User reviews

Gene Wilder plays the amusingly named Michael Jordon, an architect from Chicago, in this comedy / thriller. Jordon is an innocent guy who gets swept into big time trouble after sharing a cab with an operative named Janet Dunn (Kathleen Quinlan), who's being pursued by traitorous American thugs. They desperately want their hands on a valuable computer tape, and will do anything to get it. Wilder's real-life love Gilda Radner plays the young woman eager to help him out, and she has her own reason for doing so, although he won't be aware of this for a while. Not only are these spies out to get him, but the cops in NYC assume him to be a killer. (When WILL innocent movie characters learn not to pick up murder weapons?) Knowing that "Hanky Panky" was originally intended as a reunion of director Sidney Poitier and actors Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor (after "Stir Crazy") makes one wonder what could have been, as the comedy fireworks would certainly have been even greater. As it is, Wilder and Radner (who's cute and adorable) do have an energetic chemistry. The movie itself is pretty entertaining and energetic itself, moving along very well and offering up some good action sequences; Poitier does a nice job with the material. The movie actually takes itself rather seriously much of the time, but there are still some good comedy moments, especially when Michael steals a tuxedo and, while aboard a bus, realizes it belonged to a magician, and the sequence with a sickly airplane pilot where Michael has to take the controls. Suffice it to say, there aren't many people who can freak out as well as Gene Wilder. "Hanky Panky" finds him in fine form, and the supporting cast features a slew of recognizable and reliable actors. Richard Widmark, as the chief heavy, shows that he still had great villainous presence on screen, well into his 60s. Also appearing are Robert Prosky, Josef Sommer, Johnny Sekka, Jay O. Sanders, and character actors Pat Corley, James Tolkan, Beau Starr, Frankie Faison, Larry Pine, William Sadler, and Victor Argo in small roles. This is of course no "North by Northwest", but it's not bad at all, either, remaining agreeable entertainment for a lively 108 minutes. At the least, it's worth noting that this is where Wilder and Radner met. Seven out of 10.

I didn't think this film was as bad as I had heard people say it was when they saw it. I love Gene Wilder and it was nice to see him working with Gilda Radner. The film isn't very well done but it has a very watchable attraction and that is watching the leads do their thing. Watch it on a rainy day and enjoy the performances of Wilder And Radner.

How on Earth do you go about classifying this film, it's a romantic comedy, espionage, drama thriller. It really does cross several genres, and whilst it perhaps lacks laughs, it makes up for it with performances, and larger then life characters. I always loved the combo of Wilder and his beloved wife Gilda Radner, and whilst I prefer the duo in woman in Red and Haunted Honeymoon, you cannot help but enjoy the chemistry between them.

Wilder, Michael Jordan, truly makes every bad decision imaginable, but you cannot help but like his zany character. Fun performances all round, it's well made, and the aeroplane scenes look great, and are very funny.

Not a classic, but well worth a look. 6/10

I like this movie - based on the 2 stars in it - Gene Wilder & Gilda Radner. They make this flick watchable. They are a sweet and funny comedic duo. I know this movie is billed as a comedy and I feel that the reason for that is - basically because Gene and Gilda are / were COMEDIANS... It's a little funny - It's more like a mystery. Which actually makes for the reason this film is so misunderstood. To put two well-known comedians , head - to - head , in a mystery - wanna - B - comedy ... Well , it speaks for itself. But I like it. It's cute and Gene and Gilda are cute in it. It's not as good as the other films they are in together , but then again - the movie wasn't writtenfor them - and the other movies the two appear in together ARE , most definately COMEDIES.

In 1982, Gene Wilder took a break from writing and the director's chair to solely serve as the star of Sidney Poitier's 1982 film Hanky Panky. Pairing with him as a female lead was Gilda Radner. The two first met on the set and love quickly blossomed culminating in a marriage a few years later. It all began on Hanky Panky where the two principles become two people, one wrongly accused of a crime, running from the law together to protect their names and solve a mystery while they're at it.

