''Hanky Panky'' is a 1982 American

comedy thriller Comedy thrillers are a hybrid genre that draw subject matter generally from comedy and thrillers. Criteria They often include a darker tone, relative to other genres, of humor. List of comedy thriller films * '' The Big Fix'' (1978) * ''Chara ...

Metrocolor Metrocolor is the trade name used by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for films processed at their laboratory. Virtually all of these films were shot on Kodak's Eastmancolor film. Although MGM used Kodak film products, MGM did not use all of Kodak's proc ...

film directed by Sidney Poitier, starring

Gene Wilder Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He is known mainly for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Won ...

and Gilda Radner. Wilder and Radner met during filming and later married.

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 New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to the Grand Canyon.

Cast

Production

The film was developed as a follow-up to the successful Gene Wilder-

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

film '' Stir Crazy''. However, Pryor chose not to participate and Gilda Radner was brought in as a replacement, with her part rewritten.

Reception

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', gave the film a mixed review, saying it "is apt to leave you far less exhilarated than exhausted."

Novelization

A $2.50 paperback novelization of the screenplay was published by

Pinnacle Books Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American, New York-based publishing house founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius (1923–2011)Grimes, William"Walter Zacharius, Romance Publisher, Dies at 87,"''New York Times'' (MARCH 7, 2011). and Roberta Bender Gr ...

, 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

External links

Hanky Panky
at

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* * * * * * {{Sidney Poitier 1982 films 1980s chase films 1980s comedy thriller films 1980s crime comedy films American chase films American comedy thriller films American crime comedy films American road movies Columbia Pictures films Comedy mystery films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Sidney Poitier Films scored by Tom Scott Films set in 1981 Films set in Arizona Films set in Boston Films set in Maine Films set in New York City Films shot in Boston Films shot in Massachusetts Films shot in New York City 1982 comedy films 1980s American films