Attention... Privés!

Admittedly, this movie falls far short of anything the academy would use as a DVD coaster for the lighting guy backstage. It's terrible. The dialogue and plot is laughably predictable. The camera work is generally sub-par... as if it were the director's first film. At times, it's just plain stupid. So stupid, it can be brilliant - in the same way the Keystone Cops were hilarious. The scene with a stolen Ferrari is absolutely priceless. I don't know if I've ever laughed so hard or rewound a movie so many times. I've been waiting in vain for a DVD version to come out, and my Tivo is always searching. Perhaps you can still catch an old VHS copy on eBay with some persistence. If you watch with the appropriate silly, B-movie attitude, you won't be disappointed.

This is definitely a shtick-flick. A down and out dick pins up a card at the laundramat advertising "detective lessons". You can guess the type of guy that shows up for the class. Right! A guy with no class! The two end up mixed up in international intrigue to save the kidnapped daughter of a cheese mafia baron. Excellent sight gags, a chase scene that takes us all over Italy and a hysterical running gag make this a movie a can't miss. Forget prosac, rent this movie instead!

I worked with Loren and David in their next movie "Dutch Treat". This movie actually has a better overall quality than Dutch Treat. About the only action as far as chase scenes in Dutch, was the two idiots on a tandem bicycle running from a bunch of guys, one armed with a meat cleaver. Detective has many automotive chase scenes around Italy. Great shots of old Rome and Pisa.

I traded a DVD of Dutch Treat for a DVD of this one and think I did okay.

I recommend Detective School Dropouts. Good clean fun with lots of mayhem and maiming. One hell of a better ending than Dutch Treat, too.

This is one of the best comedy movies of all time that i have seen, up there with the likes of History of the world, Space balls, The naked gun series & the police academy series. The movie is so fast paced & so incredibly funny that there are very few words to describe it. One scene is better than the other, what with the copier machine scene to the mannequin scene, the Grey poodle fufu to the car chase in Italy. Who can forget the scene from the museum & the leaning tower of Pisa chase. Also the lines "They don't make monks like they used to" & "This is America, we live on bad checks." There is simply nothing you cannot like about this movie.....except that it is not available in a DVD format.

My best friend and I have seen this movie well over one hundred times. We have it memorized, line by line. We act out scenes from the movie, and rate each other's performance. We don't even refer to it by the full title of "Detective School Dropouts" anymore -- long ago we abbreviated it to "DSDO."

My favorite scene has to be when Paul and Donald steal the Ferrari:

Paul: "slow down!!" Donald: "I can't!" Paul: "would you open your eyes and watch out for those sheep?!"

It's really a pity that Landsberg and Dreyfuss haven't made more movies together, because they had such a hilarious synergy in this one. The scene where Wilson is dressed up in a wedding gown while trying to fend off the unsuspecting Bruno, had me on the floor in tears. Bruno's constant injuries (the knives!!) are a source of much humor. Suffice it to say that this is one hilarious film with some "zany" slapstick humor. It is definitely worth renting, if you can find it. I give this movie a perfect 10!