Michael Jordon (Gene Wilder) is an architect visiting New York on business when he jumps into a cab with a distressed woman, Janet Dunn (Kathleen Quinlan). Through flirting and trying to get Janet to have a drink with him, she tells him she is on the run and asks him to put an envelope into a mailbox for him. Michael obliges and unwittingly puts himself in harms way delivering this package. to try to clear things up, Michael travels back to the hotel she was staying in, only to find her in a scuffle with another man. Being filmed on camera at the scuffle with a gun in his hand, he is believed to be the nefarious character she was fighting with. With everyone chasing him despite his innocence, Michael tries to evade, seeking refuge in the apartment he was staying in while in New York. As he is packing his suitcase in the apartment, a woman Kate Hellman (Gilda Radner) comes in, and believing she is a burglar, Michael fights her until the lights are turned on and the two realize neither is a danger. When the police show up at the apartment, Michael has to leave immediately, and Kate decides to come with him to both aid in clearing his name and investigate her brother's death personally. Neither can expect just what they will have to do to get these goals accomplished, but are in it together, as long as it takes.

It is almost magical to see a real life romance blossom on-screen. Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner's incredible chemistry is apparent, even if one is only half watching the film. The chemistry is sensational; you can really tell the two are falling in love, and makes Hanky Panky all the more fun to watch. There were also a number of great comedic gags in the film. The scene in which Michael takes over flying a plane is almost as hilarious as the scene in which Michael needs a change of clothes and takes a magic suit and can't find his change on a bus. The comedy was not without its flaws, however. For instance, there is so much going on in the film that not everything gets fleshed out by the film's end. The entire mystery is never solved, or revealed to the audience, so it is a little hard to become too invested in the film. That being so, Hanky Panky is a good Saturday night comedy that you won't regret watching, even if it's only to see Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner fall in love.

This will not be numbered among the better films made by Sidney Poitier(director), Gene Wilder (star) nor Richard Widmark (supporting actor), all of whom have been involved with superior films, but will provide a solid base for an evenings entertainment. The plot is of the genre in which Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Red Skelton, Gene Wilder, himself, and many others before and since, have made excellent use for laughs, the spy thriller comedy. I don't know that I would call them a spoof on the serious film since,often, they do have their own brand of suspense and "thrills"; but they can be very funny indeed. In this case, the writers have relied far too much on some of Wilder's trademarked vocal emissions and far too little on his ability to deliver comedy lines and gestures. In fact, it is as difficult to find a funny line in the film as it is to find a novel plot device. Wilder does as well as could be expected under the circumstances, which, for me, was the major source of fun though not laughs. Gilda Radner was completely wasted, given no opportunity to do more than any third rate actress could have equaled. Richard Widmark is menacing early on, but becomes wooden as the dialogue and action descend to Perils of Pauline levels. There are a number of other highly capable actors who sink under the weight of the script. This is also a wonderful movie where you can see the comedic chemistry between Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

This Hitchcockian comedy-thriller misfire re-united star Gene Wilder with actor-turned-director Poitier after the box-office success of STIR CRAZY (1980; which I should be getting to presently), but it was also the fourth and last collaboration between Poitier and Richard Widmark – the others being NO WAY OUT (1950; Poitier's debut), the similarly maligned THE LONG SHIPS (1963) and the superb THE BEDFORD INCIDENT (1965; produced by Widmark). Incidentally, HANKY PANKY was intended as a follow-up to SILVER STREAK (1976) and STIR CRAZY itself as yet another teaming of Wilder with Richard Pryor – but the latter's role eventually got turned into a female character and played by Gilda Radner (from TV's "Saturday Night Live"). The two stars would then fall in love and marry but, alas, the relationship was not long-lasting as Radner would die within 5 years! Anyway, while HANKY PANKY is hardly terrible, it is far from a classic either: the thrills are largely mechanical (leading predictably to violence, a case of mistaken identity for the bewildered hero, and elaborate action for the denouement) and the laughs – the genuine ones, that is – too few (mostly, it is Wilder doing his idiosyncratic hysterical shtick). Radner herself, to say nothing of Widmark (albeit still effortlessly intimidating at 68), is somewhat underused; notable supporting roles, then, are played by Kathleen Quinlan and Robert Prosky as Intelligence operatives – respectively pursued by and pursuing Widmark and his henchmen.

