Silver Streak (1976)

Director:

Arthur Hiller

Writer:

Colin Higgins (written by)

Release Date:

3 December 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

By plane, by train, by the edge of your seat, it's the most hilarious suspense ride of your life!

Plot:

On a long-distance train trip, a man finds romance but also finds himself in danger of being killed, or at least pushed off the train.

Plot Keywords:

Train | Love | Murder | Book | Police

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Gene Wilder	...	George
Jill Clayburgh	...	Hilly
Richard Pryor	...	Grover
Patrick McGoohan	...	Roger Devereau / Devereau
Ned Beatty	...	Sweet
Clifton James	...	Sheriff Chauncey
Ray Walston	...	Mr. Whiney
Stefan Gierasch	...	Professor Schreiner & Johnson
Len Birman	...	Chief
Valerie Curtin	...	Plain Jane
Lucille Benson	...	Rita Babtree
Scatman Crothers	...	Ralston
Richard Kiel	...	Reace
Fred Willard	...	Jerry Jarvis
Delos V. Smith Jr.	...	Burt (as Delos V. Smith)
Mathilda Calnan	...	Blue-Haired Lady (as Matilda Calnan)
Nick Stewart	...	Shoeshiner
Margarita García	...	Mexican Mama-San (as Margarita Garcia)
Jack Mather	...	Conductor
Henry Beckman	...	Conventioneer
Steve Weston	...	Conventioneer
Harvey Atkin	...	Conventioneer
Lloyd White	...	Porter
Ed McNamara	...	Benny
Raymond Guth	...	Night Watchman
John Daheim	...	Engineer #2 (as John Day)
Jack O'Leary	...	Fat Man #1
Lee McLaughlin	...	Fat Man #2
Bill Henderson	...	Red Cap
Tom Erhart	...	Cab Driver
Gordon Hurst	...	Moose
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Danny Gain	...	Police Detective (uncredited)
J.A. Preston	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Cal Wilson	...	Silver Streak Steward (uncredited)

Directed by
Arthur Hiller

Writing credits
Colin Higgins		(written by)

Produced by
Edward K. Milkis	....	producer
Thomas L. Miller	....	producer
Martin Ransohoff	....	executive producer
Frank Yablans	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Henry Mancini

Cinematography by
David M. Walsh		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
David Bretherton

Casting by
Lynn Stalmaster

Production Design by
Alfred Sweeney

Set Decoration by
Marvin March

Makeup Department
Joan Phillips	....	hairdresser
William Tuttle	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jack B. Bernstein	....	production manager
Peter V. Herald	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Max Kleven	....	second unit director
Jack Roe	....	assistant director
L. Andrew Stone	....	second assistant director (as Lively Andrew Stone)

Art Department
Sidney H. Greenwood	....	property master (as Syd Greenwood)
Benjamin Resella	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Harold M. Etherington	....	sound mixer (as Hal Etherington)
William Hartman	....	sound editor
Donald O. Mitchell	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Don Mitchell)
Edward Rossi	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Fred Cramer	....	special effects
Jay King	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Bill Hansard	....	process consultant

Stunts
Mickey Gilbert	....	stunt coordinator
Janet Brady	....	stunts (uncredited)
Steven Burnett	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Daheim	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nick Dimitri	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jeannie Epper	....	stunt double: Jill Clayburgh (uncredited)
Mickey Gilbert	....	stunt double: Gene Wilder (uncredited)
Bob Herron	....	stunts (uncredited)
Lee McLaughlin	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Norman Harris	....	gaffer
Richard Moran	....	key grip
Ralph Woolsey	....	photographer: second unit
Lowell Crisp	....	electrician (uncredited)
Curtis Foster	....	lamp operator (uncredited)
Louis Niemeyer	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Karen Hazzard	....	casting: Canada (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Phyllis Garr	....	wardrobe
Michael J. Harte	....	wardrobe (as Michael Harte)

Editorial Department
Hugh K. Cummings	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Kenneth Hall	....	music editor (as Kenneth J. Hall)
Robert Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)
Richard Nash	....	musician: trombone (uncredited)
Dan Wallin	....	scoring mixer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver (uncredited)
Jim Martell	....	transportation coordinator (uncredited)

