Caddyshack - Production

Production

The movie was inspired by writer and co-star Brian Doyle-Murray's memories working as a caddy at Indian Hill Club in Winnetka, Illinois. His brothers Bill and John Murray (production assistant and a caddy extra), and director Harold Ramis also had worked as caddies when they were teenagers. Many of the characters in the film were based on characters they had encountered through their various experiences at the club, including a young woman upon whom the character of Maggie is based and the Haverkampfs, a doddery old couple, John & Ilma, longtime members of the club, who can barely hit the ball out of their shadows ("That's a peach, hon"). The now legendary scene involving a Baby Ruth candy bar being thrown into the swimming pool was based on a real-life incident at Doyle-Murray's high school. The scene in which Al Czervik hits Judge Smails in the genitals with a struck golf ball happened to Ramis on what he quipped was the second of his two rounds of golf, on a nine-hole public course.

Initially, Michael O'Keefe and Scott Colomby's characters were the central characters of the movie. However, the improvisational atmosphere surrounding the other cast members (specifically Dangerfield, Chase, and Murray) led to the Webb, Czervik and Spackler characters expanding from supporting to starring roles, much to the annoyance of O'Keefe and Colomby. In addition, Ted Knight, who was regarded as a genuinely nice person in real life, became fed up with the constant improvisation.

The mistaking-a-chocolate bar-for-a-piece-of-excrement-in-the-pool scene was filmed at Coral Ridge Country Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The dinner and dancing scene was filmed at the Boca Raton Hotel and Club in Boca Raton, Florida.

The film was shot over 11 weeks during the autumn of 1979. Golf scenes were filmed at the Rolling Hills Golf Club (now the Grande Oaks Golf Club) in Davie, Florida. According to Ramis, it was picked because the course did not have any palm trees. He wanted the movie to feel that it was in the Midwest, not Florida. The explosions that take place during the climax of the film were reported at the nearby Fort Lauderdale airport by an incoming pilot, who suspected a plane had crashed. Also the explosions were not approved by the club owners, who were at the background at all times, in fear of them damaging the course. The movie producers were able to convince the club owners to attend an off site meeting. When they were gone, the crew set off the explosions.

The marina scene involving Al Czervik's boat wreaking havoc upon Judge Smails's "dinghy" was filmed in Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida.

The famous scene that begins when Ty Webb's golf ball crashes into Carl Spackler's ramshackle house was not in the original script. It was added by director Harold Ramis after realizing that two of his biggest stars, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray (who did not get along due to a feud dating back to their days on Saturday Night Live), did not have a scene together. The three met for lunch and wrote the scene together. This is the only time that Chase and Murray have appeared in a movie together.

Bill Murray's famous "Cinderella story" scene was improvised based on two lines of stage direction. Ramis basically gave him direction to act as a kid announcing his own imaginary golf moment. Murray just took it from there. The flowers were his idea. Murray was with the production only six days, and all of his lines were unscripted.

In interviews, Cindy Morgan stated that the scene she shared with Chevy Chase, in which he pours massage oil on her, was completely improvised, and her reaction to Chase dousing her back with the massage oil, where she exclaimed "You're crazy!", was genuine. Due to the fact she is legally blind without glasses or contacts, as well as afraid of heights, there was concern about the scene where she had to dive into the pool. Morgan climbed the ladder, but the flawless dive was executed by a professional diver.

Except for the brief scene in which Rodney Dangerfield tussles with the gopher (with the end of his golf club) the gopher was not an onscreen character in the film. A simple hand puppet was created by the props department for that scene, with the director's assistant (Trevor Albert) the delegated puppeteer. After several cuts of the film reduced the original story arc of Danny's relationship with the Irish waitress, another through line was required. The producers suggested that the gopher's battle with Bill Murray's character be further developed. Therefore, the remaining gopher sequences were written and filmed after the movie was shot. Director Harold Ramis at one point suggested a live animal to play the gopher. Rusty Lemorande, executive in charge of production, and specifically assigned to supervise post-production, searched for a suitable creature builder. Companies such as The Henson Company (which became the premier creature builders in the '80s) did not yet take outside assignments, so Lemorande contacted friends at Walt Disney Imagineering for advice. One of the Disney theme park creature designers, Jeff Burke, was willing to create the character but only on a moonlight basis. Burke was responsible for the creature's design and character with input and guidance from Lemorande.

The rod puppet sat in Lemorande's office for weeks. During that time producers Kenny and Peter and director Ramis would come into the office to play with the creature, all trying to figure out how to integrate it into the film. Simultaneously, an overall deal was made with John Dykstra's effects company for all the necessary visual effects (including lightning, stormy sky effects, flying golf balls, disappearing greens' flags, etc.) so shooting the gopher puppet became part of the intensely negotiated effects package. Dykstra's technicians added extra animation to the existing puppet, including ear movement, and built the tunnels through which he moved. The gopher sounds were the same sounds used by Flipper the dolphin in the '60s television show of the same name. This was after principal cinematography had been completed and used higher quality film stock in an indoor soundstage, resulting in the higher picture quality of these scenes still evident even on the current DVD.