TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

Go To

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (Film)
"Protecting the Queen's safety is a task that is gladly accepted by Police Squad. No matter how silly the idea of having a queen might be to us, as Americans, we must be gracious and considerate hosts."
Frank Drebin

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! is a 1988 American crime comedy/parody film and the first installment in the Naked Gun film series. It was written, directed and produced by the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker trio and adapted from their earlier series Police Squad! (recycling some gags from it along the way), and stars Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O. J. Simpson, George Kennedy and Ricardo Montalbán.

The plot is as follows: while trying to clear the name of Officer Nordberg, Police Squad Lieutenant Frank Drebin (Nielsen, reprising his role from Police Squad!) uncovers a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II during her official visit in the USA.

Followed by a sequel in 1991, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear.


The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! contains examples of:

  • 555: The driving school's phone number is 555-3900.
  • Accidental Pervert: Drebin escapes a burning room through the window, climbing along a row of anatomically-correct male and female statues. Between two statues is an open window, and a woman in her underwear just happens to be standing there. Drebin accidentally... well, guess. He then falls off the building, just saving himself by grabbing a statue's stone penis. In trying to save himself he manages to invokedbreak the penis off the statue and fall into the woman's room through the window, brandishing it at her while loudly groaning from exhaustion. He's later before a very angry mayor who reads off the charges against him, which includes "sexual assault with a concrete dildo."
  • Acoustic License: An aversion is played for laughs when a hitman tries to deliver a "message" to Drebin from the Big Bad by cursing and opening fire on him. Drebin's response:
    Drebin: Sorry, I can't hear you! Don't fire the gun while you're talking!
  • Acquitted Too Late: Frank finds a plastic box while cleaning his files.
    Drebin: Hey! The missing evidence in the Kellner case! My god! He really was innocent!
    Ed: He went to the chair two years ago, Frank.
    [box goes back to the drawer]
  • America Saves the Day: Drebin beats the tar out of America's enemies in the cold open.
  • And Another Thing...: Frank to Jane:
    Drebin: Oh by the way, I faked every orgasm.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Almost literally, as the Mayor chews out Drebin for "Entering without a search warrant, destroying property, arson; sexual assault with a concrete dildo?"
  • Artistic License – Biology: Ludwig mentions keeping a Japanese fighting fish in his office. No fish species by that name currently exists, with the closest being the Siamese fighting fish. Additionally, the actual fish seen in his aquarium is a lionfish.
  • Artistic License – Cars: After Drebin crashes his car into the trash cans outside the station and quickly exits the vehicle, the rapidly-inflating airbag pushes the gearshift lever up which causes the car to start rolling downhill, presumably having shifted it into drive or neutral. The Ford LTD Crown Vic's gearshift has Park at the top with the other gears below it for safety reasons. It also did not have any airbags.
  • Artistic License – Geography:
    • When Ed examines the photo of the ship that Nordberg had been investigating, and discovers that it came from Caracas, he refers to it as a Panamanian ship. Caracas is in Venezuela (assuming that the ship wasn't just built in Venezuela, but was subsequently docked in Panama)note .
    • The opening panoramic shot of "Beirut" is actually Cairo, Egypt, as seen from the roof of the Ibn Tulun mosque.
  • Artistic License – Law: Rule of Funny aside, Frank should not have been charged with "sexual assault with a concrete dildo" as that implies he attempted to forcibly shove said "concrete dildo" inside the woman without consent, which his awkwardly hiding it behind his back in no way constitutes as. Unless the assault charge was supposed to be for his actions towards the statue, which in this movie isn't out of the question.
  • Artistic License – Sports:
    • Although just about everything Drebin does as an umpire prior to that point is flagrantly wrong and Played for Laughs, the safe call at first base that gets him into a fight with the other umpires is correct, and the real umpires are wrong. Despite what Joe West says, the rule about running out of the basepath (not baseline) only applies when there is a tag attempt being made, which there wasn't, and even then the path is from the runner's location at the time the tag occurs to the base he is trying to reach, not from the straight line from the base to the next base.
