On November 26, U.S. local time, renowned Hollywood director and screenwriter Jim Abrahams passed away at the age of 80 after battling illness.
Since entering the film industry in 1976 and retiring honorably in 2006, Jim Abrahams was involved in the production of a modest number of films—only 12 in total. However, as a member of the famous Hollywood absurdist comedy team ZAZ, which included Abrahams and the Zucker brothers, David and Jerry, he directed, wrote, or both directed and wrote comedies such as Airplane!, Top Secret!, The Naked Gun, and Hot Shots!. These films brought countless audiences around the globe to fits of laughter and carved out a unique niche in the film industry with their distinctive parody style.
Jim Abrahams
Jim Abrahams was born on May 10, 1944, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and he became acquainted with the Zucker brothers at a young age, as they attended the same high school and university. In 1971, the three formally formed a comedy group, The Kentucky Fried Theater, creating and performing various comedic sketches. A few years later, they completed a screenplay titled The Kentucky Fried Movie, which, while called a movie, was essentially a collection of short sketches mocking Hollywood comedies, action films, and romances.
The Kentucky Fried Movie poster
Initially, Hollywood studios showed little interest in the script for The Kentucky Fried Movie, believing that audiences would not be receptive to such sketch-like comedies. Fortunately, Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers remained undeterred and raised $30,000 to produce one of the sketches. They then enlisted the help of up-and-coming director John Landis to help market it.
As the saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way. Although Hollywood production companies still had no interest, they took the sample to theater operators and persuaded them to show the ten-minute short film. The audience found it hilarious, prompting several theater operators to collectively raise $650,000 to help these four young creators make The Kentucky Fried Movie. Ultimately, the film earned $7.1 million at the North American box office during the summer of 1977, much to the surprise of the studios that initially rejected them.
Airplane! poster
In 1979, Paramount Pictures picked up their script for Airplane! and agreed to have Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers co-direct the film. This comedic take on the 1957 disaster film Zero Hour! transformed the original's plot elements—like a commercial airliner facing bad weather, a pilot unable to perform his duties, and passengers getting food poisoning from airline meals—into a series of hilarious gags that delighted audiences. In 1980, Airplane! became the fourth highest-grossing film in North America, behind only Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and others, establishing the ZAZ team as a coveted target for Hollywood studios.
In 1982, Paramount decided to make a sequel, Airplane II: The Sequel; however, Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers refused to participate, possibly understanding that the formula for this kind of parody comedy typically only works once—audiences would find it stale upon a second viewing. As anticipated, the sequel's reviews and box office performance dropped sharply, while the trio had already released their new film, The Naked Gun.
The Naked Gun targeted American cop dramas and, infused with brilliant humor, once again captivated American audiences while returning an astounding $152 million against a production budget of $12 million for Paramount. However, Jim Abrahams only served as a co-writer for this film and did not partake in its two sequels.
Jim Abrahams (far left) with Jerry Zucker (center) and David Zucker formed the comedy team ZAZ
In the 1990s, the ZAZ trio disbanded for various reasons, but Jim Abrahams maintained a close friendship with the Zucker brothers. As a solo artist, he continued to embrace the absurdist style, writing and directing two installments of Hot Shots!, parodying blockbuster hits like Top Gun and First Blood, successfully flipping the stereotype of the Hollywood action hero and achieving favorable box office results.
Ironically, as a result of the box office successes of films like Airplane! and Hot Shots!, the 1990s saw an influx of derivative parody films in Hollywood, many lacking creative innovations in comedic techniques, ultimately overwhelming audiences and leading to diminishing returns, as evidenced when Abrahams released gangster spoofThe Godfather: Part III in 1998, failing to replicate past successes.
The Gangster Boss poster
Since then, the space for such parody films has dwindled, and they have yet to regain their former glory. However, as British film critic Stuart Heritage of The Guardian stated, "Jim Abrahams has been there from the very beginning, and his work has never been surpassed."
Throughout his life, Jim Abrahams received only one Writers Guild of America Award for Airplane! and one BAFTA nomination for Best Original Screenplay. His parody comedies with the Zucker brothers never seemed to gain the recognition of traditional film awards, often viewed as merely entertaining works. Nevertheless, many creators who followed, including the Farrelly brothers (known for Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary), acknowledged that their work was inspired by Abrahams and his team. Even in Hong Kong films like those starring Stephen Chow, we can see a considerable influence from ZAZ's work.
Moreover, the American film critic community has consistently praised parody comedies, with several of Jim Abrahams' representative works frequently appearing on various lists of the greatest comedies in film history, even being elevated as the most postmodern and deconstructive cinematic works.
