Doctor Detroit (1983)

I have always liked Dan Aykroyd, ever since his days as a cast member during the first five years of "Saturday Night Live" (1975-present). He's not only funny, but he is a fine dramatic actor, having been nominated for an Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1990 for the film Driving Miss Daisy (1989). Doctor Detroit was released a couple of years after Neighbors (1981), a film he had done with his late buddy, John Belushi.

The movie could have been funnier in a lot of spots, but it's not horrible. Clifford Skirdlow (Aykroyd) is a conservative and somewhat eccentric college professor who finds himself in the position of protecting four hookers (Donna Dixon, Lydia Lei, Fran Drescher, Lynn Whitfield) after their pimp, Diavolo (T.K. Carter), gets in trouble with a crime boss known as Mom (Kate Murtaugh). Diavolo makes up a story to Mom that he's been intimidated by a guy named Doctor Detroit. Clifford has to pull many a ruse to keep the girls out of trouble, including taking on the Doctor Detroit persona.

There's a scene where Thelma (Lynn Whitfield) is hauled into court for streetwalking. Clifford peeks in and notices the judge (Parley Baer) is a Southern good old boy. Clifford gets a white suit and pretends that he's a country lawyer, gets on the judge's good side, and convinces him to let Thelma go. The judge then sees Thelma, who is brought into the room after the charges has been dropped. As Clifford hustles her out, the prejudiced judge protests, "That girl is colored!" Thelma snapped back, "Ain't nobody took no crayon to me!"

Aykroyd's younger brother, Peter, has a small role. Ms. Drescher had her own TV series, "The Nanny"(1993-1998) and she was in the film This Is Spinal Tap (1984). Ms. Whitfield was in "The Josephine Baker Story" (1991) and won an Emmy for her portrayal of the famous performer. The late James Brown performs in this movie, and Ms. Dixon married Aykroyd in real life.