido album.

Awards

While the film was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst New Star (Chris Elliott), the film was actually rather successful. It won every category in which it was nominated at the annual Ayers Awards for Comedy Excellence, including Best Performance for Chris Elliot and Funniest Dialog.

See also

Captains Courageous

External links

• Cabin Boy at IMDb
• Cabin Boy at Rotten Tomatoes
• Cabin Boy at Metacritic
• Cabin Boy at Box Office Mojo
• Cabin Boy at AllMovie