Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult *** (1994, Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O J Simpson) – Classic Movie Review 8207

Director Peter Segal’s 1993 daffy crazy comedy Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult is an undemanding, hit-and-miss second sequel, a bit low on pace and verve, but with enough laughs (some in bad taste), engaging movie spoofs and amusing performances to motor it gently and entertainingly along.

Happily the original stars all return, with Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy and O J Simpson again headlining. It is written by Pat Proft, David Zucker and Robert LoCash, based on the television series Police Squad by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker.

The admirable Nielsen is once again a riot as retired cop Lieutenant Frank Drebin, who this time is having marital problems with his wife Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley), who walks out when he is asked back by the Police Squad to help on one last case. Frank Drebin goes undercover to jail to expose convict and maniacal terrorist Rocco (Fred Ward) who is plotting to detonate a bomb at the Oscars, and the entire cast end up at the Academy Awards ceremony where a (very flat!) bomb is concealed in the Best Picture envelope.

Nielsen is virtually the whole show, and once again he is great value, exuberant and expert with the deadpan laughs, though series regulars Presley, Kennedy as police captain Ed Hocken and Simpson as undercover cop Nordberg have too little to do.

The genial movie parodies (The Untouchables opener is particularly good, and so is Richard Attenborough’s Mother Theresa musical) help it a lot, and the Oscar ceremony with its guest stars like Raquel Welch, Olympia Dukakis, James Earl Jones and Pia Zadora add a bit of welcome showbiz sparkle.

Also in the cast are Kathleen Freeman, Ellen Greene, Anna Nicole Smith, Ed Williams, Raye Birk, Matt Roe, Wylie Small, Sharon Cornell, Earl Boen and Jeff Wright.

Anna Nicole Smith (1967–2007).

At the mean 1995 Razzie Awards, O J Simpson was voted Worst Supporting Actor and Anna Nicole Smith was voted Worst New Star. She died aged 39 on 8 February 2007 in Hollywood, Florida, of an accidental prescription drug overdose.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8207

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