Elmer Bernstein

Stripes (1981)

Hard-luck cabbie John Winger (Bill Murray) — directionless after being fired from his job and dumped by his girlfriend — enlists in the U.S. Army with his close pal, Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis). After his barely satisfactory performance in basic training, the irreverent Winger emerges as the figurehead for a ragtag band of Army misfits. However, his hijinks threaten to cause an international scandal when he inadvertently commandeers a military assault vehicle behind enemy lines.

The Grifters (1990)

Hard-as-nails Lily Dillon (Anjelica Huston) works as a swindler for dangerous bookie Bobo (Pat Hingle), probably the only man she fears. Arriving in Los Angeles on “business,” Lily looks up her son, Roy (John Cusack), a small-time con artist content with paltry sleight-of-hand cheats. Roy’s girlfriend, Myra (Annette Bening), looks like an All-American type but is a grifter looking to pull off another big-time con. The convergence of the three hustlers inevitably means trouble for all of them.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne), two American college students, are backpacking through Britain when a large wolf attacks them. David survives with a bite, but Jack is brutally killed. As David heals in the hospital, he’s plagued by violent nightmares of his mutilated friend, who warns David that he is becoming a werewolf. When David discovers the horrible truth, he contemplates committing suicide before the next full moon causes him to transform from man to murderous beast.

Trading Places (1983)

Upper-crust executive Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and down-and-out hustler Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) are the subjects of a bet by successful brokers Mortimer (Don Ameche) and Randolph Duke (Ralph Bellamy). An employee of the Dukes, Winthorpe is framed by the brothers for a crime he didn’t commit, with the siblings then installing the street-smart Valentine in his position. When Winthorpe and Valentine uncover the scheme, they set out to turn the tables on the Dukes.

Three Amigos (1986)

Three cowboy movie stars from the silent era — Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase), Lucky Day (Steve Martin), and Ned Nederlander (Martin Short) — are fired when one of their movies bombs. In what seems to be a career-saving offer, young Mexican woman Carmen (Patrice Martinez) offers them a high-paying gig in her village. The three jump at the opportunity, expecting to do their typical act, but Carmen believes they are really heroes and asks them to rid her village of bad guy El Guapo (Alfonso Arau).

Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Forrest, Donna Dixon, Bruce Davison, Terry Gilliam, Frank Oz, Vanessa Angel, Bernie Casey, Charles McKeown, William Prince, Bob Hope, Joel Coen, Sam Raimi, Martin Brest, Tom Hatten, James Daughton, Jim Staahl, Bjarne Thomsen, Sergei Rusakov, Costa-Gavras, Seva Novgorodtsev, Stephen Hoye, Ray Harryhausen, Mark Stewart, Sean Daniel, Jeff Harding, Heidi Sorenson, Margo Random, Douglas Lambert, Christopher Malcolm, Terrance Conder, Matt Frewer, Tony Cyrus, Gusti Bogok, Derek Meddings, Robert Paynter, Gurdial Sira, Michael Apted, B.B. King, Larry Cohen, Ricco Ross, Richard D. Sharp, Stuart Milligan, Sally Anlauf, John Daveikis, Laurence Bilzerian, Richard Kruk, Heather Henson, Erin Folsey, Bob Swaim, Nancy Gair, Guy Standeven

Spies Like Us (1985)

Looking for a way out of their mundane government jobs, Austin Millbarge (Dan Aykroyd) and Emmett Fitz-Hume (Chevy Chase) take the entrance exam for a CIA espionage program. Immediately chosen to take part in a top-secret mission in the Middle East by the officious Gen. Sline (Steve Forrest), the new recruits are set upon by Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Soon it becomes clear that the hapless pair are being used as decoys to expose the Russians for a Cold War nuclear showdown.