Chapter 71: The Filming Set That Makes One Burst Out Laughing

Due to the significant changes in the script, it was clearly no longer appropriate to call the film "Beverly Hills Cop," so it was ultimately titled "The Daring Detective Returns."

The story is set in Detroit, centering on a highly capable police officer whose greatest strength is his disregard for his superiors' orders. After cracking a major arms smuggling case, not only does he go unrewarded, but is instead forced to take a vacation.

He decides to go on holiday to Los Angeles with his girlfriend and, quite unexpectedly, runs into a high school friend there. They plan to meet up the next day, but that very night, his friend is murdered. Determined to find the killer, he decides to investigate alone, since the efficiency of the Los Angeles police is abysmally low.

Everyone is a cop, and they treat him quite decently, but the crime took place in Beverly Hills—a place where gunshots are a rarity throughout the year. Expecting efficiency from the police there is a fool’s errand; everything is done strictly by the book, with no room for unconventional moves.

The Detroit cop, never having seen such an environment, inevitably acts like a bull in a china shop, throwing the whole precinct into chaos.

A black man suddenly plunges into this white world, and the resulting cultural clashes lead to all sorts of comic misunderstandings—even something as simple as a greeting can turn into a joke.

There's certainly some artistic license here; no matter how eccentric Beverly Hills police might be, they’re not about to sit around drinking afternoon tea like English gentlemen. That’s just poking fun at British nobility.

Where there are aristocratic cops, there must also be roughnecks, and the collision between the two is bound to be amusing. The depiction of the Beverly Hills police is not overly negative; overall, they’re portrayed in a positive light.

This approach, aside from laying the groundwork for possible sequels, mainly aims to appease the censors. If all the detectives were painted as villains, the film would be deemed too dark and never escape an R rating.

Comedy is the film’s main draw, so it’s important that audiences aren’t led astray by other ideas. If their focus is diverted, the impact of the film will be greatly reduced.

Eddie Murphy is now considered a star. He might act up around others, but not in front of William White. Americans are shrewd, after all, and Eddie Murphy’s range is still pretty narrow; this style of comedy suits him best, and with a different director, success isn’t guaranteed.

As someone from humble beginnings, it hasn’t been easy for him to reach this point. Hollywood isn’t short on handsome men, beautiful women, or comedic talent. If White Pictures put out a call, a slew of comedy stars would show up to audition. A $150 million box office is no joke—the draw is huge. It’s easy to imagine that for quite some time, "Police Academy" will remain a hot topic; anyone who stands out in this film will naturally have a far brighter future.

Eddie Murphy has talent, and with his hard work, he’s starting to develop his own style. With this comedic genius on set, there’s never a shortage of laughter. Since White Pictures operates on a box office sharing system, everyone is motivated to make the film as good as possible. Even if some are jealous of Eddie Murphy, now is not the time to make trouble for him.

William White’s approach is highly effective; everyone’s interests are tied together. If you don’t want to be ostracized in the industry, you’d better do your job well.

Eddie, in full swing, behaves more like a streetwise hustler than a cop, often causing the cast to burst out laughing and making it torture to share scenes with him—holding back laughter is nearly impossible.

Fortunately, William White has plenty of money, and with multiple camera setups, the number of retakes is kept in check. Such a riotous filming environment is rare. How the public will react to the film remains to be seen, but the crew is supremely confident: with a comedy this funny, if the box office flops, it’ll be a real oddity.

They’re certain of one thing: William White is a true master of punchlines—he wrote the script himself. Eddie Murphy’s performance is outstanding, but without these jokes, none of it would work.

Perhaps the most unbelievable element is William White’s husky, who has an incredible sense for the camera. Its performance is nothing short of astonishing—not to mention its destructive power. Without security keeping an eye on it, who knows how much damage it could cause.

At this stage, Hollywood is in a period of confusion, and some low-budget comedies have started to test the waters, though the results are merely average. Since their costs are low, these small companies are nonetheless quite satisfied.

They soon realized the crux of the matter: the script is everything. Without a suitable script, they’re left with only modest profits. The money-making effect of "Police Academy" isn’t so easy to replicate.

Small companies might be baffled, but the major studios understand well enough. They’ve never been short on comedies—this genre has always been a mainstream staple, going back to the silent film era.

When they compared their films, they realized their comedies just weren’t that funny—or at least, the humor didn’t land the same way.

"Police Academy" has scenes that make audiences double over with laughter, while their own comedies only elicit a mild smile, unless the viewer has a particularly low threshold for humor.

This is a serious problem: their comedies need new scripts.

Comparison breeds dissatisfaction.

How are audiences supposed to view their movies after seeing "Police Academy"?

Comedy?

Don’t be ridiculous—there’s nothing funny about them.

American audiences actually have a pretty low bar for humor, and William White hasn’t even unleashed his full arsenal yet. If he were to bring out material on par with "Liar Liar," audiences would be laughing themselves silly.

What gets the biggest laughs?

Isn’t it those risqué jokes?

After being bombarded by the internet in later years, these gags are just a warm-up for William White—he still has a trove of explosive jokes in reserve.

Of course, he doesn’t dare go too far. Times have changed, and being overly avant-garde would just get him labeled a madman. Even now, some accuse his work of being lowbrow; go any further, and he might be denounced as outright vulgar.

William White still cares about his reputation—having his public persona collapse would be disastrous. If parents start labeling him a scoundrel, he can forget about selling comics in the future.

No matter how much kids love his work, it’s the parents who hold the purse strings. A wholesome, sunny image is crucial—you can have a little mischief, since that’s expected of artists, but you can never cross the line into crudeness. That’s simply unacceptable to many; a slightly lower tone is fine, since audiences aren’t here for a lecture, but vulgarity is another matter. That would drag down the standards of children, who already have no standards left; if things go any further, it’s unimaginable.

Parents may be overthinking things—kids these days are already a mess. Movies can hardly corrupt them further. Many have already abandoned religion, so what’s the point in talking about moral boundaries?

This is the most chaotic era in American private life; the lives of high school students are beyond the pale, making these kinds of films seem utterly tame.

If you were to draw a relationship map at a high school, the lines would be more tangled than a spider’s web. Today’s kids are far more experienced than their parents—so much for standards.