Hanky Panky (1982 film)

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Hanky Panky
HankyPanky1982.JPG
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Sidney Poitier [1]
Written byHenry Rosenbaum
David Taylor
Produced by Martin Ransohoff
Starring
Cinematography Arthur J. Ornitz
Edited byHarry Keller
Music by Tom Scott
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • June 4, 1982 (1982-06-04)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$14 million [2]
Box office$9 million (domestic)

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. [3]

Contents

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

Production

The film was developed as a follow-up to the successful Gene Wilder-Richard Pryor film Stir Crazy . [4] However, Pryor chose not to participate and Gilda Radner was brought in as a replacement, with the script rewritten for her role. [5]

Locations include Parc East, [6] Knickerbocker Club, Madison Square Garden, Roosevelt Hotel, Ware Hall, Cambridge, Massachusetts, New England Aquarium, and Grand Canyon National Park.

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." [7] [8]

Richard Schickel wrote: "a funny, human moment, and if Hanky Panky had 30 or 40 more of them it might have been a congenial little picture." [9]

Variety wrote: "a limp romantic suspense comedy which manages to be neither romantic, suspenseful nor funny...appears to be an attempt to duplicate the classy thrills of North by Northwest..." [10]

Novelization

A $2.50 paperback novelization of the screenplay was published by Pinnacle Books, in July 1982 , [11] [12] by Leslie Jarreau, possibly a pseudonym. The book is copyrighted by, Henry Rosenbaum and David Taylor, the screenwriters. [13]

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References

  1. "Hanky Panky by Sidney Poitier, David Taylor Henry Rosenbaum, Gilda Radner on Royal Books".
  2. "Hanky Panky (1982)". AFI Catalog catalog.afi.com . Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  3. Wilder, Gene. Kiss Me Like A Stranger. HarperCollins, 2005
  4. Balducci, Anthony (2018-07-06). Richard Pryor in Hollywood: The Narrative Films, 1967-1997. McFarland. ISBN   978-1-4766-3279-7.
  5. Leonard Maltin (2003), Movie & Video Guide, p. 575
  6. "Parc East | 240 East 27th Street, Manhattan | Corcoran". www.corcoran.com. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  7. Canby, Vincent (1982-06-04). "Movie Review - POITIER'S 'HANKY PANKY'". movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  8. "1982 Press Photo Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner in a scene from "Hanky Panky." | eBay".
  9. Schickel, Richard (1982-06-07). "Cinema: Teaming Off". Time. ISSN   0040-781X . Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  10. "Hanky Panky". Variety. 1982-01-01. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  11. Jarreau, Leslie (July 1982). Hanky Panky. Pinnacle Books. ISBN   0-523-41843-4.
  12. "Hanky Panky book by Leslie Jarreau". ThriftBooks. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  13. Jarreau, Leslie (1982). Hanky panky. Internet Archive. New York : Pinnacle Books. ISBN   978-0-523-41843-8.