Rent Silver Streak (1976)
3.4 of 5 from 102 ratings
1h 48min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- In this wild comedy adventure, rail passenger George Caldwell (Gene Wilder) finds that a romantic escapade with a sultry secretary (Jill Clayburgh) puts him in the middle of a Hitchcockian murder plot. Leaping on and of the train, in and out of roomettes, bars and dining cars, George teams up with an amiable, small-time crook (Richard Pryor) to defy the murderer's henchmen, FBI agents and a host of other outrageous characters.
- Actors:
- Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Jill Clayburgh, Patrick McGoohan, Ned Beatty, Clifton James, Ray Walston, Stefan Gierasch, Len Birman, Valerie Curtin, Lucille Benson, Scatman Crothers, Richard Kiel, Fred Willard, Delos V. Smith Jr.
- Directors:
- Arthur Hiller
- Producers:
- Edward K. Milkis, Thomas L. Miller
- Writers:
- Colin Higgins
- Others:
- Douglas Williams, Donald Mitchell, Richard Tyler, Hal Etherington
- Aka:
- El expreso de Chicago
- Studio:
- 20th Century Fox
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Collections:
- Cinema Paradiso's 2023 Centenary Club: Part 2, Cinema's Most Memorable Comedy Double Acts, Films & TV by topic, Films to Watch If You Like..., A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Films About Trains: Thrillers, Top 100 AFI Laughs, Top Films, What to Watch Next If You Liked Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
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Reviews (1) of Silver Streak
Train Wreck - Silver Streak review by Steve
Flawed Hitchcock homage which was a huge office hit, but hasn't passed the test of time. A big problem is the casting of Gene Wilder as the romantic/action hero. Sure he was a popular '70s star, but hardly Cary Grant. Plus the racist language is impossible to overlook in what is supposed to be a family blockbuster.
Apparently Richard Pryor insisted on it and claimed it would be funny. Well, he was wrong. Then there's a scene where Wilder blacks up and gets his groove on to escape from the cops, which is cringeworthy. Still, after this success the two comic stars became a popular big screen double act in a string of star vehicles.
Wilder plays a divorced, mid-life wage slave travelling by train from Los Angeles to Chicago to attend a wedding. He's going by rail because he wants to catch up on his reading, but really it's because this is a North by Northwest rip off and he's going to be seduced by Jill Clayburgh while he gets tangled up in McGuffin.
Which is all fine, and it picks up on the hour when Pryor arrives as a car thief who stops Wilder getting eliminated by the bad guys, led by Patrick McGoohan. Aside from these reservations, this is serviceable mainstream comic action-adventure which often used to get shown on daytime tv. But isn't anymore...
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