Photo By Savannah Baird | Fort Knox Soldiers act out the famous "Stripes" 'razzle dazzle' scene during a 35th...... read more read more
FORT KNOX, Ky. — The movie “Stripes” brought the now-famous “razzle dazzle” military drill scene to the big screen 44 years ago, but did you know it came to Fort Knox, Kentucky first?
Well, it’s a fact, Jack!
Considered a cult-classic military comedy, most of the film was shot at Fort Knox in the winter of 1980, when the post was still home to the U.S. Army Armor Center and School.
“Stripes” follows a platoon of misfit recruits – starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and John Candy – as they go through basic training at the fictional Fort Arnold. Following their basic training graduation, they complete a special assignment with top secret equipment.
Fort Knox became the set for ‘Fort Arnold,’ when the installation main gate bore the fictional name. The gate was relocated in 2005, but the "Welcome" sign and M48A2C tanks fondly remembered in the film still remain.
Did you know: The script was originally written for Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong as the main characters. This idea was scrapped, and the script was rewritten for Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. Some of the jokes meant for Cheech and Chong were saved and utilized by Judge Reinhold’s character.
“Fort Knox was chosen as a site for filming after weeks of research and site visits,” said Dan Goldberg, “Stripes” writer and producer during an interview for a “Stripes” 35th anniversary edition of The Gold Standard newspaper in 2016. (The paper transitioned to its current online format as Fort Knox News in 2018)
“My writing partner, Len Blum, and I got permission from the Department of Defense to do research before we started writing the movie. We did research at four forts: Knox (Kentucky), Benning (Georgia), Gordon (Georgia) and Hood (Texas).
Ultimately, Fort Knox stood out to the team.
“We loved the old barracks that were there,” he said. “We liked that feel. We loved the center field where we shot the final marching. We really liked the confidence course and we liked the fact that there were tanks there.”
According to officials, most of the filming at Fort Knox took place among the World War II-era wooden barracks located in the Basic Training complex at the time. In 2005, they were torn down to build the Gen. Timothy J. Maude Complex, which now houses U.S. Army Human Resources Command and V Corps.
“Those World War II barracks were still being used into the 90s, so even later generations that came in after that movie were familiar with them,” said Matthew Rector, an environmental protection specialist at NASA’s John Glenn Research Center near Cleveland, Ohio. He worked at Fort Knox as a Cultural Resources specialist and unofficial post historian for several years before taking the job at NASA.
“I think it's particularly that landscape that’s probably another reason why the film was so impactful.”
Did you know: The drill and ceremony routine during Basic Camp graduation was filmed near the World War II-era barracks at the time. This performance took place at what is now the center of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command complex. A plaque marking the area as the filming location was unveiled during the 2016 anniversary event and still remains. The scene went so well, they were able to capture it in one take.
In addition to the amiable landscape the installation offered, there was also no shortage of access to potential extras for hire. With the assistance of Fort Knox officials, a $10 million budget and 38-day shooting schedule, the production team made quick work of filming on post.
“The great thing about filming at Knox was … we were very spoiled,” said Goldberg while reminiscing on the film for its 40th anniversary. “If we needed a ton of Soldiers for a scene, we would say, ‘We need this group of people here and this group of people there,’ and the Army would take care of organizing that. People would follow orders, which is terrific.”
For extras whose jobs were to march or run in formation, raise national flags, ride a bicycle or generally walk around, Fort Knox Soldiers like Kevin Emdee, now a retired Fort Knox Criminal Investigative Division agent, best fit their needs.
“I went on a Saturday in my dress greens; they wanted me in dress greens and asked me if I had a black briefcase. I said, ‘Yeah,’” Said Emdee, who recently recounted about his experience as an extra. “They said, ‘Well, bring that, too.”
He recalled a breakfast spread with hot cocoa due to the chilly weather and a fog machine that simulated smoke coming out of the smokestack as if the set was heated – it was not.
Emdee said he was hired for a scene-setting cameo that would transition the film to scenes in Italy. This scene was shot in Louisville on the same day that Harold Ramis (playing Russel Ziskey) was being filmed teaching English during the opening of the film.
Did you know: The scene where John, Russel, Stella and Louise sneak into the commanding general’s house was not shot in Quarters No. 1 at Fort Knox. One historian suggests the shot was filmed at the James Beam Distillery in Clermont.
Emdee said his cameo was brief. His instructions were precise: don’t make any hand gestures, turn around and look at the camera, or carry on a conversation. Simply walk from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’.
“If you've never been in front of a camera before, the urge to look is overpowering,” he said, “but we managed not to.”
“The cameras are set, and there's a building in the background [of Soldiers doing physical training]; there are two guys that walk in the front of the building,” Emdee said, setting the foundation for his scene. “One's a tall guy holding a briefcase. The other guy is about a foot and a half shorter – I’m the tall one.
“It took all day to do this.”
Emdee said he still has his pay stub from filming, and in 2016 he had Goldberg sign it during the 35th anniversary event, but watching the movie magic happen was what he remembers most.
Did you know: “Stripes” writer and producer Dan Goldberg visited Fort Knox for the “Stripes” 35th Anniversary Recognition Event on July 8, 2016. Goldberg took time to sign autographs and participate in an “Inside the Actors Studio”-style Q&A session prior to special presentations recognizing the film and a viewing of the film at Waybur Theater.
“During the filming, I got to see a lot of it being filmed,” Emdee said. “Everybody tried to go watch locations when and where they could; it was fun to watch some of the stuff happen.”
Now, after almost 45 years of change and growth within the Army and at Fort Knox, many of the filming locations movie viewers and local extras remember are no longer in service, but the memories don’t seem to be fading any time soon. Goldberg believed this to be partially because of the atmosphere that filming at Fort Knox provided.
“The great thing about Fort Knox was that we weren’t making anything up,” said Goldberg. “We had a lot of people around to tell us how things really worked in the Army. What we really wanted was for Bill (Murray), Harold (Ramis) and the platoon to be living in a real Army environment and being at a real Army post provided that.
“There’s a lot of good feelings about the movie, and I think a lot of that comes from the fact that we shot at Fort Knox.”
Editor’s Note: The historic information contained in this article was provided by Fort Knox officials. For more content on the filming of Stripes at Fort Knox, read
https://www.army.mil/article/247898/thats_a_fact_jack_stripes_creators_celebrate_40th_anniversary_of_fort_knox_based_classic
Visit Fort Knox News at www.army.mil/knox for all of Central Kentucky's latest military news and information.
| Date Taken: | 08.27.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.27.2025 11:21 |
| Story ID: | 546642 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Before the ‘razzle dazzle’: A look back at the filming of ‘Stripes’ at Fort Knox, by Savannah Baird, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
