page_title: Trading Places
section_title: Filming
hierarchical_section_title: Trading Places / Production / Filming
caption_attribution_description: Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
context_page_description: Trading Places is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. It stars Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film tells the story of an upper-class commodities broker and a poor street hustler whose lives cross when they are unwittingly made the subject of an elaborate bet to test how each man will perform when their life circumstances are swapped. Trading Places features Kristin Holby and Paul Gleason in supporting roles.
  Harris conceived the outline for Trading Places in the early 1980s after encountering two unpleasant, wealthy brothers who were engaged in an ongoing rivalry with each other. He and his writing partner Weingrod developed the idea as a project to star Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. When they were unable to participate, Landis cast Aykroyd—with whom he had worked previously—and a young but increasingly popular Murphy in his second feature-film role. Landis also cast Curtis, against the intent of the studio, Paramount Pictures. Curtis was famous mainly for her roles in horror films, which were looked down upon at the time.
context_section_description: Principal photography began on December 13, 1982. The budget was estimated to be $15 million. Filming took place on location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York City.
  The script underwent minor changes throughout filming; some improvisation was also encouraged. Changes were normally discussed in advance but, on other occasions, ad-libbed dialogue was considered funny enough to keep. Examples of ad-libs retained in the film include Valentine comparing Randolph to Randy Jackson of The Jackson 5 and demonstrating his "quart of blood" technique in jail. Murphy liked Trading Places' script; he felt it was unlike 48 Hrs., which he said had been saved by director Walter Hill. Even so, he changed many of his own lines because he said that a white writer writing for a black person would use stereotypical dialogue like "jive turkey" and "sucker", and he could write his lines to sound authentic. Weingrod said the studio objected to Murphy's line, "Who put their Kools out on my Persian rug?" They believed it was racist because the Kool cigarette brand was targeted mainly at African Americans; Murphy restored the line. Ophelia pretending to be a European exchange student to fool Beeks was also improvised; Curtis' used a mix of German attire with a Swedish accent because she could not perform a German accent.
  The first fifteen days of filming were spent in Philadelphia. Landis described the weather as freezing. While filming the scene where Randolph and Mortimer collect Valentine from jail, Landis was positioned in a towing truck that pulled the Rolls-Royce carrying Ameche, Bellamy and Murphy. Landis wore a thick parka to stay warm, and the actors had a space heater in their vehicle; Landis listened to their dialogue via radio. During an intermission, Bellamy said that Trading Places was his 99th film; Ameche said it was his 100th. Murphy informed Landis that "between the three of us we've made 201 films!" Filming locations in Philadelphia included townhouses in Center City that served as the Winthorpe home exterior, and the Philadelphia Mint (now the Community College of Philadelphia) which served as the police station's exterior. The exterior and lobby of the Wells Fargo Building serve as the respective exterior and lobby of Duke & Duke.
  The Duke & Duke upstairs offices were filmed inside the upstairs of the Seventh Regiment Armory in New York. The Curtis Institute of Music is the exterior of the Heritage Club, seen adjacent to Rittenhouse Park in the film's opening. The interior was filmed at the then-abandoned New York Chamber of Commerce Building. The park at Rittenhouse Square is the location where Murphy's character, pretending to be crippled, is introduced. Independence Hall is also featured. During filming in Philadelphia, Murphy was so popular that a police officer had to be stationed outside of his trailer to control the crowds; Aykroyd had no one waiting outside his.
  Filming moved to New York City in January 1983; many of the interior scenes were filmed there. In late January, two holding cells on the 12th-floor of the New York Supreme Court building at 100 Centre Street were taken over for filming. Empty lockups in police administration buildings would normally be in use but because of the financial investment the production had made filming in the city, the mayor's office agreed to accommodate Landis' request; the studio paid for any expenses incurred. The New York Times reported that while for years the Corrections Department had failed to deliver prisoners on time for trials and arraignments, they moved nearly 300 prisoners through the 12th-floor in one day.
  The scene where Valentine and Winthorpe enact their plan against the Dukes was filmed at the COMEX commodity exchange located inside 4 World Trade Center. The lack of windows gives the appearance the floor is situated below ground, but it was actually on a high floor. The scene was scripted to take place at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, but the filmmakers were unable to secure permission to film there. The scene was shot over approximately 3–4 hours a da
caption: The Curtis Institute of Music pictured in 2010. It was used as the exterior of the Heritage club where Winthorpe and Valentine first meet.
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