Imagine Sidney Poitier doing a North by Northwest type movie. That is pretty much what Hanky Panky is. Sidney Poitier is no Alfred Hitchcock, though. Gene Wilder (alias Michael Jordan) saves this movie from being very mediocre. One has to go back to 1982 (the movie is actually situated in 1981) where things like national security and cold war had other dimensions than today. So take a little bit of murder mystery, a little bit of spy movie, add a neurotic character (Wilder) and his big-staring-eyes sidekick (Gilda Radner), take a few villains (a not quite convincing Richard Widmark), smashing bottles, men in dresses (yes, Wilder, too), stupid policemen, grim-looking NSA people and presto, racing here, racing there, driving, flying, smashing, that's the movie. Oh, did I forget to mention the really beautiful scenery of the Grand Canyon when flying within the Canyon was still allowed? This flight is really a wild ride and there are some low-level laughs in the cabin: how much intestinal gas can a fat pilot stand before he suddenly dies (of what?) in mid-air? If you're in for computer history, observe the excessive use of data tape and the by then state-of-the-art 3D-graphics. Actually, this movie has its very funny moments, but by today's standards its pace is slow, despite the fact that Wilder/Jordan is frantically running away from someone, something or else all the time. And the DVD is too expensive for not featuring any special features except of a full screen trailer. But if you own the DVD, watch that trailer, but don't fall asleep: would one advertise a screwball comedy like this in such a lame way, today?

A mildly engrossing, tepid suspenser that apparently bombed in theaters and drew the ire and castigation of moviegoers - an overreaction if ever there were one. Granted, it will never be taken for a masterpiece - the comic elements of the film consistently fall flat, and the plot is a fourth-rate knockoff of Hitchcock - but it isn't a complete dud either. At least 'Hanky Panky' manages to be consistently engaging as an actioner/thriller (as far as I'm concerned) and it is fun to see Gene Wilder and Richard Widmark sharing screen credit. And it boasts a fun supporting cast: Robert Prosky, James Tolkan, Kathleen Quinlan, the wonderful Josef Sommer (of Lydie Breeze fame), and even a young Larry Pine pop up and keep things hopping. Overall, a passable movie experience - it works as a time-filler if nothing else - but some of the attempts at comedy are pretty pathetic. If the scriptwriters had spiced up the scenario with a bit of wild physical comedy and more amusing situations, they probably could have saved the picture. No, Mr. Poitier - sorry to disappoint you, but watching a helicopter pilot belch for two minutes does not, by any stretch of the imagination, qualify as intrinsically funny.

'HANKY PANKY' Directed by Sidney Poitier,(To Sir With Love ) Is an only so-so comic outing with Gene Wilder, Minus 'Richard Pryor,RIP:( Instead wilder is cast with his real life wife, Gilda Radner,(Rip) Wilder plays innocent bystander, Micheal Jordon, who whilst in a taxi cab unwittingly becomes involved with a hysterical women, played by Kathleen Quinlan, Quinlan hand's some Government documents on to wilder who then becomes the target of Richard Widmark, in another trademark villainous role, as a shady government agent, Wilder And Radner, are hilariously pitted together with supreme comic situations, that culminates in a deadly showdown, with the villains,

When a girl (Kathleen Quinlan) is murdered by assassins, the boob (Gene Wilder) who is accused of killing her is the man she sought to help her. He is then pursued by the killers in a cat and mouse chase across America and seeks to find out why she was murdered.

Weak Mel Brooks type of comedy and parody of Hitchcock's NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) surprisingly directed by Sidney Poitier. Noisy and frantic, the film seems to assume shouting loudly makes for good comedy. Unfunny and then with extended exposure becomes irritating.

