Skip to content
24 October · 62 days to ChristmasThe advent calendar opens 1 December →
A paper trading desk holds orange juice, oranges, a cream telephone and scattered blank slips beside an empty trading pit, with a wreath on the dark wall.

Christmas-adjacent · 1983

Trading Places

46/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 46 ↓
UK certificate 15116 min
Comedy

A Christmas film the way a Christmas number one is a Christmas song: it happens then, and the season does…

On Paramount+ · UK subscription →
Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 11 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas in good measure.

Three paper elves arrange oranges around a miniature trading pit with a cream telephone, orange juice and coloured board lights on a festive workbench.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas is only the occasion.10/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for about half.10/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details8 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.12/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: partly.10/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionA December regular (25,000+).6/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

63/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Mixed in tone. Real jeopardy, but survivable. A happy ending.

Our ruling & the working →

Trading Places is one of the films our scoring is calibrated against, so its Festive Factor is held at 46. The five ingredients add up to 48.

What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

Paramount+

Included with a subscription
Open Trading Places on Paramount+ (opens in a new tab)

Cinema Membership on NOW

Extra subscription

Leaves Cinema Membership on NOW on

Search the service for it

Paramount+ on Apple TV

Extra subscription
See viewing options on Paramount+ on Apple TV (opens in a new tab)

Paramount+ on Prime Video

Extra subscription
See viewing options on Paramount+ on Prime Video (affiliate link, opens in a new tab)

Apple TV

Rent or buy
See viewing options on Apple TV (opens in a new tab)

Prime Video

Rent or buy
See viewing options on Prime Video (affiliate link, opens in a new tab)

Rakuten TV

Rent or buy
Search the service for it

Sky Store

Rent or buy
Search the service for it

Trading Places · Rental and purchase cost extra, separately from membership.

As an Amazon Associate, Cine Claus earns from qualifying purchases. Buying through a link helps pay for the site - it never changes a score.

Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab). Sky and Rakuten TV data by JustWatch.

The story

About Trading Places

Two elderly commodities brokers make a private wager and swap the lives of their privileged managing director and a street hustler, without telling either man. When the pair work out what has been done to them they combine forces against the brothers on the trading floor. John Landis's comedy runs from Christmas through to the new year.

The CineClaus verdict

A Christmas film the way a Christmas number one is a Christmas song: it happens then, and the season does real work.

The setup is cruel and the film knows it, which is what makes the revenge half so satisfying. Elliott and Curtis both took BAFTAs for it. One sequence has aged into something genuinely difficult to watch and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.

Sharp, and not for everyone.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

15

Our take: not a family film. Nudity, strong language, drug use, and a blackface sequence that has aged very badly. Adults.

BBFC advice: Strong language, drug references, nudity.

Content advice & accessibility
Where the advice comes from
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 15 certificate, and never looser than it.
A first look

Watch the trailer

Official trailer from Paramount Movies.

Orange juice, oranges and a cream telephone sit on a paper-strewn green desk before an empty trading pit, snowy city windows and festive garlands.

Trailer

Trading Places

Watch on YouTube (opens in a new tab)Nothing from YouTube loads until you press play.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Close colour photograph of a smiling man with dark swept hair, wearing a black shirt and a black leather jacket against a warm orange background.Dan Aykroydas Louis Winthorpe III
Eddie Murphy in black-framed glasses, a dark suit and a yellow shirt with a black tie, at a press event.Eddie Murphyas Billy Ray Valentine
Black and white studio portrait of a young man with slicked hair in a herringbone coat, looking off to the side.Ralph Bellamyas Randolph Duke
Black and white photograph of a man in a dark suit and patterned tie gesturing with one hand, standing on a small stage set.Don Amecheas Mortimer Duke
Black and white photograph of an older man with swept-back hair, smiling and looking to one side, wearing a knitted cardigan over an open-collared shirt.Denholm Elliottas Coleman
Close colour photograph of a smiling woman with short silver hair and thin metal-framed glasses, wearing a floral blouse, in front of a dark festival backdrop.Jamie Lee Curtisas Ophelia

Behind the camera

Directed by
John Landis
Original score
Elmer Bernstein
Writing & production credits
Writers
Herschel Weingrod
Timothy Harris
Producer
Aaron Russo
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Dan Aykroyd · Rnunezart · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Eddie Murphy · David Shankbone · Source image (opens in a new tab) · Public domain.

