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(1991 script ~ filmed)
Plot
Synopsis
Character Analysis
Evolution
of The Script
Casting Options
The sequel which everyone expected, Buddy Boys: The Movie II The Search For The Golden Roll is the second installment in the T.P. Gang saga. The film opens with the last few moments of it's predecessor. Then the opening credits appear with a new computerized look (this is to foreshadow the technical advances the Bandits and the T.P. Gang have evolved to.) The first ten minutes of "new" film answers the "loose ends" of the first film. Questions like: What does Hammer do with the knowledge of knowing who Mr. Big is? Once these open ended questions are answered, the film then jumps six months ahead and a totally new adventure begins.
In this story Guts (Joe McGroarty) awakes to find his house toilet papered. His first reaction is to call Bill and Mike and reassemble the gang. While discussing the recent TP crime wave in headquarters, they receive a phone call from Doug McIntosch (Bob Schoelkopf). McIntosch is calling on behalf of Archeologist James Copeland (Al Giansanti) who is searching for the Golden Roll. Copeland feels the T.P. Gang may be able to help him because they have all that high tech equipment and know the area as well as anyone. He offers the gang $6000 if they can find it.
Meanwhile the Bandits reunite with a plan destined to destroy the T.P. Gang. The newest member appropriately named Stake Out (Bryan Dietzman), follows the gang around reporting anything unusual to Hammer (Anthony Salerno).
Just when things were going well for the T.P. Gang, Copeland gets kidnapped by the new local terrorist group in town, the Wolverines. Unknowing to the T.P. Gang, but very clear to everyone in the audience, the Wolverines are really a militia outfit of the Bandits.
The film then takes off with action packed scenes as the T.P. Gang travels around the country trying to find the Golden Roll. Every time they feel as though they have a little space, the Bandits appear to dampen the day.
By films end, we see that Mr. Big betrays the Bandits and uses them because he needed them to follow the T.P. Gang until they found the Golden Roll. After Hammer gets the Roll, Mr. Big holds him at gunpoint and takes it. Brains (Bill Shute) then is able to surprise Mr. Big as he hits him from behind. The Bandits and T.P. Gang join forces to unmask Mr. Big (again.)
The T.P. Gang
No real stretch here. The T.P. Gang is based 50 / 50
between fact and fiction. The characters are based on friendship and real
life experiences (as seen in the special Buddy Boys: the Franchise DVD). While
they were given character names "Brains of the Operation", "Guts
and Glory" and "The Supplier", they were mere descriptive terms
about the attributes of the characters.
The Bandits
The role of Mr. Big was designed to bring a larger than
life character into the story. It was a way to make it appear the the villains
of the film were much larger than that of just the Bandits you see on film.
Mr. Big could best be compared to a mob boss or a leader of a rebel group.
His power is in his isolation. He has a long reign and is known to only a
few people if any at all. His identity will be revealed in this script.
Hammer is the leader of his group. A good soldier, Hammer takes orders without question. He has recruited his own followers and is one of only a handful of Bandits that could move up through the ranks. The other Bandit that posses the intellect or at least has the trust of Mr. Big is Slick. Although it is unclear if Slick is aware of Mr. Bigs' true identity, it is apparent that he is in tight with him. Serving as a messenger from Mr. Big to Hammer, Slick is Hammers most valuable aid and most likely successor.
The remaining Bandits are all hired muscle. Though they do provide specific functions, their primary responsibility is support. Lightning Bolt and the Enforcer round out Hammer's immediate circle of trusted point men. The second tier Bandits or the subordinates to Lightning Bolt and the Enforcer are Cuz, Tornado and Stake Out. Cuz's role has expanded a little from the first film. He now seems to run operations for the Bandits. This again giving the illusion that the Bandits are much larger than they appear on screen. Stake Out is a recarnation of the "Spy" character from the first film. This character is a true Bandit and someone deep within the system as opposed to an upset sibling.
The Wolverines
The Wolverines are a faction of the Bandits. They are
the more ruthless group that carry out the more hard core assignments. They
are led by a mentally unstable renegade by the name of Wiseguy. Wiseguy has
assembled a team of three underlings that both respect and fear him. Wiseguy's
number man is Slapstick. The other two muscle members are Tidalwave and Zam-Tron.
The Extras
This script doesn't have many extra roles, but the ones
they do have play large parts. First is Archeologist James Copeland and his
aid Doug McIntosch. The script revolves around the artifact that Copeland
is trying to find. The subplot of the script involves Copeland's kidnapping.
The McIntosch character becomes important because he becomes the only tie
for the T.P. Gang to James Copeland.
The next character is the News Caster. The role is very important in that his dialogue is telling the story to the audience as well as to the T.P. Gang.
The Old Guys
Back and in command the old guys have a significant
role. Their main purpose in this film is to get revenge on the the T.P. Gang
for stealing their potential dates at the diner in the first film. Iriving
and Charlie are back as well as the character of Morty. There was no Leaky
written into the script, but a new old guy by the name of Stanley makes his
debut.