This is not a fantastic film but it is rather humorous and entertaining. It is worth watching for some good laughs. If you watch this with a lighthearted attitude and an open mind I think you will like it. If you are very serious and literal-minded,you might want to either lighten-up or skip it. Overall entertaining and funny.

The typical mistaken identity thing here as a man named Michael Jordon (go figure that one) played by Gene Wilder gets caught in a web of bad guys. He is being chased for a murder he did not commit and it is also believed that some classified military secrets were stolen as well. Naturally Wilder falls in love with Gilda Radner in the process and constantly tries to elude Richard Widmark. Sidney Poitier actually directed this dud that just never does really come together. The routine is nothing new and it ends up being just like a Road-Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon that has silly episodic situations coming at you over and over again. Not a total waste, but still not really interesting enough to make itself any different from dozens of the kind. 2.5 out of 5.

Kind of a remake of North by Northwest.. it's a bit long, at an hour and 50 minutes. Innocent bystander Michael Jordon (really!) played by Gene Wilder, gets caught up in a caper that takes him all over the country, including national parks. sound familiar? Future real-life wife Gilda Radner gets caught up in the chase, and the whole time, he doesn't really know if he can trust her... still sound familiar? Tapes, murders, car chases. Jordon is finally caught by the local police, who release him over to the now-friendly feds. still sound familiar ? It's pretty good! I'm surprised at the low ratings on imdb. It's a good mix of spy thrilla and a fair amount of humor. Sure, the bad guys are pretty cheesy, but its all in good fun. Richard Widmark, from the early days of black and white film, is in here as one of the bad guys. It's one of only nine films directed by Sidney Poitier; he had also directed Stir Crazy with Wilder and Pryor. Gilda went SO early, way before her time. Check this one out if you're a fan of Wilder and Radner.

It's summer of 1981 NYC. Janet Dunn (Kathleen Quinlan) steals secrets and gets into a cab with another passenger Michael Jordon (Gene Wilder). She's in the middle of a vast conspiracy. He's kidnapped by mysterious goons. He manages to escape but the police doesn't believe him. Janet Dunn is killed and Jordon becomes the main suspect. With the world searching for him, he is joined by Kate Hellman (Gilda Radner) who is looking for her brother's killer on a cross-country pursuit to uncover the secret conspiracy.

The plot has a good slice of Hitchcock's "North by Northwest". It's a bit convoluted. Apparently Sidney Poitier wanted to make another Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder buddy movie before Pryor's death. Gilda Radner comes in to replace him. She shows that she's no shrinking violet and gives Gene Wilder a good partner (on film and in real life). They have a couple of good fun moments. There are far too few of them. This is a manic mess which could have been better if the script and Poitier allow the pair to shine with better material.

Is this supposed to be a comedy. Really? I didn't know. It can't be. This film takes itself way too seriously, at times, it's actually hard to grasp it is a comedy. It's a espionage comedy with hardly any comedy. The real hanky panky is in how we're messed around, as only being afforded a few laughs. There are a couple of amusing moments, be thankful, you've got em'. One magic scene on a bus, plus another scene involving a tubby pilot belching repeatedly, before carking it, where the scene becomes really hairy, amongst the breathtaking altitude of the Grand Canyon. Basically, the story has Wilder, pestering this woman, he's fallen for, while both getting into the same cab. Shortly after, she's murdered, where just before he's given a package, many government people, authorities, are after, mostly of corrupt ilk, though not much is known about these shady, non smiling "don't mess with characters" that includes Richard Widmark. A woman he meets, real life wife, Radner, a musician as I recall, sides with him, to try and clear his innocence as Wilder's no one murder suspect for Quinlan's execution. Really, this movie takes itself way too seriously, and really amongst this seriousness, the story is very vague or tells us little about why Quinlan bought it,where more is known near the end. But the issue here, is it's lack of comedy. HP is a weak sappy comedy, why, because there's hardly any. Stir Crazy fans could really be let down, a big one here, in Poitier's second comedy.

