Hanky Panky (1982) starring Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, Kathleen Quinlan
Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner team up to blend their unique brands of comedy in Hanky Panky, a romantic, Hitchcock-style film.
An architect named Michael Jordon accidentally gets caught up in a web of intrigue and murder when he ends up on the run on false murder charges. Kate is a woman out to find her brother’s killer. The two team up, but not before first thinking the other is the killer. The duo end up on a wild cross-country ride from New York City to the Grand Canyon.
Tagline: When you’re wanted for a murder you didn’t commit, Chased for secrets you didn’t steal, And running from people who want to kill you, The worst mistake you can make is falling in love…Meet Michael Jordan. And his mistake. HANKY PANKY. Something funny’s going on here.
And that pretty well sums it up, actually. Hanky Panky‘s an enjoyable action comedy, with Gene Wilder as an everyman, who wrongly gets caught up in intrigue and murder. And has to fight his way out of it. It all begins when a stranger jumps into the taxi he’s already sitting in …
It can be watched for free (at the present time) on both Crackle and Tubi.
Editorial review of Hanky Panky courtesy of Amazon
HANKY PANKY
(1982) – Color – 107 minutes – PG
Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, Kathleen Quinlan
On the run, falling in love and up to their necks in funny business!
Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner team up to blend their unique brands of comedy in this romantic, Hitchcock-style thriller. Wilder plays Michael Jordon, an innocent bystander-turned-victim-turned-hero. Kate Hellman (Radner) falls in love with him while looking for her brother’s murderers. Together they’re caught in a world of international intrigue, suspense and murder. Ransom (Richard Widmark), a ruthless adversary, is intent on eliminating Michael. Pursued by Ransom, Michael and Kate embark on a bold mission which takes them on a wild ride in an airplane high above the Grand Canyon, to a hidden military command center, through a frenzied chase in the streets of New York and to a desert outpost where attackers besiege them from all sides.
Cast of characters
- Gene Wilder (Silver Streak, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) … Michael Jordon
- Gilda Radner (Haunted Honeymoon) … Kate Hellman
- Kathleen Quinlan (Apollo 13) … Janet Dunn
- Richard Widmark (Murder on the Orient Express [1974]) … Ransom
- Robert Prosky … Hiram Calder
- Josef Sommer … Adrian Pruitt
- Johnny Sekka … Lacey
- Jay O. Sanders (For Richer or Poorer) … Katz
- Sam Gray … Dr. John Wolff