Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

AudioFileZ Gene Wilder cemented his place in most fans hearts with the triumvirate of Willy Wonka ('71), Blazing Saddles ('74), and Young Frankenstein ('74). Wilder remained a bankable talent right up into the early 2000's because, yes, he was a decent actor and was very accessible and easy to like. One thing I've never noticed but finally got was that Wilder may have had the best timing of any actor of his age. To say there was a slide in quality in material isn't really unkind, just true. However in that mediocrity there was some really watchable stuff. There was some definite chemistry with Richard Pryor which on paper probably didn't translate nearly as well as on screen. It was a goldmine combination and remained a favorite of both actors fans They milked it a bit and, generally, it was great at times allowing such. Silver Streak is the first movie I, personally, ever noticed the Wilder/Pryor combination. It certainly elevated an otherwise rambling movie. In Silver Streak it was the characters,not so much the story, as the story was a bit weak. Weak, but it gave Wilder's George the opportunity to meet some memorable characters, which besides Pryor"s Grover T, include a dust bowl woman (the great Lucille Benson from my home state) who flew an open cockpit airplane and continuously called George "Steve". The reoccurring roles of "Plain Jane", "the Mexican Mamacita", and even a great muscle/henchman Reace played by Richard Kiel. Kiel would play essentially the same role in two James Bond films that he created in Silver Streak.I was a fan of Patrick McGoohan from surreal odd British "The Prisoner" TV series. McGoohan here is the very sinister Devreau whose mission on the train is to kill a professor thus preventing Devereau's fraud in the art world from being exposed. Murder on a train is good even if the story may ramble. In other words there was a lot of potential that seemed to be only touched on because, after all, it was a comedy not a drama.So, I give this movie a six because I liked enough that 40 years later after initially seeing it on December 27th, 1976 I decided, in memory of Wilder, to watch it again. This was one of the last movies that I saw the name Henry Mancini as providing the soundtrack. It was interesting choice, an almost out of time and place soundtrack, that worked as it was one of the things I remembered about the movie

hnt_dnl Although they did 4 films together, it is this film SILVER STREAK (1976) that is probably my favorite pairing of the 2 famous comedy icons Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor! Also, it is one of my personal favorite 70s movies. It is their first outing together and it is sublime from start to finish. A perfect mix of action, comedy, drama, mystery, and thriller (and even a touch or romance), it's one of those rare movies where every element works. "Silver Streak" stars the aforementioned Gene Wilder in probably my favorite ever role of his. Wilder plays George Caldwell, a nebbishy magazine writer on a cross-country train trip to Chicago trying to get to his sister's wedding. Once on board, the first night George meets Hilly (played with immense sex appeal and radiance by Jill Clayburgh). The duo hit it off immediately and as they are making love in Hilly's cabin, George thinks he witnesses a man being thrown off the train. Hilly tries to convince that it's only in his mind. The morning after, George sees a book on Rembrandt and on the back of it is the author, Prof. Schreiner, who Hilly is assistant to and who George recognizes as the man he thought he saw being murdered. George investigates and the mystery begins!During his investigation, George meets several memorable characters: a mysterious man named Devereau (played with panache and class by Patrick McGoohan of 'The Prisoner' fame) and his 2 cronies Whiney (played by the great character actor Ray Walston) and Reace (played by the iconic Richard Kiel of Bond movie fame), Rita (played by vet Lucille Benson, reprising her offbeat snake-lady-in-the-middle-of- nowhere role from "Duel"), travelling salesman Bob Sweet (reliably played by vet Ned Beatty), train conductor Ralston (played with comic aplomb by the iconic Scatman Crothers), country Sheriff Chauncey (hilariously played by Clifton James reprising his bumpkin- sheriff role from "Live and Let Die"), and last but not least thief Grover (essayed by the great Richard Pryor in a scene-stealing role). George teams with Grover at about the film's halfway mark to finish solving the mystery and this where the Wilder-Pryor chemistry begins.Much as I enjoy their zanier comedies, I think it's here where Wilder and Pryor's chemistry shines the most. Not too OTT, neither trying to upstage the other, but rather complementing each other's rather opposing comedy styles to create a memorable pairing. Also, Wilder and Clayburgh have great romantic chemistry, with Clayburgh being at her absolute hottest in this film!Of course, this is really Wilder's film all the way as he is the film's protagonist and is in virtually every scene of the film and we are following George's journey. "Silver Streak" is most probably reminiscent of the Hitchcock classic "North by Northwest" (man falsely accused of murder, on the run, train action, mistaken identity, international intrigue), but also there's the reminder of several James Bond films of the 70s (with actors like Kiel and Clifton playing similar roles from those), and of course is kind of a microcosm and preview of the buddy-comedy-action film that would become so prevalent in the 80s. A memorable, fun comedy-mystery from the 70s. Watch it, you won't be disappointed!

AaronCapenBanner Arthur Hiller directed this comedy/thriller written by Colin Higgens that stars Gene Wilder as George, a book editor traveling by train from Los Angeles to Chicago who sees a murdered man thrown from a train, and reports it, but that only succeeds in getting the killers interested in him, prompting them to throw George off the train, where he meets small-time crook Grover(played by Richard Pryor) who helps him get back on the train, and solve the crime. Good cast here, which also stars Jill Clayburgh, Patrick McGoohan, Ned Beatty, Ray Walston, and Richard Kiel; despite some funny scenes, the film derails like the train itself, becoming too unbelievable. A shame, because it almost works.

tavm Just rewatched this Hitchcockian comedy-thriller written by Colin Higgens and directed by Arthur Hiller on Netflix Streaming. Gene Wilder is George, a publisher who's on the title train where he meets a woman named Hilly played by Jill Clayburgh. Having just met, they start a romance. But during an intimate scene, George sees a dead body fall in front of the window. I'll stop there and just say how I thought the funny and dramatic and thrilling moments mixed well together. Like seeing Ned Beatty as Sweet believably change from a comic drunk lecher to a serious agent who's after the villain Devereau played by Patrick McGoohan. There's also some nice comic turns by dependable character actors like Lucille Benson as Rita Babtree and Clifton James as Sheriff Chauncey, no doubt familiar to James Bond fans from his appearances in Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun. Ray Walston as Mr. Whiney is also a treat to see. And how cool is it to see Richard Kiel with his metal teeth as Reace before also having those teeth in the other James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. Seeing Fred Willard as Jerry Jarvis who doesn't have any funny lines is strange but since this was early in his career, it's still good. Now here's the real reason this movie was sooo entertaining: Richard Pryor as Grover whether convincing George to don blackface in order to not get recognized as a wanted killer or talking back to the villain after being called a n!gger after making complimentary remarks about Hilly. The fact that he also had a scene changed from a white person being convinced of Wilder's disguise to a black person-in this case Nick Stewart's shoeshiner-not convinced at all was the height of hilarity to me. Since this is Black History Month, I feel like pointing out that besides Pryor and Stewart, J.A. Preston-who I just watched in The Spook Who Sat by the Door and also know him as Mayor Ozzie Cleveland on "Hill Street Blues"-as a waiter and Scatman Crothers as porter Ralston are the other African-Americans that appear here. Really, all I'll say is I highly enjoyed again Silver Streak and do highly recommend it. Oh, and what a wonderfully romantic Henry Mancini score there was, too!