    • The Angels are playing the Mariners at home. The establishing shot outside the field is indeed Angels Stadium. The first establishing shot of the crowd inside, however, is Wrigley Field. The rest of the film is shot at Dodgers Stadium.
  • As You Know:
    Ed: I can't spare anybody, Frank. You know we're in charge of security for Queen Elizabeth's visit. I'm short-handed already.
  • Balcony Escape: Frank Drebin does this. He needs to grab hold of the statues of naked men and women to maintain his balance.
  • Bowdlerise: The infamous "Nice beaver!" quote was dubbed with the less funny "Nice one!" in TV airings. Which ruins the gag, as Frank is shown to be complimenting a stuffed beaver.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: The villain uses a series of special linking watches that allow him to mind control the victims to do their command, specifically to kill subjects, whether it's Nordberg, the Queen or Drebin, while taunting "I must kill [target]!" and walking robotically.
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Ludwig tricks Jane into luring Frank Drebin into a trap, but they are both surprised that he survived.
    Ludwig: "Drebin!"
    Jane: "Frank!"
    Frank: "You're both right."
  • Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Or in Frank's case, burglary, arson, and sexual assault with a concrete dildo. Though the last one was Not What It Looks Like, so it falls somewhere between this trope and Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall:
    • Or in Frank's case, walking around it. As when he first goes to the lab, the doctor and the captain walk through the door, whereas he walks around it.
    • When he realizes that he's gotten into the car of a neophyte teenage driver in the middle of a lesson, he looks directly into the camera with a "Can you believe this?!" look.
  • Brick Joke:
    • "Hey, it's Enrico Palazzo!"
    • The corpse in the meat factory reappears as a still-ringed finger found in the Big Bad's hot dog.
  • Butt-Monkey:
    • Enrico Palazzo is Bound and Gagged and impersonated by Frank, and then the TV captions display his name during Drebin's horrible interpretation of the national anthem, adding insult to injury. (Although he does get the public credit for saving the Queen's life...)
    • OJ Simpson's character Nordberg's entire purpose is to be one walking Humiliation Conga.
  • The Cameo: Reggie Jackson is the one brainwashed into trying to assassinate the Queen.
  • Chekhov's Boomerang: Some of the valuable vases and his Thomas Gainsborough painting of The Blue Boy from Vincent Ludwig's office later gets destroyed by Drebin, plus starting a fire.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The cuff links.
  • Clear Their Name: A subplot involves Nordberg - who was undercover and investigating goons associated with the Big Bad - being nearly killed and suspected of selling drugs on the docks through circumstantial evidence, and Frank having to prove his innocence in addition to keeping the Queen of England safe.
  • Comedic Sociopathy: During the romance montage, Frank and Jane come laughing out of a movie only for it to turn out to be Platoon.
  • Comically Missing the Point: When Drebin meets a Mook standing at a distance:
    Mook: Drebin!
    Frank: Yeah, I'm Drebin!
    Mook: I have a message for ya from Vincent Ludwig! [fires gun] Take that, you lousy cop!
    Frank: I'm sorry, I can't hear you! Don't fire the gun while you're talking!
  • Cosmopolitan Council: At the beginning of the movie. It includes Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, Ugandan President Idi Amin, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, Col. Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, among others. As of August 2022, all of these people are dead. That's right, it took 24 years for the opening sequence of The Naked Gun to be completely outdated.
  • Crazy-Prepared: When Frank and Jane meet, they use condoms during their first bedroom encounter to guarantee "safe sex." Not too strange in itself, until you see that the condoms cover their entire bodies.
  • Creator In-Joke: The montage of Drebin and Jane dating featuring "I'm Into Something Good" ends with a freeze-framed credit saying it's on The Naked Gun Soundtrack on Wheelo Records. The movie didn't have a soundtrack album come outnote , but when La-La Land Records issued all three scores on a 3-disc set, they have a logo for Wheelo Records on the packaging. (And yes, "I'm Into Something Good" is on the first disc.)
