This film is called “Trading Places”, starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Ralph Bellamy, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Released in 1983, it tells the story of an insider trading scheme organized by the Duke brothers, the co-owners of a commodities brokerage firm.
Before launching this scheme, the Dukes do an experiment. The businessmen switch the lives of two people with very different social backgrounds to see if they can succeed in the new circumstances. These lab rats are Louis Winthorpe III, the firm’s managing director, and Billy Ray Valentine, a street hustler.
Despite some hardships, Valentine and Winthorpe not only survive but manage to outsmart the Dukes. In the end, they benefit from ruining the brothers’ insider trading scheme related to oranges.
The plot is likely to be inspired by Mark Twain’s short story “Million Pound Bank Note”, about two eccentric millionaires and a pauper.
