FILM · 1983 · USA
Trading Places
33 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (33)
- #001
Some of the film's funny moments came about by accident. Mortimer Duke's (Don Ameche) struggle to grab the money clip was not supposed to happen that way, but the actors kept it going without breaking character, so it was kept in the film. Ophelia's "Swedish" disguise came about because Jamie Lee Curtis could not do a convincing Austrian accent.
- #002
In 2010, as part of the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act regulating financial markets, a rule was added banning anyone from using confidential insider information in corner markets, similar to what the Duke brothers try to do in the film. Because the film inspired the rule, it became known as the Eddie Murphy Rule.
- #003
(At about 1 hour 50 minutes) Don Ameche's strong religious beliefs made him uncomfortable with swearing. This proved a problem for the scene at the end of the film in which he has to shout "Fuck him!" at a group of Wall Street executives. When he performed the scene, it had to be done in a single continuous take because Ameche refused to do a second take.
- #004
Eddie Murphy later admitted that in the final scene at the commodities exchange he was simply following the script; he found commodities trading incredibly confusing and had no idea what was going on.
- #005
In 2001, Eddie Murphy stated that making this film was the most fun thing he had experienced on a set, and that every film afterwards felt like "work."
- #006
Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche "cheerfully admitted" they were not familiar with the work of Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. The pair also said that Murphy and Aykroyd admitted they were not familiar with Bellamy and Ameche.
- #007
The Italian channel "Italia 1" has aired the film every year since 1997 at dusk on Christmas Eve. It regularly takes a share of more than 10%. On 24 December 2021 it was the most-watched program in prime time with a 14.6% share.
- #008
The restaurant of the Westin Hotel in Philadelphia was named Winthorpe & Valentine for a time after the film's two main characters. It later became Lea Restaurant & Bar.
- #009
The story of the Dukes cornering the orange juice market was probably inspired by the "Silver Thursday" market crash of 27 March 1980, when the Texas Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market and then could not meet a hundred-million-dollar margin call.
- #010
For the trading scenes, the Comex commodities exchange at the World Trade Center was used, and real traders performed alongside professional extras. As reported in the studio production notes, filming at Comex was initially planned for weekdays, but Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy appearing on the floor disrupted trading activity and halted six billion dollars in trades. Filming was rescheduled for a weekend.
- #011
According to John Landis, Jamie Lee Curtis was hard to sell to Paramount because she had only done horror films and was not known for comedy. However, he admitted that her willingness to appear topless helped change the minds of the executives at Paramount after they saw a photo of her in a bikini. They felt it would help sell the film.
- #012
(At about the 39th minute) Louis's (Dan Aykroyd's) prison number is 74745058, the same as the number of Jake Blues (John Belushi) in The Blues Brothers (1980), which also starred Aykroyd.
- #013
Penelope's (Kristin Holby) friend Muffy is played by Jamie Lee Curtis's sister, Kelly Curtis.
- #014
When Al Franken released his 2012 financial records, he revealed that he was still receiving residual payments for his appearance as a baggage handler.
- #015
Randolph Duke (Ralph Bellamy) and Mortimer Duke (Don Ameche) always wear matching suits and tie patterns, with only Randolph wearing a bow tie and Mortimer a necktie.
- #016
(At about 1 hour 8 minutes) While Valentine is in the restaurant and Winthorpe stands outside in the rain, Valentine is asked his opinion about wheat. At that moment the whole room stops talking and leans in to listen to his advice. This is a reference to a series of 1980s advertisements for the brokerage E. F. Hutton. ("When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen.").
- #017
Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche had been well-known Hollywood stars since the 1930s. However, Trading Places was the first time they had appeared together in a film. Ameche had spent most of his early career at 20th Century Fox, while Bellamy was first signed to Warner Brothers and then to RKO; in the days of the old studio system, this made an earlier pairing nearly impossible when they were younger.
