Christopher Guest Filmography

This Side of the Truth

Actors: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Jonah Hill, Louis C.K.

Synopsis: Ricky Gervais directs himself in This Side of the Truth, a comedy in which everyone in the world tells the truth except for one misfit in the film industry, who after discovering the act of lying, milks it to become the world's most phenomenal performer. Matthew Robinson will co-direct from his Read More

Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project

Actors: Don Rickles, Clint Eastwood, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, Christopher Guest

Synopsis: As one of the few heavyweight comedians of Vegas's "Golden Age" to topline standup routines in 21st century Glitter Gulch - a time and place that saw him still reeling in massive audiences well into his 70s and 80s - Don Rickles qualifies as a show business legend. Rickles, of course, pioneered Read More

For Your Consideration

Crew: Director, Musical Performer, Screenwriter

Actors: Bob Balaban, Jennifer Coolidge, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Harry Shearer, Fred Willard

Synopsis: Mockumentary mastermind Christopher Guest turns his satirical eye away from dog shows, small-town theater, and folk music to offer a hilarious take on Hollywood award season in this comedy focusing on trio of actors whose lives are turned upside down when they discover that their performances in Read More

Mrs. Henderson Presents

Actors: Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, William Young, Christopher Guest, Kelly Reilly, Thelma Barlow

Synopsis: A recently widowed eccentric with money to burn and no intentions of settling down enlists the aide of a showbiz professional to transform a run-down theater in Soho into London's most innovative entertainment hot spot in director Stephen Frears' cinematic account of the groundbreaking Windmill Read More

A Mighty Wind

Crew: Director, Screenwriter, Songwriter

Actors: Bob Balaban, Christopher Guest, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Michael McKean, Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins

Synopsis: The writing and directing team who created Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show turn their satiric eye toward the world of folk music in this sly mockumentary. Irving Steinbloom was one of the great behind-the-scenes figures of the folk music boom of the late '50s and early '60s, and helped to Read More

Best in Show

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Michael McKean, Michael Hitchcock, Parker Posey, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Lynch, Fred Willard

Synopsis: After parodying the idiosyncrasies of community theater devotees in the mock documentary Waiting for Guffman, actor/director Christopher Guest returns with another semi-improvised comedy that casts a satirical gaze on the world of championship dog breeding and training. A television crew is on Read More

Small Soldiers

Actors: Kirsten Dunst, Gregory Smith, Jay Mohr, Phil Hartman, Kevin Dunn

Synopsis: Joe Dante directed this satirical action-comedy about talking tech toys accidentally juiced-up with military microchips. After the defense industry firm Globotech takes over a small toy company, Heartland Play Systems' CEO Gil Mars (Denis Leary) gives the green light to develop a new line of Read More

Almost Heroes

Crew: Director

Actors: Chris Farley, Matthew Perry, Eugene Levy, Kevin Dunn, Lisa Barbuscia

Synopsis: Christopher Guest (Waiting for Guffman) directed this comedy about two hapless explorers -- hard-drinking trapper Bartholomew Hunt (the late Chris Farley in his last major role) and foppish Leslie Edwards (Matthew Perry) -- who lead an ill-fated 1804 expedition through the Pacific Northwest in a Read More

Waiting for Guffman

Crew: Director, Screenwriter, Songwriter

Actors: Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban, Parker Posey

Synopsis: The city of Blaine, Missouri is celebrating its sesquicentennial, and what better reason could there be to put on a show? Corky St. Claire (Christopher Guest), current leader of Blaine's community theater group and creator of a stage musical version of Backdraft that led to the unfortunate Read More

Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman

Crew: Director

Actors: Daryl Hannah, Daniel Baldwin, William Windom, Frances Fisher, Cristi Conaway

Synopsis: This made-for-cable remake of the cult favorite 1957 film of the same name is updated with an even more feminist slant and has a more thoughtful (and clever) script. Nancy Archer (Darryl Hannah) is a rich but troubled young woman married to a cheating lowlife who only stays with her for her money. Read More

A Few Good Men

Actors: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland

Synopsis: In this military courtroom drama based on the play by Aaron Sorkin, Navy lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is assigned to defend two Marines, Pfc. Louden Downey (James Marshall) and Lance Cpl. Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison), who are accused of the murder of fellow leatherneck Pfc. William Read More

The Return of Spinal Tap

Crew: Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, June Chadwick, Bob Geldof

Synopsis: The mock heavy-metal band Spinal Tap (actually comedians Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer) return to duty in this made-for-TV sequel to Rob Reiner's 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, filmed to promote the group's album Break Like the Wind. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Likely Stories, Vol. 1

Synopsis: This made-for-cable series features comedy performers starring in various skits and satires. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

The Big Picture

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Kevin Bacon, Emily Longstreth, J.T. Walsh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael McKean