Other crew
Marie Kenney	....	script supervisor
Phill Norman	....	title designer
Mattie Caruthers	....	script supervisor: additional photography and second unit (uncredited)
Paul Schultz	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Frank Yablans Presentations
• Miller-Milkis Productions (as Miller-Milkis)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (uncredited)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1976) (USA) (theatrical) (as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1979) (USA) (TV)
• CBS / Fox Video (1984) (USA) (VHS)
• Abril Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Magnetic Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Intrada  score album: limited edition (uncredited)
• Panavision  photographic equipment

Also Known As:

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) (2006) | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Iceland:12 | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | West Germany:12 | Australia:M | Argentina:Atp | UK:AA (original rating) (passed with cuts) | UK:PG (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Brea, California, USA

Company:

Frank Yablans Presentations

Trivia:

Robert Vaughn received the script in the mail, and loved it. He wanted to play Roger Devereau, but was dismayed to discover that Patrick McGoohan had already accepted the part. He contacted Arthur Hiller and discovered that it was sent by mistake. He was invited to watch the production, and became friends with star Gene Wilder.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Obvious stunt-double for Gene Wilder when his character is on top of the train.

Quotes:

George Caldwell:I can't pass for black.
Grover Muldoon:Who you tellin'?I didn't say I was gonna make you black. I said I was gonna get you on the train. Now we got to make them cops think you're black.
[rubs shoe polish on George's face]
George Caldwell:It'll never work. Never.
Grover Muldoon:What, you afraid it won't come off?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Evasive Action (1998)

A Hitchcockian Thriller Played For Laughs

"Silver Streak" was released the very same year the Master of Suspense, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, released his black-comedy swan song, "Family Plot". Though Hitch was in the very twilight of his long, illustrious career, his playful style was alive and well, and well appropriated, in Hollywood. The Master didn't make this movie - Canadian Arthur ("Love Story") Hiller did - but the unmistakable fingerprints and shop-hewn template of Hitchcock's "North By Northwest" (amongst other classics) are in great display thanks to writer Colin ("Foul Play") Higgins in the cheery, breezy action comedy, "Silver Streak".

"Silver Streak" is the first of four Gene Wilder & Richard Pryor match-ups and certainly in retrospect, one of the best. Wilder is an ordinary Joe taking the titular Amtrak train across country. In the midst of his journey, he befriends and beds fellow passenger Jill ("An Unmarried Woman") Clayburgh, ends up witnessing a murder then is wrongly accused of the crime, and is thrown off the train many, many times in his pursuit to clear his name, save the girl from a mysterious villain and get to the other side of the country.

This is a very gentle but funny comedy that plays with the conventions of one of Hitch's favorite themes, the mistaken identity of everyday man in extraordinary circumstances. Wilder is wonderful, fitfully funny as usual and shines as both a romantic lead (!) and does his patented "crazy" guy when things start falling apart. Just watching Wilder's eyes as he exasperatedly tries to explain out the fantastic plot he's wrapped up in to unbelieving characters along the way is one of the film's funniest, simplest rewards.

The film's masterstroke, however, is the addition of Richard Pryor as a part-time thief. Pryor was in the midst of a very hot career in 1976, and although this film seems to restrain some of the imagination and language of his stage presence and TV specials, (this is a PG-rated movie, after all), he still creates an indelible extended 'cameo' that fuses film with a hip, perfectly cool counterbalance to Wilder's mania and confusion. When Pryor is on screen he not only steals the film, but also elevates this old-fashioned adventure-comedy concept to something otherwise original... and you can't take your eyes off the guy.

Filmed all across his native Canada (thanks IMDb for confirming this!), director Hiller pulls this fun little audience-pleasing gem along the rails to a bright and exciting climax. The supporting cast is loaded with wonderful character actors including Patrick MacGoohan, Ray (My Favorite Martian) Walston, Ned Beatty and Scatman Crothers amongst others. A very luxurious and memorable score by Henry Mancini is the capper to this sparkling comedy, perfect as a primer for, and a loving compendium of, many of the Hitchcock classics that wait for you to discover them on DVD, VHS or on the tube.