- #018
This was Don Ameche's first film since Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came (1970). He had been appearing as a guest actor on television. This film comeback launched his return to theatrical films, including Cocoon (1985), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
- #019
(At about the 37th minute) Frank Oz has a small role as a police officer who inspects Winthorpe's property when he is arrested. In The Blues Brothers (1980) he played an officer who returns Jake Blues's property to him. Oz later reprised the role in Blues Brothers 2000 (1998).
- #020
At roughly 1 hour 6 minutes, R&B legend Bo Diddley appears as the pawnbroker who buys Louis's watch.
- #021
At roughly 23 minutes, Giancarlo Esposito — later known for Breaking Bad (2008) and The Mandalorian (2019) — appears in a prison cell alongside Billy Ray, credited as Cellmate #2.
- #022
The film was shot shortly after the Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) accident, in which a helicopter crash during production killed Vic Morrow and two child actors. John Landis was later tried for manslaughter and acquitted; it was the first time in history that a Hollywood director was charged over a death that occurred on set.
- #023
Jamie Lee Curtis has called her role in Trading Places the main catalyst of her career's success. Had she not made Trading Places, John Cleese would not have written a role for her in A Fish Called Wanda; had she not made A Fish Called Wanda, James Cameron would not have written a role for her in True Lies. She believes this group of films is what built her career.
- #024
The baggage handlers were meant to be Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, known for their roles as the Mackenzie brothers on SCTV (1976). When that fell through, Dan Aykroyd or Eddie Murphy suggested Tom Davis and Al Franken from their Saturday Night Live (1975) days.
- #025
The Dukes' starting salary for Valentine ($80,000) comes to more than $223,000 when adjusted for 2021 inflation. The five-dollar "Christmas Bonus" for Ezra is equivalent to about $14 in 2021.
- #026
The screenwriters hung out with drunk traders for research. Herschel Weingrod told National Public Radio: "The traders I met and hung out with in Los Angeles, because they were three hours behind New York City, had their happy hours very early in the day."
- #027
In a 1990 interview, Jamie Lee Curtis said she did not regret appearing topless in the film. "My breasts are beautiful, and I have to tell you, they've gotten a lot of attention for a relatively short amount of screen time," she told the Chicago Tribune. "I make no excuses and have no regrets for my past work in films. I'm very proud of the work I did in 'Trading Places.' And if my breasts have become the topic of dinner conversation at fraternity houses, God bless them." But in a 2022 interview with People magazine, she admitted she did have regrets: "Did I like doing it? No. Was I embarrassed that I did it? Yes. Did I look good? Yes. Did I know what I was doing? No. Was I doing it because it was a job?"
- #028
The electronic status board at Duke & Duke, prominently seen in the Christmas scene, is the "Big Money" board from Family Feud (1976).
- #029
This was Don Ameche's first film appearance since his 1971 Columbo episode (Suitable for Framing (1971)). Director John Landis wanted him because he had never played a villain before. Landis contacted every talent agency to reach him, but Ameche had retired. Interestingly, Landis found Ameche listed in the Los Angeles phone book.
- #030
The exterior shots of Louis Winthorpe's house show a home on a very wealthy street in Philadelphia. At the producers' request for something bigger and better, the wreath on the door was replaced; they borrowed a handmade wreath from the house across the street.
- #031
A scene not in the theatrical cut but often seen when the film airs on television — likely to fill a longer time slot with commercials — comes after Clarence Beeks (Paul Gleason) talks to the Dukes on the phone and Billy Ray (Eddie Murphy) overhears their plans. In the original cut, Beeks walks from the phone booth to the Amtrak train platform carrying the briefcase with the crop report. In the added scene, Beeks retrieves the reports from a safe deposit box, where he drugs a security guard and opens a rented box.
- #032
While filming this movie, Jamie Lee Curtis stayed in Marlene Dietrich's apartment (12E) at 993 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Dietrich's grandson was engaged to production designer J. Michael Riva.
- #033
The alias Valentine uses when he disguises himself as a Cameroonian exchange student on the train is "Nanga Eboko," the real name of a town in Cameroon.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb kaydı
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work