  • Creepy Changing Painting: Funny example; As Drebin regains his footing on the balcony while gripping the male statue's phallus, he winds up rotating it so it sticks upward. An insert shot shows the statue's face, previously seen with a stoic expression, now smiling.
  • Crush Parade: At the end, Vincent Ludwig falls off the upper deck of a baseball stadium to the parking lot below where he gets hit by a bus, flattened by a steam-roller, and then trampled by a marching band playing "Louie Louie."
    Ed: Oh, Frank! It's horrible. It's so horrible!
    Frank: [comforting Ed] I know...
    Ed: My father went the same way...
  • Death Is Dramatic: Mercilessly parodied when Nordberg gets shot by several gangsters on a boat. He walks back, hits his head on a pipe, burns his hand on a stove, leans on a door with wet paint, gets a window slammed on his right fingers, falls head first in a wedding cake, has his foot stuck in a Bear Trap and eventually jumps overboard. And he survives.
  • Depraved Homosexual: Downplayed, but Ludwig is off-handedly said to prefer East German men.
  • Didn't See That Coming: Frank spends most of the time disguised as the umpire trying to pat down all the baseball players on the field during the game searching for a hidden weapon upon their person, turns out there was a pistol that was placed underneath the third-base bag which gets retrieved by a hypnotized Reggie Jackson.
  • Disaster Dominoes: Both Nordberg in the beginning and later Drebin.
  • Dish Dash: Of the "catch the falling plates" variety, after Drebin inadvertently bumps a display of objets-d'art while snooping in Ludwig's office. Then subverted, as the fire he'd accidentally started a few minutes before takes hold and he knocks the whole rack over in panic.
  • Donut Mess with a Cop: The opening ends with the police car stopping at a donut shop.
  • Driving Test Smashers: In the first movie, Frank does a Follow That Car... on a driving school car.
    Driving instructor: All right, Stephanie, gently extend your arm. Extend your middle finger. Very good. Well done.
  • Empty Fridge, Empty Life: Inside Frank's fridge is nothing but spoiled milk, expired mustard and a Chinese takeout box.
    Jane: [reads the takeout box] Wong Wu's reopened? I thought they went out of business three years ago.
    Frank: Gee, has it been that long? l don't feel like Chinese tonight anyway. [sniffs inside the box and briefly passes out]
  • Even Evil Has Standards: While eating a hot dog, Ludwig finds a severed finger from a dead henchman and reacts with revulsion. He may be the film's villain but he's apparently disgusted by cannibalism.
  • Every Car Is a Pinto:
    • A car-chase ends with the pursued villain crashing his car into the side of a tanker truck. Explosion #1. Then, straddling the flaming remains of his vehicle, he runs into an army missile being towed on a trailer. Explosion #2. Now riding the missile, he plows in through the front door of a fireworks factory. EXPLOSION NUMBER THREE, as Frank Drebin unsuccessfully attempts to shoo away gawking spectators: "Move along! There's nothing to see here!"
    • Frank shoots at his own car when its brakes disengage due to some airbags that went off; he winds up hitting the gas tank and causes it to blow up.
  • Expo Label: Creatively named locations such as "The Hospital" and "The Police Station" are prominently signed as such. Word of God is that the hospital was supposed to be called "Our Lady Who Never Got The Pickle" but Ricardo Montalbán, a devout Catholic, requested the change. The hospital is name dropped as "Our Lady of the Worthless Miracle."
  • The Faceless: Al is a carry-over character from Police Squad! who is so tall his face always falls out of frame.
  • Fake Orgasm: Played for Laughs. When Frank Drebin is angrily breaking up with Jane Spencer, he tells her, "By the way... I faked every orgasm."
  • Falling-in-Love Montage: Parodied. (Among other things, the montage appears to contain at least a week's worth of activities, but occurs right after Drebin is told he has 24 hours to clear Nordberg and save the Queen.)
  • Foreshadowing: All things considered, the film actually does a pretty good job of not telegraphing the twist of Jane being Vincent Ludwig's final sleeper agent. First, we see Ludwig test his device on his secretary Dominique, while later Jane tells Frank that she does what Ludwig tells her to do, but these two scenes are far enough apart in the film that first-time viewers likely won't notice.
  • Funny Background Event:
    • At the airport, when Frank addresses the crowd of reporters he's mistaken to be for him, a suitcase is seen being chucked from his plane, missing the baggage cart below and joining several others already on the ground.