This script was approach in the same writing style of the first script. The main difference here was that it was a collaborative effort between Michael Mowery and Bill Shute. The very first change was the title. At the end of the first film, the closing credits stated "To be concluded in Buddy Boys: The Movie II Operation T.P. Attack." In one of the earliest writing sessions it was determined that the premise of this film would be the main story developed but not used in the first film. That premise was that of the Golden Roll and searching for the lost treasure. With the the new name "The Search For The Golden Roll" became the title.
The script took on three stages of writing. There was multiple stories to explore. The first was the Golden Roll. The character of James Copeland and Doug McIntosch were created. This storyline was the one most based in truth. References to the Spanish Armada for example as well as historical Philadelphia information were added. While writing this storyline the idea of having Copeland kidnapped came to light.
The original idea was to have Hammer kidnap Copeland as he was revolting from the Bandits and searching to create his own identity. Very earlier on, it became apparent that the role of Hammer would be extremely demanding and the writers opted to go in a different direction. This is where the Wolverines came in to play. By creating this new group, a secondary story was created.
Another thought was trying to bring the Bandit women back into this film. When it was realized that their only purpose in the first film was served in one scene, the writers held off to explore other options. The News Caster became that option. This was a way to shorten the film and educate the audience at the same time. The role was very basic in that most of the scenes would be shown in the background of others. The News Caster actually set up all the plot twists in the story.
The last storyline developed, written and then scrapped was a major role for the old guys. Their entire performance was dedicated to getting even with the T.P. Gang. They followed every news broadcast and truly had their own story that had no baring on the Bandits or Wolverines storylines. When the film projected to run long on paper, the old guys were sacrificed. The script relvealed that it was the old guys and not the Bandits that have been TPing the town. The final scene where the Gang leaves Headquarters and see's Joe's house T.P.'d was also written as the confrontation scene with the old guys. It's revealed that the old guys didn't mean to T.P. all those houses, they just couldn't find Joe's. Also the film had a different closing song. When the old guys were canned, the writers left the story open ended for a concluding third film.
The best story about this script was that on Christmas Eve 1990, Mowery walked into Shute's house and dropped the completed script on the table and announced filmming begins after New Years. That announcement got a huge laugh from everyone in attendance including Mike Shute and Anthony Salerno.
Probably the best part of casting a sequel is that the majority of parts were already casted. All the major characters were written into the script and they all returned. The attention would then go into finding the actors to play the new characters.
Staring the process with James Copeland, the script obviously called for an older gentleman that would appear to have the longevity and experience to spend a lifetime in archeology. The other tradition these films have had was sticking to family and Bill Shute did just that by offering the part to one of his own in Al Giansanti.
Speaking of Shute relatives the News Caster also has a Shute family tie. The very first thought for the role was Frank Repici (father to Brian who plays Slick and Uncle to the Shute brothers.) Frank accepted the role and also had the honor of being in the first scenes filmed for the movie.
Bob Schoelkopf would finally get on film in this film. Actually slated for double duty as Morty, his primary role was that of Copeland assistant, Doug McIntosh. This role only required a few days of work so it was easy for him to be in the film. It was also important to the producers to get Bob on screen.
There wasn't much need for supporting Bandits in this film but that's not to say there wasn't any controversy. The only new member is that of Tornado. It was created to give the Bandits more members just like in the first film at the desert. Kevin Casey assumed the role. When Kevin could not make the Washington, D.C. trip, Ollie Sabitsana reprised the role of Jug Head for his cameo in the film. When it was decided not to bring back the character of the Spy, a new similar character needed to take its place. Stake out was born. The person that the producers wanted for the role was Bryan Dietzman. The minor concern was that he wasn't being referred to by his first film name and that if seen by the T.P. Gang, they would know immediately who he was because they faced him in the desert.
A bigger concern was when Scott Wilkinson eventually won out the role of Slapsick. Scott did in fact play a different character in the first film. In the end, both Scott and Bryan's new characters took on a little Hollywood magic and were able to resurrect themselves as new characters.
Speaking of Slapstick (and the Wolverines in general) a lot of casting choices were made and changed before the final choices were made. The original idea of the film was not only to get Bob Schoelkopf in the movie but also Dave DeMatteo. Dave was also involved in the Creation of the Desert Sequence project and the writers wanted to bring him into the main stream as well. The pairing of Dave as Wiseguy and Tom Seager as Slapstick seemed to work. A communication breakdown had the producers trying to recast the roles. In the meantime, Chris McGroarty was home on leave from the Navy and was slated to play Tidalwave. As a result of the recasting, Chris had to return to the Navy which created another void. At this point an entire new cast of Wolverines needed to be found. Scott mentioned above already took the role of Slapstick. Once again turning to the Shute family, Frank Napoli was casted as Wiseguy. Bill and Joe then enlisted the help of the coworkers Joe Coia and Anthony Misuraco as the final Wolverines.