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Hanky Panky (1982 film)

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Hanky Panky
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySidney Poitier[1]
Written byHenry Rosenbaum
David Taylor
Produced byMartin Ransohoff
Starring
CinematographyArthur J. Ornitz
Edited byHarry Keller
Music byTom 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]

Plot

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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

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Production

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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

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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

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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]

References

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  1. ^ "Hanky Panky by Sidney Poitier, David Taylor Henry Rosenbaum, Gilda Radner on Royal Books".
  2. ^ "Hanky Panky (1982)". AFI Catalogcatalog.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.
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