    • As Frank's saying goodbye to Jane after she visits his apartment the second time, a wedge of cheese on top of Frank's fridge suddenly starts moving.
  • Genre Blindness: The Mayor berates Frank as if they are living in a perfectly normal universe like ours — oblivious to the fact that it's Like Reality, Unless Noted.
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Drebin has apparently killed at least a thousand drug dealers, any number of fleeing suspects, and an entire Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar. Throw in his reckless incompetence and inability to drive or park, and he's probably as big a menace as any of the villains.
  • He's Got a Weapon!: Thanks for that update, Jane.
  • Hidden Depths: The Queen of England throws a mean curve ball.
  • Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Frank Drebin. Made worse by the fact that he was impersonating a famous opera singer, Enrico Palazzo, while the said singer was tied up and forced to watch.
  • Humiliation Conga: Only in the Naked Gun series can you have the villain fall off a stadium ledge, be hit by a bus, flattened by a steam-roller and then have a marching band playing "Louie Louie" trample over him.
  • I Ate WHAT?!: At the baseball game, Ludwig finds a ring in his hot dog, followed by a finger, both belonging to the mook who fell into a vat at the hot dog factory while trying to kill Frank. Cue Spit Take.
  • I Knew It!: In-Universe, what Frank says after he puts Mikhail Gorbachev in a headlock and rubs off his famous "wine stain" birthmark.
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Frank to Jane near the end, when she's hypnotized into trying to kill him.
  • Innocent Innuendo: The first meeting with Frank's future love interest Jane, including one right after she climbs up a ladder. Later innuendo gets a lot less innocent.
    Drebin: Nice beaver.
    Jane: Thank you, I just had it stuffed. (hands down a literal stuffed and mounted beaver)
    Frank: Let me help you with that.
  • Is This Thing Still On?: Frank's microphone stays on as he goes to the bathroom after a press conference. To the chagrin of everyone else at the conference and the millions of people watching it on t.v. at home.
  • It Came from the Fridge: Frank makes the mistake of sniffing an example of this.
  • I Was Young and Needed the Money: The phrase is used by Jane, but that's not what Frank Drebin was looking for.
  • Jungles Sound Like Kookaburras: Frank hears a Kookaburra shouting when he wanders out into the hills of Los Angeles during his Private Eye Monologue.
  • Last-Name Basis: Even Nordberg's wife doesn't seem to know his first name.
  • Laugh of Love: Played for Laughs with Frank and Jane, who are smiling and laughing in every part of their Falling-in-Love Montage, like when they're at the movies together (the movie in question being Platoon).
  • Literal-Minded: Frank is searching Ludwig's office for clues, opens a drawer and shouts "Bingo!"... Has he found a smoking gun? No, he's found a literal bingo card.
  • Market-Based Title: The Japanese title of the film is basically The Man with the Naked Gun.
  • Meaningless Meaningful Words: Frank says quite a lot of profound sounding phrases while trying to get Jane to snap out of her hypnosis.
    Drebin: The problems of two little people don't amount to a hill of beans, but this is our hill and these are our beans.
  • Mind-Control Device: The villain of the movie uses what are basically mind-control keychains that can instantly brainwash a nearby person into attempting to kill whoever the user wants dead.
  • Mistaken for Gay: When trying to gain access to the baseball field, Drebin knocks out one of the umpires so he can steal his outfit. He throws the unconscious umpire on a table and undoes both their pants, when a cleaning guy happens to walk in. He just shrugs it off with "sorry, fellas," and continues his rounds.
  • Move Along, Nothing to See Here:
    • A cop at a crime scene is saying this into a bullhorn, to a "crowd" of two people who are standing right in front of him (and ignoring him.)
    • Frank attempts to do this in front of an exploding fireworks factory.
  • Mugged for Disguise: Repeatedly! Frank takes out Enrico Palazzo to get onto the field, and then beans an umpire with a bat so he can take his clothes as well.
  • Multiple Gunshot Death: Subverted for laughs in the opening of the first film. All the gangsters on the boat unload their guns on Nordberg, but not only does he fail to die from it, he subsequently suffers a torrent of abuse so prolonged that even the gangsters look a bit stunned at it. Drebin later explicitly states that, despite the multiple times Nordberg was shot, "the bullets missed every vital organ".
  • Murphy's Bed: Nordberg's bed. He also manages to step in an actual Bear Trap as well.
