The Money Pit Behind The Scenes

The dilemma of the producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy was finding someone who would consent to having their beautiful home partially destroyed. They located the Ridder mansion on the north shore of Long Island. The house belonged to the family for which the Knight-Ridder news syndicate had been named. As the house was on the market at the time, they consented to have several key sequences shot there. During the course of filming, the house was virtually destroyed and re-built from scratch. During the filming, Mrs. Ridder was reportedly stunned at the sight of the old family home in a semi-demolished state, but was convinced by director Richard Benjamin to appear in one of the movie's final sequences once the place was restored to original condition.

The shoot was delayed due to Shelley Long giving birth to her daughter Juliana, but when she reported to the set, she took on all of the physical acting without a hitch.

My Dad provided the car used in the Money Pit and let Tom Hanks drive it around the set. Since my Dad was on the set, he mentioned that the scene where the turkey is launched was practiced repeatedly with a football. Unfortunately, a fake turkey does not have the same aerodynamic qualities as a real football. Mission fail!

They built a replica of the front of the mansion on the back of the mansion but did not really bring it into play during filming.

I recall him saying that the Hell's Angels used in the movie were recruited from the ranks of an actual Hell's Angels chapter.

Richard Benjamin's birthday was celebrated on the set while filming the movie.

Know some good info about the making of The Money Pit?
Use our simple iRewind system to add it to this page in just a few clicks.

Click here to start...