An Officer and a Gentleman
A determined Navy cadet fights to earn his wings while a relentless drill sergeant pushes him to the breaking point—and he must also learn to open his heart before love slips away.
“Life gave him nothing, except the courage to win...and a woman to love.”
Synopsis
Zack Mayo is a reserved, quiet man who dreams of becoming a navy pilot. When he arrives at training camp for his 13-week officer's course, he clashes with the harsh, no-nonsense drill sergeant, Emil Foley. Though Mayo is a top-performing cadet, his emotional detachment leads Foley to push him relentlessly, believing that with more selflessness, he could become an outstanding officer. Similarly, Zack's relationship with a working-class woman is strained by his reluctance to open up and commit.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 42+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Peter ZinnerShot by Donald E ThorinScored by Jack NitzscheDesigned by Philip M Jefferies
Box Office
1982 · Box office
💰 Box-office hit — grossed 17× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$129.8M
Opening weekend: $3.3M — 3% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.
Opening week (7-day): $6.5M — 5% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 346 theaters
Also known as
- Ein Offizier und ein Gentlemande
- Ein Offizier und Gentlemande
- Officer and a Gentlemanen
- Officier et Gentlemanfr
- Ufficiale e gentiluomoit
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Cast & Crew
42 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Richard Gere
as Zack Mayo
Debra Winger
as Paula Pokrifki
David Keith
as Sid Worley
Louis Gossett Jr
as Sergeant Emil Foley
Robert Loggia
as Byron Mayo
Lisa Blount
as Lynette Pomeroy
Lisa Eilbacher
as Casey Seeger
Tony Plana
as Emiliano Della Serra
Harold Sylvester
as Perryman
David Caruso
as Topper Daniels
Grace Zabriskie
as Esther Pokrifiki
Victor French
as Joe Pokrifki
Supporting cast
22Tommy Petersen
as Young Zack
Mara Scott Wood
as Bunny
David Greenfield
as Schneider
Dennis Rucker
as Donny
Jane Wilbur
as Nellie Rufferwell
Buck Welcher
as Thraxton
Vern Taylor
as Tom Worley
Elizabeth Rogers
as Betty Worley
David R Marshall
as Drill Instructor #1
Gary C Stillwell
as Drill Instructor #2
John Laughlin
as Troy
Tee Dennard
as Dilbert Dunker Instructor
Norbert M Murray
as Altitude Chamber Instructor
Daniel Tyler
as New Recruit
William S Graves
as Captain Graves
Pia Boyer
as Paula's Sister
Danna Kiesel
as Paula's Sister
Meleesa Wyatt
as Prostitute #1
Jo Anna Keane
as Prostitute #2
Bernard Madrid
as Platoon Member (uncredited)
Randy Tat
as New Recruit (uncredited)
Ed Begley Jr
as Altitude Chamber Instructor
Directors
1Writers
1Producers
1Other crew
5Parents Guide
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