The movie, Hanky Panky, is probably best enjoyed by those who are 30 and older and are a fan of Gene Wilder. I normally do enjoy seeing Gene Wilder, but this movie is not the typical Gene Wilder type movie. I expected this movie to have more comedic moments especially with a co-star like Gilda Radner. Although the movie does have its comedic moments, it is a bit too serious for a Gene Wilder flick. I was surprised to see Richard Widmark in such a movie. There is a bit of over-dramatized acting. The musical background is a bit over the top and could have been toned down. This is a good afternoon or late night movie. The pace of the movie is a bit slow at times. I should have rated the movie down a notch or two, but it does have Gene Wilder and Richard Widmark in it. Enjoy with popcorn or a sandwich.

Every time I decide to watch this little gem, I'm reminded of how well it was made and how much I like it! Richard Widmark is one of my favorite actors, and he really adds a nice touch of malicious villainy as he pursues Wilder.

I agree that the scene in the airplane is one of the funniest.

This film could have been directed by Mel Brooks.

I remember Gene Wilder from many other wonderful films: Young Frankenstein, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Silver Streak, The Adventure of Sherlock Holme's Smarter Brother, Blazing Saddles, The Producers, and Everything You've Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask.

It's very hard to find a copy of "Smarter Brother..." but it's well worth the search.

You'll enjoy it very much. You've probably seen the others.

Although the title is Hanky Panky we get very little of that during the course of this movie. Kind of like Cary Grant in North By Northwest Gene Wilder gets caught up accidentally in a web of espionage and treason.

Watching Hanky Panky I couldn't help think of the Alfred Hitchcock classic and how the unflappable and witty Cary Grant is chased from New York City to Rapid City, South Dakota with that climax on Mount Rushmore. What worked well for Grant and Hitchcock did not work well for the hysterical Gene Wilder who does that best on screen as he has since The Producers. Of course Gilda Radner is no Eva Marie Saint, in fact Gilda is surprisingly subdued in Hanky Panky.

Gene is an innocent schnook who is subletting an apartment from a man who gets killed. Wilder is from Chicago and by being there gets himself involved with the poisoning of National Security chief Robert Prosky and the shooting of Kathleen Quinlan and has the cops and everyone else chasing him.

The Hitchcockian McGuffin is a computer tape with all kinds of secret codes that can't be copied except it has. Richard Widmark who has reverted here to one of those villainous types from his early days in film is working for a high level traitor who we only learn the identity of in the last minutes of the film.

Wilder's hysterical style was a bit over the top. Works much better with Cary Grant's charm and unflappability.

This is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner are unique. I really enjoyed the movie and recommend it to everyone. If, after watching Hanky Panky, you think it was worth it, please don't forget to watch See No Evil Hear No Evil and Silver Streak, which are two other wonderful movies with Gene Wilder.

Headache-inducing "comedy" that just isn't for me. I'm a fan of the screwball comedies of yesteryear this is attempting to emulate, but I don't remember any of them being so off-putting. Gene Wilder tries way too hard, screaming his head off for most of the film. If it doesn't give you a headache, you're made of sterner stuff than me. As for Gilda Radner - I know she died young and that's tragic. That being said, I've never found her all that funny. Not her SNL work, not her stand-up, not her movies. At most I found her mildly amusing in The Woman In Red. Everything I've read about her is that she was well-liked and respected by everyone, and obviously many people do find her funny, so I'm not just dumping on her here. I just don't think she's funny and I don't think Wilder is funny in this movie either.

"You shameless hussy!"-Michael Jordan

Gene Wilder plays a character named Michael Jordan from Chicago Illinois, who coincidentally meets a woman who is being hunted in a shared taxi in New York. After that is becomes a mistaken identity farce that even has a scene with him and Gilda Radner crash landing a plane at the Grand Canyon!

"Is this a mugging? I've heard about them."-Michael Jordan

"I haven't been in New a York long enough to make any enemies."-Michael Jordan.

The best part of this film were some of the lines that were delivered by Gene Wilder with a straight face...best part by far.

Fun, but a watch and delete for me.