  • Nebulous Evil Organisation: Drebin beats up the world's most evil men. Also, whoever Papshmir is working for.
  • Nerves of Steel: John Houseman's driving instructor.
  • Not What It Looks Like: The "sexual assault with a concrete dildo" incident.
  • Offhand Backhand: While beating up Ayatollah Khomeini.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • When Frank accuses her of only having a romantic relationship with him because she was told to, Jane slaps him across the face... and then realizes she just slapped a police officer while surrounded by dozens of other cops. Fortunately, either knowing it was a heat-of-the-moment reflex, out of pity, or not wanting to make a bigger scene, Frank does not arrest her.
    • The doctor in the car-chase scene when he realizes he's about to crash into a tanker truck. And then a missile on a trailer. And then the fireworks factory.
    • Also Nordberg at the very end of the film, when Frank's friendly backslap sends his wheelchair rolling down the steps of the stadium.
  • Only a Flesh Wound: Nordberg is shot up in the beginning, but luckily "The bullets missed every major organ". He spends the movie recovering and is just fine in the next movie. Most of the damage that he receives is unwittingly caused by himself or Frank.
  • Only Sane Man: The Mayor, who plays the Straight Man when speaking to Frank.
  • Performer Guise: Drebin disguises himself as opera singer Enrico Palazzo.
  • Photo Identification Denial: Played for Laughs. After Nordberg is shot and wounded while working undercover, Drebin takes his photo and heads to the docks where it happened to snoop around.
    Drebin: Recognize that face?
    Dockworker: I dunno. My memory ain't so good.
    Drebin: Maybe this'll help. [Gives him a twenty]
    Dockworker: It's still kinda hazy.
    Drebin: How about now? [Gives him another twenty]
    Dockworker: Yeah, I used to see him around. Why do you wanna know?
    Drebin: I can't tell you that.
    Dockworker: Maybe this'll help. [Gives Drebin a twenty]
    Drebin: I still don't think I should tell you.
    Dockworker: How about now? [Gives Drebin another twenty]
    Drebin: He's a cop. His name's Nordberg.
  • The Precarious Ledge: Drebin escapes a burning room from a window onto a ledge filled with anatomically correct male and female statues. Hilarity Ensues.
  • Priceless Ming Vase: Ludwig has these, plus an equally priceless tank of fighting fish and samurai pen—all of which get damaged by Drebin's antics.
  • Private Conversation on Open Line: A very amusing variant occurs when Frank Drebin leaves a press conference to use the restroom, but forgets to take his microphone off, resulting in the whole audience listening to several minutes of Drebin peeing at a urinal (and missing a bit, based on an "Oops." he utters at one point).
  • Ransacked Room: Frank wreaks havoc when he sneaks into Ludwig's office.
  • Rasputinian Death: Ludwig, who falls from a ledge, gets steamrolled flat, and then marched over by a marching band. Apparently Capt. Hocken's father also died like this!
  • Red Herring: The Swiss Army Shoe never gets used.
  • Running Gag: Nordberg's injuries, from the beginning to the final joke of the movie.
  • Sexophone: When we first meet Jane.
  • Sexy Shirt Switch: Jane switches to Frank's shirt while cooking because she doesn't want to get stained or wrinkled... yet.
  • Shout-Out:
    • The scene revealing the induced hypnosis is almost identical to a similar scene from the Charles Bronson classic Telefon: Same setup, dialog, camera angles, you name it.
    • "I shoot the bastards. That's *my* policy." is a parody of a similar scene of Dirty Harry about Cowboy Cop antics.
    • Jane's introduction at the top of the staircase is from Farewell, My Lovely.
    • Frank describing the creation of the universe when he's asked to "start at the beginning" is a nod to ZAZ's earlier masterpiece, Airplane!, which has a similar scene after Jonny is asked for a summary of what's happened so far.
    • Olson shows Drebin some familiar gadgets including a knife shoe and tranquilizing cuff-links.
    • Frank does some very Three Stooges-type moves when beating up the Ayatollah.
    • Speaking of James Bond, the opening sequence is meant as a reference to the nefarious organization SPECTRE.
  • Sickbed Slaying: A Vorpal Pillow against Nordberg is thwarted by Frank, but not without inflicting some damage to the target.
  • Skeleton Key Card: Parodied, where Frank tries this with Ludwig's penthouse door with a Brand X card and it doesn't work. He tries it with an American Express card and the door opens.
  • Skirts and Ladders: Subverted. When Jane goes up a ladder, Frank stares up and comments, "Nice beaver!" Jane then produces a taxidermy beaver and says, "Thanks, I just had it stuffed."
