Line #1 Film/DoctorDetroit


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Doctor_Detroit_6409.jpg]]
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3	''Doctor Detroit'' is a 1983 FishOutOfWater comedy movie directed by Michael Pressman and starring Creator/DanAykroyd.
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5	Clifford Skridlow teaches at a small UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} college run by his father. Conned into managing four prostitutes by their pimp, who skips town to escape the mob boss known as Mom, Clifford draws on his course in medieval literature in his quest to save the women from Mom.
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7	Music/{{Devo}} did the film's theme song.
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9	----
10	!!Tropes:
11	* EightiesHair: Monica's blonde hair is very voluminous, especially in the finale, where it surrounds her head like a six-inch-thick cloud.
12	* AsHimself: James Brown
13	* AuthorAppeal: Of course one of the [[Film/TheBluesBrothers Blues Brothers]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmgbbT_Eruc would show off]] Music/JamesBrown.
14	* BadBoss: Mom threatens to be this to the call girls in front of Clifford, which offends his sense of honor and forces him to play out Smooth's trap of having him play the role of Doctor Detroit.
15	* BalancedHarem: The four call girls that Smooth manages and whom Clifford ends up protecting from Mom: Blonde, Brunette, Asian, and Black.
16	* BecomingTheMask: What slowly happens to Clifford as he takes on the role of the dreaded Doctor Detroit: That he's turning into a pimp. So much that he suffers a terrible nightmare.
17	** Subverted in the end when he lives out the better dream of being a heroic knight, saving the girls and the city of Chicago in its [[DarkestHour hour of need]].
18	* BerserkButton: Smooth Walker needs his good friend Diavolo to beat him up to make it look like Dr. Detroit did it. Diavolo refuses til Smooth starts making racial insults.
19	-->'''Smooth:''' My grandfather ''owned'' your grandfather! ''(beatdown ensues)''
20	* TheCameo: Music/JamesBrown AsHimself.
21	* DirtyCoward: Smooth Walker for dumping his problems on poor Clifford.
22	* TheDreaded: Mom. So much so that most of the criminal underworld is ''thrilled'' that an unknown (and fake) crime figure from ''Detroit'' stood up to her.
23	%%* TheEighties
24	* FishOutOfWater: Clifford
25	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: The call girls end up being helpful to Clifford not only in stopping Mom's takeover of Chicago's underworld but also with Clifford's efforts to keep his college funded.
26	* KarmaHoudini: Smooth again. He set Cliff up for the fall, and in the end he's shown living happily ever after on a tropical island.
27	* KnightInShiningArmor: Clifford eventually becomes this, even defeating Mom in a sword duel and bringing peace to the streets of Chicago.
28	* LargeHam: Clifford intentionally overacts as Doctor Detroit.
29	* LineOfSightName: How the title character is named. When Smooth Walker is called into Mom's office and given an offer to fork over everything and get out of Chicago with his life, he tries to convince her that he's already leaving the territory because his "partner" is forcing him out:
30	-->'''Smooth:''' This guy, this... dude, from...\
31	''[He looks suddenly at a wall calendar for the "Detroit Differential Company"]''\
32	'''Smooth:''' ...Detroit, is -- uh, he just moved in on me.\
33	'''Mom:''' Detroit? Boy, you kiddin'? I ''know'' people in Detroit.\
34	'''Smooth:''' Not this guy. I mean, h-he's too big, he's too ''bad''. He's as bad as you are, maybe even BADDER!\
35	''[He sees a framed photo of Mom after her colon transplant, with get-well messages from her doctors]''\
36	'''Smooth:''' I'm scared, Mom. And that's why I go along with... the Doctor.\
37	'''Mom:''' "The Doctor"?\
38	'''Smooth:''' Yeah. Doctor. Doctor... ''[looks at the calendar again]'' ...Detroit.
39	* MercyKill: Asked for by Mom when Clifford defeats her in the final duel. Clifford refuses, finding mercy [[SequelHook sending her into exile]] instead.
40	* OneBadMother: The ruthless drug dealer is called "Mom".
41	* PimpDuds: Clifford raids his college's Theater department to find the most outlandish outfit he can find to pretend being the Doctor. Including a medieval knight's glove.
42	* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: The Dr. Detroit persona.
43	* RealityIsUnrealistic: There really is an annual gathering of Chicago's pimps [[https://www.chicagomag.com/style-shopping/December-2017/Players-Ball-2017/ known as "The Players' Ball."]] The screenwriters found out about it and wrote it into the plot.
44	* ShoutOut:
45	** ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Dr. Detroit II: The Wrath of Mom]]'', which Aykroyd was writing til the film bombed.
46	** The one metal glove was indeed a shout out to Music/MichaelJackson's one white sequined glove.
47	* SnobsVersusSlobs: Underplayed as Clifford has to bounce between the upper-class world of academia and the lower-class world of Doctor Detroit. Played for laughs when Clifford stages the criminal's annual bash at the same hotel as the school's annual alumni dinner, and where the two groups inevitably mingle with hilarious results.
48	* TitleThemeTune: Performed by Music/{{Devo}}.
49	* TwoTimerDate: This is the device employed for the climactic sequence. Clifford is running back and forth between a society function and a pimps'/hookers' bash, both in the same hotel, and has to switch clothes and personae between them as well. With predictable results.
50	* WeddingFinale: Part of the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, the last scene before the sequel hook is Clifford and Karen's Jewish wedding.
51	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Where we find out the fate of the main characters.
52	* WillReturnCaption: {{Parodied}} when the end credits proclaim that Doctor Detroit will return in ''Doctor Detroit II: The Wrath of Mom''.

Context Film / DoctorDetroit