Synopsis: Another "get even with Hollywood" satire in the tradition of SOB and Movers and Shakers, The Big Picture is an elongated inside joke complete with un-billed celebrity cameos. In this first feature-film directorial effort by actor/writer Christopher Guest, Kevin Bacon plays a "boy wonder" director Read More

Sticky Fingers

Actors: Helen Slater, Melanie Mayron, Danitra Vance, Eileen Brennan, Carol Kane

Synopsis: This screwball urban comedy is about two dippy roommates, struggling musicians Lolly (Melanie Mayron) and Hattie (Helen Slater), who are asked by an equally spacey, drug-dealing friend-of-a-friend Diane (Loretta Devine) to baby-sit a bag containing nearly a million dollars while she scoots out of Read More

The Princess Bride

Actors: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest

Synopsis: Based on William Goldman's novel of the same name, The Princess Bride is staged as a book read by grandfather (Peter Falk) to his ill grandson (Fred Savage). Falk's character assures a romance-weary Savage that the book has much more to deliver than a simpering love story, including but not Read More

Beyond Therapy

Actors: Julie Hagerty, Jeff Goldblum, Glenda Jackson, Tom Conti, Christopher Guest

Synopsis: Based on the play by Christopher Durang, Robert Altman's Beyond Therapy is a comedy set in New York City but filmed in Paris, where Altman was living at the time. Arrogant Bruce (Jeff Goldblum) grows bored with his live-in lover, Bob (Christopher Guest), so he looks for a change by placing an ad Read More

Little Shop of Horrors

Actors: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, Levi Stubbs

Synopsis: It started as a 1960 Roger Corman horror comedy, filmed in two days; it then inspired a lavish 1982 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Finally in 1986, Little Shop of Horrors (1960) graduated into a multimillion-dollar, all-star film musical. Rick Moranis Read More

Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends: Johnny Appleseed

Crew: Director

Synopsis: This 45-minute retelling of the Johnny Appleseed story was produced for Shelley Duvall's American Tall Tales and Legends. Martin Short is beautifully cast as John Chapman, the legendary figure who planted apple trees all over country. The story's lighthearted approach makes even the "death" finale Read More

Billy Crystal: Don't Get Me Started

Saturday Night Live: Season 10

Actors: Jim Belushi, Billy Crystal, Mary Gross, Christopher Guest, Rich Hall, Gary Kroeger, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Harry Shearer, Martin Short, Pamela Stephenson

This Is Spinal Tap

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Screenwriter, Songwriter

Actors: Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Tony Hendra, R.J. Parnell

Synopsis: Largely improvised by director Rob Reiner and his cast, This Is Spinal Tap looks and sounds like a "real" documentary, with Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest as David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls, and Nigel Tufnel, the key members of a going-nowhere British heavy metal band called Spinal Tap Read More

A Piano for Mrs. Cimino

Actors: Bette Davis

Synopsis: Directed by George Schaefer, this light made-for-television drama is based upon the novel of the same name by Robert Oliphant. Starring Bette Davis as Esther Cimino, a 73-year-old widow, the film traces the events following Esther's son George's (George Hearn) decision that she is no longer Read More

Million Dollar Infield

Synopsis: Rob Reiner coproduced, cowrote and costarred in this TV-movie about suburban "angst" in the 1980s. Reiner is one of four wealthy Long Islanders who play for an amateur softball team. All four men (Reiner, Bruno Kirby, Robert Costanzo and Christopher Guest) suffer from profound personal and Read More

Heartbeeps

Actors: Andy Kaufman, Bernadette Peters, Randy Quaid, Kenneth McMillan, Melanie Mayron

Synopsis: Heartbeeps stars Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters as domestic robots who fall in love and run off together. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Likely Stories

Shame of the Jungle

Actors: John Belushi, Brian Doyle-Murray, Andrew Duncan, Christopher Guest, Bill Murray, Johnny Weissmuller, Jr.

Synopsis: In this animated Tarzan spoof, Tarzoon of the Jungle travels through his tropical home in the company of his friend, June. This film features the voices of "Saturday Night Live" stars Bill Murray and John Belushi. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More

The Missing Link

Actors: John Graham, Bob Kaliban, Christopher Guest

Synopsis: This irreverent, sometimes raunchy animated feature by Picha takes an acerbic look at a hypothetical "missing link" by the name of "O." Born somewhere around 200,000 B.C., give or take a few generations, "O" was a reject because his pink and unbearded self was a mite too intelligent and off-beat Read More

The Last Word

Actors: Richard Harris, Karen Black, Martin Landau, Dennis Christopher, Biff McGuire

