The first film to team legendary funny men Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, "Silver Streak" is a respectful Hitchcock homage done with much style and humour. It's got thrills, spills, gags, intrigue, and romance. Wittily written by Colin Higgins ("Harold and Maude") and efficiently directed by Arthur Hiller ("Love Story"), it runs pretty long at an hour and 54 minutes but is breezy enough to never *feel* that long. It's got a hell of a good cast to make it all go down very easy.
The ever likable Wilder plays George Caldwell, an ordinary guy book publisher travelling cross country by train. He chances to meet secretary Hilly Burns (an appealing and radiant Jill Clayburgh) and they quickly enter into a steamy liaison. Unfortunately, by doing so, George makes himself vulnerable to the machinations of a smooth villain, Roger Devereau (Patrick McGoohan); soon George is accused of murder. As the story plays out, George is forever getting on and off the train as he works overtime to prove himself innocent and hopefully save Hillys' life.
"Silver Streak" is one of those great films that successfully balances comedic and serious elements. It really comes to life when Pryor shows up (later in the film than you'd expect) as an amiable thief who becomes a willing and helpful sidekick. The comedic highlight comes when he tries to pass Wilder off as a black man. The two stars really shine throughout this whole sequence. They prove to be such a good team that they subsequently got reunited in "Stir Crazy", "See No Evil, Hear No Evil", and "Another You". Wilder makes for an unlikely romantic lead but he and Clayburgh do get some chemistry going.
The supporting cast is full of familiar faces: Ray Walston, Stefan Gierasch, and Richard Kiel (in what is very much a "Jaws" type role, complete with dental work) are McGoohans' henchmen, Ned Beatty is a hearty passenger on the train, Scatman Crothers is the easygoing Ralston, Clifton James plays another one of his patented redneck lawmen, Lucille Benson is the dotty old Rita Babtree, and Fred Willard appears late in the film as the flustered Jerry Jarvis.
Wonderful photography, lovely Canadian locations, and a great old-fashioned kind of score by Henry Mancini are all credits in this superior bit of entertainment, which delivers one hell of an action-packed and destructive finale.
Eight out of 10.
