Hanky Panky (1982 film)
Hanky Panky is a 1982 American comedy thriller Metrocolor film directed by Sidney Poitier, starring Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner. Wilder and Radner met during filming and later married.[2]
Hanky Panky | |
---|---|
Directed by | Sidney Poitier |
Written by | Henry Rosenbaum David Taylor |
Produced by | Martin Ransohoff |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Arthur J. Ornitz |
Edited by | Harry Keller |
Music by | Tom Scott |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $14 million[1] |
Box office | $9 million (domestic) |
Plot
Michael Jordon, an architect, accidentally becomes involved in a web of intrigue and murder when a strange woman, who enters a taxi with him, is later found murdered. As a result, he flees from false murder charges. Kate is a woman out to find her brother's killer. Although she and Michael initially believe the other is a killer, they realize otherwise and become a team. They undertake a wild cross-country ride from New York City to the Grand Canyon.
Cast
- Gene Wilder as Michael Jordon
- Gilda Radner as Kate Hellman
- Kathleen Quinlan as Janet Dunn
- Richard Widmark as Ransom
- Robert Prosky as Hiram Calder
- Beau Starr as Cop Passenger
- Josef Sommer as Adrian Pruitt
- Victor Argo as Pallbearer
- Johnny Sekka as Lacey
- Jay O. Sanders as Katz
- Pat Corley as Pilot (Puckett)
Production
The film was developed as a follow-up to the successful Gene Wilder-Richard Pryor film Stir Crazy. However, Pryor chose not to participate and Gilda Radner was brought in as a replacement, with her part rewritten.[3]
Reception
Vincent Canby, writing in The New York Times, gave the film a mixed review, saying it "is apt to leave you far less exhilarated than exhausted."[4]
Novelization
A $2.50 paperback novelization of the screenplay was published by Pinnacle Books, somewhat in advance of the film's release (as was the custom of the era). The byline is Leslie Jarreau, which—as there are no other works in existence with that authorship—is possibly a pseudonym (novelization assignments, then as now, rarely went to previously unpublished writers, unless they were somehow connected to the film in question). An accurate record, one way or the other, would seem to be lost.
References
- "AFI|Catalog". Catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
- Wilder, Gene. Kiss Me Like A Stranger. HarperCollins, 2005
- Leonard Maltin (2003), Movie & Video Guide, p. 575
- Canby, Vincent (1982-06-04). "Movie Review - Hanky Panky - POITIER'S 'HANKY PANKY'". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-07-09.