# Moon Over Parador
**Moon Over Parador** is a 1988 American comedy directed by [Paul Mazursky](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-mazursky) in which a struggling American actor, Jack Noah ([Richard Dreyfuss](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-dreyfuss)), is forced to impersonate the dictator of the fictional Latin American country of Parador after the strongman dies of a heart attack. [Raul Julia](https://www.edgepedia.org/raul-julia) plays Roberto Strausmann, the security chief who compels the substitution, and Sonia Braga plays Madonna Mendez, the dictator's mistress who discovers the deception.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58959-MOON-OVER-PARADOR?cxt=filmography) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095654) Universal Pictures released the film in the United States on September 9, 1988.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58959-MOON-OVER-PARADOR?cxt=filmography)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Directed by Paul Mazursky; screenplay by Mazursky and Leon Capetanos, from a story credit for Charles G. Booth[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095654) |
| Principal cast | Richard Dreyfuss (Jack Noah / President Alphonse Simms), Raul Julia (Roberto Strausmann), Sonia Braga (Madonna Mendez), Jonathan Winters, Fernando Rey, Sammy Davis Jr., Charo, Dana Delany, Edward Asner[3](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/moon-over-parador) |
| Release | World premiere 4 September 1988 at the Montréal World Film Festival; Los Angeles and New York openings 9 September 1988[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58959-MOON-OVER-PARADOR?cxt=filmography) |
| Runtime and rating | 104 minutes (AFI); MPAA rating PG-13[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58959-MOON-OVER-PARADOR?cxt=filmography) |
| Filming | 17 August to 26 October 1987, entirely on location in Rio de Janeiro, Ouro Preto, and Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, and New York City[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58959-MOON-OVER-PARADOR?cxt=filmography) |
| Box office | $3,268,975 opening weekend; $11,444,204 domestic and worldwide gross against an estimated $20,000,000 budget[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0095654/) |
| Awards | Nominated for two Golden Globe Awards: Best Supporting Actor, Drama (Raul Julia) and Best Supporting Actress, Drama (Sonia Braga)[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58959) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Actor Jack Noah arrives in the island country of Parador to shoot a motion picture. When shooting is finished, Parador's ruler, President Alphonse Simms, comes to the set in the company of Roberto Strausmann, the Interior Secretary who also leads the National Police. During Carnival, Simms dies of a heart attack, and Strausmann, fearing that news of the death would let the guerrilla army of Dante Guzman take over, kidnaps Noah, who resembles the dead leader, and forces him to impersonate the dictator.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58959-MOON-OVER-PARADOR?cxt=filmography)
Noah studies recordings of Simms's speeches and, coached by Strausmann, masters the mannerisms well enough to fool officials and citizens, though Simms's personal staff privately recognizes the substitution. Strausmann meanwhile plots to take power with the backing of Parador's fourteen richest families. Madonna Mendez, the dictator's mistress, discovers the fraud but keeps the secret, helps Noah refine the performance, and tells him about the country's impoverished population; the two fall in love. At a secret meeting arranged by Strausmann with a [Central Intelligence Agency](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-intelligence-agency) operative, Noah is surprised to find Ralph, an American expatriate friend, who warns that Guzman's guerrillas plan to attack "Simms." Guerrilla fighters later strike during a groundbreaking ceremony near a slum that Noah and Madonna attend.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58959-MOON-OVER-PARADOR?cxt=filmography)
Universal's synopsis frames the same story more briefly: when Parador's fascist strongman drops dead the day before elections, Noah gets the role of his life, and his confidence grows with each speech and with the support of the dead leader's mistress, a champion of Parador's downtrodden masses, until guerrilla fighters strike.[3](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/moon-over-parador)
## Production
Mazursky and writer Leon Capetanos devised the fictional country of Parador after traveling through countries in Latin America and the Caribbean for research in April 1986.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58959) According to articles in the *New York Times* and the *Los Angeles Times*, the script was influenced by the 1939 film *The Magnificent Fraud*, which also turns on an actor standing in for a leader.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58959)
[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) ran from 17 August to 26 October 1987, wrapping three days ahead of schedule. Although a production chart had scheduled shooting to begin in October 1987 in Brazil, crews arrived on 17 August, and the end credits state that the film was shot entirely on location in Rio de Janeiro, Ouro Preto, and Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, and New York City.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58959)
