MovieChat Forums > Three Amigos! (1986) Discussion > Did Chevy receive top billing?

Did Chevy receive top billing?

posted 12 years ago by SeanJoyce
9 replies | jump to latest

Everywhere you look, Martin is credited first (followed by Chase and then Short), but lo and behold, Chase's name is the first to appear in the introduction. The end credits are arranged by order of appearance (which I always hate, by the way.)

Have the subsequent posters and marketing ads (including this website and the DVD/Blu-Ray) been some form of billing revisionism? Should we really just recognize the opening as the "official" listing?

Worth noting: Martin is clearly the ringleader of the Amigos, but Chase is usually depicted as being "front and center". However, Martin sits between his co-stars in the opening. Also, Martin was a co-writer and served as an executive producer, but at that point Chase had greater clout as a leading man and movie star.

"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino

[–] SeanJoyce 12 years ago

???

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[–] IMDB_Vits 12 years ago

That's the alphabetical order. However, it's worth noting that, while LUCKY is shown as the somewhat leader for the most part, it is NED who convinces the other two to fight.

[–] Dash1969 12 years ago

Chevy was always overreated.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

I think the reason he was in the middle a lot of the time was probably just because its a good aesthetic composition to have the tallest person in the middle.

You've got the right idea but he's usually on the far right and it goes "SHORTest to tallest (L - R).

As someone else says the opening credits were in alphabetical order.

[–] ck01036 11 years ago

I think that appearance-wise you could make two different decisions 1: have tallest in the middle as a peak or 2: have Steve Martin in the middle as he was "grey headed" and have the two brown haired men on each side. I would have figured Martin to be highest paid, but Chase may have been highest billed.

[–] tenantennae 11 years ago

Steven Martin got top billing in all the advertising and on the covers of all the home video releases.

Just for example, here's a commercial for the theatrical release where Steve is credited first
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ztwbTVI8nE

As we know, Chevy gets first billing in the film. It could be this is in order of appearance (from left to right, he is the first on screen) or alphabetical, but the rest of the non-Amigo names listed in the opening credits are neither.

I guess the question is really whether Chase officially got top billing, i.e. got it in his deal.

No way to know, but I'd say the answer is probably so. A lot of movies don't even have opening credits these days, but it was a big deal back then. Jack Nicholson controversially insisted he get it in Batman, in addition to record-high salary.

I have no proof, but I would bet an agreement was reached where Chase would get top billing in the film, and Martin would get it in the advertising and on all home video releases.

[–] minia 11 years ago

Let's not forget that Chevy was at the height of his career with the Lampoon movies and Fletch. I get the impression that they negotiated his top billing in the actual movie and Steve Martin for marketing.

[–] collin-reid 10 years ago

It is hard to believe but Chevy was the relatively bigger star in 1986 and he would expected top billing. (I suspect Martin let him have it as Martin did a lot of the writing and producing.)

It should be noted that it was Chevy who delivered most of the one-line jokes in the movie and whose roles follows Bill Murray's role in Ghostbusters.