  • Slip into Something More Comfortable: Parodied. After Frank Drebin arrives home late at night, he finds Jane (then working for Ludwig) wearing one of Drebin's shirts. After some suggestive dialog, Frank, who is wearing a collared shirt, slacks, and a tie, says that he will go slip into something more comfortable. He emerges wearing a suit. Then he slips out of it completely by just pulling the collar.
  • Spoiler Cover: The flyer shown above reveals the identity of the assassin.
  • Stealth Pun: In the bathroom scene, Frank hums "Deep River" as he urinates.
  • Toilet Humor: Frank peeing and farting in the restroom with his mic on, broadcasting to the entire room of reporters.
  • Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup: The TV broadcast of the baseball game features three play-by-play announcers (Mel Allen, Dick Enberg, Curt Gowdy), two color commentators (Tim McCarver, Jim Palmer), a famous basketball announcer (Dick Vitale), and a famous TV psychologist (Dr. Joyce Brothers).
  • Too Much Information: Ed claims that he doesn't know anything about the man who Frank's past love interest Victoria left him for; except that he's a gymnast and the best sex she's ever had.
  • Took a Level in Badass: The student driver whose car Frank commandeers takes one of the fastest levels in film history, going from frightened newbie to running the bad guy off the road over the course of an approximately 3-minute scene.
  • Tranquillizer Dart: Frank Drebin's cufflink tranquilizer darts. However, they're not quite instant enough, since the bad guy staggers around long enough to fall over a railing to a Cruel and Unusual Death.
  • Unnecessary Combat Roll: Goes further than usual with flips and cartwheels while Drebin is searching his own house after finding that someone got in.
  • Vandalism Backfire: Frank melts down and starts sweeping things off a desk and scratching it up with a paperweight, while Al keeps trying to get his attention. When he finally does, he calmly explains that it's his desk Frank is destroying.
  • Verbal Backspace: Done by all the other baseball umpires who are arguing against Drebin's (flagrantly incorrect) call, when he draws his gun.
  • Way Past the Expiration Date: Very little food in Frank's kitchen remains fit for human consumption. His attempt to pour a glass of milk nets him a tumbler filled with huge white chunks and Jane finds a Chinese takeout container from a restaurant that had closed down years before. Frank still opens it up and takes a whiff.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?:
    • The Queen seems to be entirely forgotten about after the assassin is foiled. Technically she doesn't need to appear since she's out of danger but it's strange that we don't see her reaction to Frank talking down a hypnotized Jane despite multiple reaction shots from the other people in the stadium.
    • Nordberg was never actually cleared of the crime he was accused of.
    • Papshmir and his interests are never brought to justice for paying for the assassination of the queen. Karma does catch up with Papshmir in the third film, but the rest of whatever Nebulous Evil Organization he works with is never accounted for.
  • Who Are You?: At the beginning, after beating up the various MENA leaders, Idi Amin and Mikhail Gorbachev:
    Drebin: I'm Lieutenant Frank Drebin, Police Squad! And don't ever let me catch you guys in America. [Drebin then dramatically pushes open a window covering only to have it swing back and smack him in the face]
  • Will Talk for a Price: Parodied. Frank Drebin questions the dock manager during his investigation of the attempted murder on Nordberg. The guy's memory is foggy, so Frank gives him a twenty, and then another twenty when that still isn't enough. When the guy subsequently asks Frank an innocuous question, he gives Frank his two twenties back to persuade him to answer, gives him another twenty for another question, and has to borrow an additional twenty from Frank (who hands him back the twenty he was just given) because he's out of money.
  • You Just Ruined the Shot: Frank Drebin defends his Cowboy Cop behavior by mentioning the time he saw a bunch of men stabbing someone to death in the park and he shot them. The mayor says that it was a stage-in-the-park production of Julius Caesar, and Frank shot five actors—good ones!

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Top

Bingo!

While searching for evidence in Ludwig's office, Drebin opens a drawer and says "Bingo!" One would assume he found evidence that would let him prove Ludwig is a criminal, but in actuality he just found a bingo card.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (16 votes)

Example of:

Main / VisualPun

Media sources:

Report