The Doctor Is In!

Hello, and welcome to my first blog entry on my new website. For this, I thought we would travel back to magical year of 1983, when a young Dan Aykroyd had just lost his partner in crime, John Belushi, and turned to a life of prostitution. Or as he calls it, the entertainment business. I'm talking about Doctor Detroit.

The film stars Akroyd as Clifford Skridlow, a meek college professor, who after a chance encounter with an in debt pimp, played by Howard Hessman, is duped into taking his place. As an act of chivalry to the escorts, he agrees and creates an alter ego, Doctor Detroit, to stop an evil lady named Mom, played by Kate Murtagh, from muscling her way into their management.

The supporting cast includes Donna Dixon (the future Mrs. Aykroyd), Fran Drescher, Lydia Lei, and Lynn Whitfield as the escorts. T.K. Carter as Diablo the limo driver, and George Furth and Nan Martin as Aykroyd's befuddled parents. Plus, there's a special appearance by the legendary James Brown as an added bonus.

This was an interesting film for Aykroyd. This was the first film he did after John Belushi's death. All of his Hollywood films up to this point had him teaming up with Belushi as his straight man, with the exception of Neighbors where Belushi was the straight man. This was also the first time Aykroyd headlined a Hollywood feature. This movie gave hime the chance to play it both straight, when he is Clifford, and wild, when he is the Doctor. This is also where he met his future wife, the lovely Donna Dixon. They would work together again in Twilight Zone:The Movie, Spies Like Us, The Coach Trip, and Exit To Eden. Oddly enough, she only played his love interest in Exit To Eden.

I think this movie is a lot of fun and a real showcase for Aykroyd's talent.