10 Things to Know About 'Vamping' (1984)

10 Things to Know About Vamping

10 Buffalo New York

The City of Buffalo, New York is central to Vamping. Director Frederick King Keller was a Buffalo resident and brought the film to his hometown, attracting star Patrick Duffy with a real change of pace in the film’s unique screenplay that allowed Duffy to fully escape the shadow of his Dallas character.

9 Bobby Ewing

Patrick Duffy was one of the biggest stars on television, on the biggest show on television in 1984, Dallas. At the time he was making Vamping, his television character was in the midst of one of the biggest storylines in the show’s history. At the end of the 1984 season, Bobby Ewing was shot. Fans had to wait until the fall of 1984 to find out if Bobby lived or died. Meanwhile, Vamping was still released to almost no fanfare.

8 Filmed in Buffalo at the Same Time as The Natural

Vamping was made for less than $1 million dollars. Meanwhile, also in Buffalo during the fall of 1983, Robert Redford was in town filming The Natural. While the crew of Vamping struggled to get by, the crew of The Natural was using the top resources across the city of Buffalo and poaching crew and extras from Vamping.

7 Atlantic Releasing Company

In the midst of shooting Vamping, the company caught a break when Atlantic Releasing company picked up the film for distribution. Atlantic Releasing Company had broken into the distribution business in the 1970s distributing foreign films. Then came Valley Girl, the Nicolas Cage hit that gave Atlantic Releasing Company the capital that led to the distribution of Vamping.

6 Buffalo’s Other Movie

As mentioned, Vamping was filmed at the same time as The Natural and the status of Buffalo’s other Movie became a rallying cry on the set, a motivation to make the best of a bad situation. This underdog attitude came about after Keller contacted the Buffalo Mayor’s office and was completely ignored. Meanwhile, the city made a show of welcoming Robert Redford and The Natural.

5 Bobby Millitello

Jazz musician Bobby Millitello trained Patrick Duffy to look like a saxophone player. Contemporary critics favorably compared Duffy’s faux sax work to Robert De Niro’s less effective mimicry in Martin Scorsese’s New York, New York.

4 Buffalo Officials Were Unaware of Vamping

Another detail regarding the City of Buffalo and Vamping, the head of the City’s film office, when contacted by local media, stated that he thought Vamping had already been released.

3 The Biggest Star at Cannes

Atlantic Releasing Company had big plans for Vamping, including a trip to the Cannes Film Festival and they followed through. Vamping played the festival and coverage by film critic Rex Reed claimed that Duffy was ‘The Biggest Star at Cannes’ based on the fans clamoring to see Bobby Ewing.

2 Bold Confidence

Speaking to reporters at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival Patrick Duffy demonstrated the kind of confidence that made him one of the biggest stars on television. According to Duffy “I’m the best actor I know. I have yet to show a film a tenth of what I am capable of.”

1 Cannes Was a Huge Success for Vamping

We may have forgotten about Vamping but the filmmakers were remarkably successful regardless of the film’s box office performance. No box office numbers have been released for Vamping but the Buffalo News reported in the summer of 1984 that after a hefty distribution deal and sales to Showtime cable network, CBS Home Video, and foreign markets, Vamping was well into profit territory even before it played on an American theater screen.