Movies of the 80s: 'Loose Shoes'

Hey film buffs and comedy lovers! Get ready to dive into the quirky, boundary-pushing world of Loose Shoes!

Loose Shoes was a loose series of comedy sketches that send up various different styles of movie from the revenge action of Billy Jack to the prison movie to the traditional biopic. In between the fake movie trailers are musical parodies, and comedic theater announcements.

So, why the title Loose Shoes? Well, the title actually springs from a controversial quote by Earl Butz. The former Ag Secretary was fired from his job on Gerald Ford's presidential campaign for saying in reference to black voters not voting Republican: "C###### people only want three things, tight p####, loose shoes, and a warm place to s###." The makers of Loose Shoes transformed Butz's offensive remark into a humorously edgy 5-minute song in the style of Cab Calloway.

Critics loved to hate Loose Shoes. They unleashed some savagely hilarious reviews that are often funnier than the film itself. Curious?

Here are 10 of the best Loose Shoes insults from 1980 film critics in no particular order":

1. "Loose Shoes without soul, only a heel would enjoy it" Patrice Smith Evansville Courier

2. "First of all, I will fight anyone who says Loose Shoes is a good movie" Peter Nelson Iowa Press Citizen.

3. "Mercifully, the film only lasted about an hour and a half minimizing the potential for brain damage" Bruce Williams Lexington Herald.

4. "Loose Shoes is only 72 minutes long but it seems much, much longer." Donna Chernin Cleveland Plain Dealer

5. Commenting on the fact that Loose Shoes had been completed and shown to audiences in 1979, Critic Joe Baltake noted on the film's release in 1980 "It was old then, (and) it hasn't improved with age."

6. "For the most part, the jokes are dull-witted but occasionally they approach the offensive, if we could arouse in ourselves the interest to regard the film seriously at all." Owen Hardy The Courier Journal.

7. "(Loose Shoes)" is short on wit and long on silliness... 'A bombardment of scatological humor and four letter words." And that was just the first reel, critic Kent Donovan of the New York Mercury admitted to walking out on the movie after the first reel.

8. "There is no point in seeing previews of Loose Shoes because the film is simply a series of movie previews. Come to think of it, there is no point in seeing Loose Shoes. It Stinks!" Yale Youngblood Times Record

9. "Of the 24 people who attended the screening I was at, 11 walked out before the movie was over. That says alot as the movie is only 74 minutes long" Yale Youngblood again, Times Record.

10. Referring to the involvement of legendary comic Buddy Hackett: "Hackett's presence only raises the question, when did Buddy give up comedy?" Dick Shippy Akron Beacon Journal.

So yeah, critical darling this was not. Nevertheless, the film did get three tries at the big screen. Released in 1979 under the title Coming Attractions and again in mid-1980 under the title Loose Shoes and a third try, still titled Loose Shoes in January of 1981. underwritten by Producer Mel Brooks who was apparently one of the few people who actually liked Loose Shoes. A Jewish parody of Star Wars in Loose Shoes appears to have been inspired by Brooks.

Oh, by the way, trying to pinpoint this movie’s actual release date is like trying to find a needle in a comedic haystack—good luck. As I mentioned it got three releases, none of which were well documented in terms of nailing down a theatrical release date. The film has no Rotten Tomatoes score and a 4.6 out of 10 on Rotten Tomatoes.