**Mazursky in drag.** [Judith Malina](https://www.edgepedia.org/judith-malina) was originally cast as the dictator's mother, "Momma," but could not appear on location because of another engagement in Germany. Mazursky played the role himself, onscreen in drag, and took the screen credit "Carlotta Gerson," using his own mother's maiden name.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58959) • [6](https://www.netflixmovies.com/moon-over-parador-1988)
The release date shifted more than once: a spring 1988 date was moved to 5 August 1988, then, after the opening had originally been scheduled for July, pushed to 9 September 1988.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58959)
## Reception
The film opened on 1,145 screens and took in $3.3 million in its first weekend, according to the *Los Angeles Times*; [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) records the opening weekend at $3,268,975 and the total domestic and worldwide gross at $11,444,204, against an estimated $20 million budget.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58959) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0095654/) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 42% Tomatometer from 12 reviews and a 46% audience score; IMDb users rate it 6.0/10.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/moon_over_parador) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095654)
Contemporary and later critics were divided. The *Harvard Crimson* found the film "a rather clever and funny" Hollywood comedy with strong gags and cameos by [Sammy Davis Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/sammy-davis-jr), Charo, and [Jonathan Winters](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-winters), but noted that despite its potential for satire it leaves no significant social statement about Latin American politics.[8](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/9/23/parador-uber-alles-pimoon-over-paradori/) Roger Ebert gave it 2 of 4 stars, writing that Dreyfuss was good but "too human, and lacking in the wicked edge that might have put the movie over the top."[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/moon_over_parador) A 1991 *Los Angeles Times* television column by Kevin Thomas called it a "hilarious" satire that "never got the attention it deserved."[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-14-tv-104-story.html) Time Out was harsher, calling it a "lazy, self-indulgent home movie," while acknowledging a brief promising stretch involving a malignant CIA.[10](https://www.timeout.com/movies/moon-over-parador)
The film received two Golden Globe nominations, for Raul Julia and Sonia Braga in the supporting drama categories.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58959)
## Satire and style
The film works as farce rather than political analysis. The *Harvard Crimson* review places it alongside Mazursky's *Down and Out in Beverly Hills* as a comedy of social and cultural clashes, and notes apparent influences including [Woody Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/woody-allen)'s *Bananas* and [Gabriel García Márquez](https://www.edgepedia.org/gabriel-garcia-marquez)'s novel *[The Autumn of the Patriarch](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-autumn-of-the-patriarch)*.[8](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/9/23/parador-uber-alles-pimoon-over-paradori/) Its central premise is that an actor can impersonate a president indefinitely as long as he has charisma.[8](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/9/23/parador-uber-alles-pimoon-over-paradori/)
Music supplies some of the satire: Parador's national anthem is built from borrowed tunes, sung by Sammy Davis Jr. to the melody of "Besame Mucho," while the old anthem "O Parador" runs to "O Christmas Tree," which opens with the "Wedding March."[6](https://www.netflixmovies.com/moon-over-parador-1988) A scholarly treatment of the film describes it as "unmistakably farce," arguing that Julia's Chief Secretary, the palace staff, and the soldiers guarding Noah function as comic foils to Noah's presidente within a largely apolitical farce packaged as a romantic comedy, rather than as Latin American stereotypes.[11](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ce1ca19caee160001c73dba/t/5cf1c2fa9212e40001d00779/1559347962833/Moon%2BOver%2BParador.pdf)
## References
1. [AFI|Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58959-MOON-OVER-PARADOR?cxt=filmography)
2. [Moon Over Parador (1988), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095654)
3. [Moon Over Parador, Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/moon-over-parador)
4. [Moon Over Parador (1988), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0095654/)
5. [Moon Over Parador, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58959)
6. [Moon Over Parador (1988) on Netflix, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/moon-over-parador-1988)
7. [Moon Over Parador, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/moon_over_parador)
8. [Parador Uber Alles, The Harvard Crimson (23 September 1988)](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/9/23/parador-uber-alles-pimoon-over-paradori/)
9. [Moon Over Parador (Channel 5 Sunday at 6 p.m.), Los Angeles Times (14 April 1991)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-14-tv-104-story.html)
10. [Moon Over Parador review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/moon-over-parador)
11. [Moon Over Parador (scholarly essay PDF)](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ce1ca19caee160001c73dba/t/5cf1c2fa9212e40001d00779/1559347962833/Moon%2BOver%2BParador.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s › Satirical, black, and parody comedies of the 1980s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license