How Bill Murray Reacted When Chevy Chase Unzipped His Pants
Chevy Chase and Bill Murray are both comedy icons and they both appeared in the classic film Caddyshack. During the making of the film, Chase started unzipping Murray’s pants. Here’s how Murray reacted to this.
Why Chevy Chase started unzipping Bill Murray’s pants
Firstly, a little background. Chase and Murray are two of the greatest icons to come out of the early years of Saturday Night Live. While some SNL stars peak with their appearances on the show, both Chase and Murray had successful careers in movies afterward. For example, Chase starred in the first four films in the National Lampoon’s Vacation series, while Murray starred in classics like Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, and Lost in Translation. Considering they were both stars from the same milieu, it only made sense they would be in a classic comedy together.
Caddyshack is one of the most famous films in both actors’ filmography. It’s one of the most well-known films about golfing and certainly the most well-known comedy film about golfing. During the filming of Caddyshack, Chase made an extremely sexual joke to Murray.
“Chase put down his drink and marched toward Murray, a furious glare on his face,” Nick de Semlyen wrote in the book Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the ’80s Changed Hollywood Forever. “Murray tensed up. But just as he reached him, Chase dropped to his knees and began to unzip Murray’s pants, miming preparation for a blow job. Murray cracked a smile at Chase’s sophomoric bit, then both of them started to laugh.”
Why Chevy Chase felt free to laugh at Bill Murray while making ‘Caddyshack’
Murray revealed Chase felt comfortable laughing at him during the production of the film. Why? It was because he and Chase embodied their roles as Ty Webb and Carl.
“I’d never really done anything with Chevy. We’d always had sort of a… funny relationship,” Murray said in the book Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story. “But it was like, ‘O.K., I liked that when you did that. Let’s just keep going.’ We kept going and it was funny because Ty Webb’s not far from who Chevy is. So he was pretty comfortable in his space. And I was comfortable as Carl. So he could be free to laugh at me. And if Ty laughed, Carl thought it meant, ‘Hey, he’s my friend!’ It’s a really fun, self-aware example of whatever the heck Harold [Ramis] maintains the movie is about — status.”
How did the world react to ‘Caddyshack?’
Clearly, Caddyshack had an impact on Chase and Murray. So how did the public react to it? According to Box Office Mojo, Caddyshack earned over $39 million. In addition, it inspired a sequel simply titled Caddyshack II. Box Office Mojo reports Caddyshack II earned a far more modest $11 million. Regardless, the original Caddyshack remains a classic of 1980s comedy and it helped Chase and Murray get along.