Ralph Bellamy · Whitey Schafer · Source image (opens in a new tab) · Public domain.

Don Ameche · NBC Television. · Source image (opens in a new tab) · Public domain.

Denholm Elliott · PBS · Source image (opens in a new tab) · Public domain.

Jamie Lee Curtis · Gabriel Hutchinson · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

John Landis · Bbcentral at English Wikipedia · Source image (opens in a new tab) · Public domain.

Keep the Christmas feeling

Music & soundtrack

That tune you recognised. That score you loved. Take a little of the film into the rest of your Christmas.

The original score album, track by track.

Behind the music. Elmer Bernstein composed the score.

About this music list

These are the songs and soundtrack we hold for the film, not a complete cue sheet, and they give no scene timings. Album track lists and durations come from MusicBrainz. Spotify and Apple Music links open the matched recordings; links marked Search open a search on that service. Album covers are each release's own, from the Cover Art Archive, credited under the cover.

AFI Catalog ↗ (opens in a new tab) MusicBrainz ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Trading Places. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapRittenhouse Square, Philadelphia

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

Open larger map ↗ (OpenStreetMap, opens in a new tab)

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Choose your next scene

Photographs of the real places

There’s more behind the film.
Explore the next place.

Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia · Philadelphia Inquirer (opens in a new tab)

Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia · Philadelphia Inquirer (opens in a new tab)

30th Street Station, Philadelphia · Librarian1984 · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab) · Philadelphia Inquirer (opens in a new tab)

Park Avenue Armory, New York · AFI Catalog production notes (opens in a new tab)

Community College of Philadelphia · Philadelphia Inquirer (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more Trading Places

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

On set

The trading floor shoot had to move to a weekend

The finale was filmed at the Comex commodity exchange in the World Trade Center, with real traders working alongside professional extras. When Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy turned up on a weekday, the traders were so distracted that around $6 billion of trading reportedly stopped, so the scene was rescheduled for a weekend.

Read the story
On your next watchLook at the faces on the floor in the final sequence: many are working traders, not actors.

Source: AFI Catalog production notes ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

Don Ameche was a late replacement as Mortimer Duke

Ralph Bellamy and Ray Milland were first lined up to play the Duke brothers, but Milland's failing health meant John Landis had to recast. Don Ameche, who had taken only small roles for some time, was hard to track down and agreed once he was offered the pay Milland would have had.

Read the story

Source: AFI Catalog production notes ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

A Philadelphia story shot in two cities

The film is set in Philadelphia, and about fifteen days were shot there from December 1982, including the Rittenhouse Square scenes. Many interiors, including the club and office sets, were filmed afterwards at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, and the final day of shooting was on a beach in the US Virgin Islands.

Read the story
On your next watchThe Locust Street front of a Philadelphia music school plays the club's entrance, while its inside is a New York armory.

Source: AFI Catalog production notes ↗ (opens in a new tab) · Philadelphia Inquirer ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Music & sound

Elmer Bernstein adapted Mozart for the score

Rather than writing a conventional comedy score, Elmer Bernstein adapted classical music, including the overture to Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, which he conducted himself. The approach earned him an Academy Award nomination for adapted score, and a Christmas pop standard, Brenda Lee's Jingle Bell Rock, sits among the source songs.

Read the story

Source: AFI Catalog production notes ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

The Christmas in it
Carols and songs heard: Jingle Bell Rock. Christmas is the backdrop for the central scheme and the office party; the source music includes a seasonal pop standard.
Releases and certificates
: Premiere (US). Opened in Los Angeles and New York, released by Paramount.
Awards
Nominated: Academy Awards 1984, Music (Original Song Score or Adaptation Score) (Elmer Bernstein).
Nominated: Golden Globe Awards 1984, Best Actor, Motion Picture Comedy or Musical (Eddie Murphy).
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

Good to know

Questions about Trading Places

When was Trading Places released?

It opened in Los Angeles and New York on 8 June 1983, released by Paramount.

Where was Trading Places filmed?

Mostly in Philadelphia, including Rittenhouse Square and 30th Street Station, with interiors shot in New York at the Park Avenue Armory. The last day of shooting was on a beach in the US Virgin Islands.

Who directed Trading Places and who stars in it?

John Landis directed it. Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy lead the cast, with Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott and Jamie Lee Curtis in support.

More like this

If Trading Places is your kind of Christmas…

Find another favourite →
Swipe to browse all three →