The Improvised Bill Murray Line That Changed Caddyshack Forever
"Caddyshack" is considered a classic among movie fans. The 1980s film takes the usual weighty seriousness often attached to the sport of golf and throws it out the window to make for a riotous comedy. Fortunately, this was the winning formula to help make "Caddyshack" a huge success. "Caddyshack" earned a total of $39,846,344 at the box office (via Box Office Mojo), and we can even find current news platforms like ESPN fondly reminiscing about the film on Twitter.
It's arguably one of the most quotable sports films, thanks to "Caddyshack" starring comedic powerhouses such as Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, and Bill Murray. Honestly, "Caddyshack" has a good number of notable and quotable moments that are probably stitched into the fabric of pop culture. And some of those shining moments are thanks to Murray's uncanny ability to steal a scene. Murray starred as the off-kilter groundskeeper Carl Spackler. And while we could never forget his battle of wits against a menacing gopher, it's his completely improvised "Cinderella Story" dialogue that stands out the most in "Caddyshack."
Bill Murray delivered his Cinderella Story monologue in one take
Bill Murray's Carl Spackler does some golf commentary in the famous monologue scene (via YouTube) where he imagines himself coming "outta nowhere" to sink in a game-winning putt for the Masters in Augusta, Georgia. The monologue ends with a celebratory "It's in the hole," which we've probably heard at some point during a fun game of miniature golf or the soundbite to a golf game replay. The "Cinderella Story" monologue is easily up there as one of the top quotes in movie history, and The American Film Institute includes it in their Top 100 Movie Quotes.
What's really impressive is that Murray completely improvised it in one take. As Golf.com revealed with exclusive excerpts from the book, "Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella," Murray, fresh with four seasons of "Saturday Night Live" under his belt and improvisation mastery from Second City, skillfully delivered the scene after director Harold Ramis simply asked Murray if he'd ever done golf commentary in his head.
Murray is no stranger to using improv in his roles, especially his most well-known ones. As Jason Reitman told Entertainment Weekly, on "Ghostbusters," much of Murray's dialogue as Peter Venkman was improvised. And the same could be said for his time on "Caddyshack." Ramis noted in the "Caddyshack" book that he would only provide Murray with details on Spackler's physical actions and let the actor just improvise any of the dialogue.