Synopsis: Danny Travis (Richard Harris) is a kindly Irish inventor and widower whose projects leave his family in a constant state of near poverty. He takes on the system when the city slates his apartment building for demolition. Danny uncovers a plot hatched by the scheming Governor Davis (Biff McGuire) Read More

The Long Riders

Actors: David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, Stacy Keach, James Keach, Dennis Quaid

Synopsis: The hook in Walter Hill's mythic retelling of the James-Younger outlaw legend is in the casting; the James, Younger, Miller, and Ford Brothers are played by a string of acting brothers, the Keachs, the Carradines, the Quaids and the Guests. The film begins as outlaws are robbing a bank. After the Read More

Blind Ambition

Actors: Martin Sheen, Theresa Russell, Michael Callan, Lonny Chapman, William Daniels

Synopsis: The 8-hour TV miniseries Blind Ambition was originally telecast May 20 through 23, 1979. This 105-minute feature-film version, prepared in 1982, seems a bit rushed at times, but overall does a credible and coherent job of storytelling. Based on John Dean's book Blind Ambition, with elements of Read More

1 + 1 = 3

Actors: Adelheid Arndt, Dominik Graf

Synopsis: A thin tale of romance, pregnancy, and single motherhood (the numbers in the title add up only after the baby is born), this drama by Heidi Genee is well-acted and directed but has little to go on. Katerina (Adelheid Arndt) is an attractive, strong-minded, reasonable woman who has two different Read More

Girlfriends

Actors: Melanie Mayron, Eli Wallach, Anita Skinner, Bob Balaban, Christopher Guest

Synopsis: One of the first fictional efforts by former documentary maker Claudia Weill, Girlfriends focuses on a pair of roommates, Susan Weinblatt and Anne Munroe, played by Melanie Mayron and Anita Skinner. Anne gets married, leaving the plump, insecure Susan alone for virtually the first time in her Read More

Laverne & Shirley: Bus Stop

Synopsis: Enchanted by a pair of medical students, Laverne and Shirley agree to rendezvous with the new men in their life in a faraway city. Upon arrival, however, the girls are jilted--and stranded in a lonely bus depot. Featured in the supporting cast are future This is Spinal Tap collaborators Harry Read More

All in the Family: Mike and Gloria Meet

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Priscilla Lopez

Synopsis: In another flashback episode, Mike and Gloria recall their first blind date way back in 1968. Once again, the audience is treated to a glimpse of the curly haired, squeaky-voiced, pre-Lib Gloria and the bearded, oversexed radical Mike. Christopher Guest, who later appeared in the Rob Read More

It Happened One Christmas

Synopsis: Marlo Thomas' first mistake was optioning the classic It's a Wonderful Life for this TV remake; her second was starring in it herself in the Jimmy Stewart part! This gender switch aside, It Happened One Christmas follows the original virtually to the letter. Thomas is a young woman who dreams of Read More

TVRO Goes to the Superbowl

The Fortune

Actors: Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Stockard Channing, Florence Stanley, Scatman Crothers, Richard B. Shull

Synopsis: Three's a crowd in Mike Nichols's period caper comedy -- or is it? To dodge the 1920s Mann Act barring the transport of women across state lines for "immoral purposes," not-yet-divorced Nicky (Warren Beatty) has felonious buddy Oscar (Jack Nicholson) marry Nicky's runaway heiress sweetheart Freddy Read More

Death Wish

Actors: Charles Bronson, Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia, Steven Keats, William Redfield

Synopsis: This drama about a man who takes the law into his own hands was wildly controversial upon first release, sparking much debate about the perceived pro-vigilante stance of the story, and established Charles Bronson as a major box office draw in the United States. Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a Read More

The Hot Rock

Actors: Lynne Gordon, Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman, Paul Sand, Zero Mostel

Synopsis: Peter Yates directs the early '70s comedy caper The Hot Rock, based on the Donald Westlake novel and adapted for the screen by William Goldman. Robert Redford stars as John Archibald Dortmunder, a former jewel thief just released from prison. His brother-in-law, Andrew Kelp (George Segal) Read More

The Hospital

Actors: Rehn Scofield, George C. Scott, Diana Rigg, Barnard Hughes, Nancy Marchand, Stephen Elliott

Synopsis: Directed by Arthur Hiller from the second of three Academy Award-winning screenplays by Paddy Chayefsky, The Hospital is a black comedy centering on Dr. Herbert Bock (George C. Scott), a bitter, suicidal surgeon. While patients at the hospital die left and right due to the extreme carelessness and Read More

Medium is the Medium

Synopsis: This collection features works by six different artists including Allen Kaprau ("Hello"), Otto Piene ("Electronic Light Ballet" and "Manned Helium Structure"), James Seawright ("Capriccio for Television"), Thomas Tadlock ("Archetron"), Aldo Tambellini ("Black") and Nam June Paik ("Electronic Opera Read More