TheRetroCritic

Here's the video version of my The Woman In Red review.

Here's the video version of my Blazing Saddles review.

Here's the video version of my Silver Streak review.

Here's the video version of my Stir Crazy review.

After the success of Silver Streak , Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor were cast as the leads in Stir Crazy , a comedy from 1980 about two friends on a road trip across America who are mistaken for bank robbers and sent to prison after a particularly harsh ruling. We follow Skip (Wilder) and Harry (Pryor) as they enter the Southern prison and try to survive as long as possible behind bars while their lawyer attempts to prove their innocence. Skip is the optimistic writer who believes there is good in everyone and Harry is the realist who just wants to keep his head down. Later on, when the warden is testing prisoners to take part in a rodeo competition, Skip proves himself to be a natural and agrees to ride in the hope of somehow using this opportunity to plan some kind of jail break. There's something almost tragic about seeing these two innocent guys being sent to such an unforgiving place and Sidney Poitier's film does have its dark Cool Hand Luke moments but it's also

Back in 1976, Gene Wilder starred alongside Jill Clayburgh in Silver Streak , an action comedy directed by Arthur Hiller set on a moving train. The film was a box-office success and was significant for being the very first on-screen collaboration between Wilder and Richard Pryor. If you're expecting another Stir Crazy , however, don't because you're setting yourself up for disappointment as Pryor doesn't really enter the picture until about halfway through. The film isn't quite the farce you'd expect considering the always hilarious Wilder/Pryor duo so anyone going back to check this film out might be surprised to find that Silver Streak is, in fact, a surprisingly sophisticated comedy with a Hitchcockian tone. Which is not to say that the film isn't funny, quite the opposite. Gene Wilder is excellent from start to finish nailing both the dramatic, romantic scenes and the goofier moments which begs the question: why no Academy Award nomination? The fil

As far as Western spoofs go, it doesn't get any more classic than Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles . The film, which follows Cleavon Little's black sheriff as he is sent into a small racist town to defend it from bandits, was a big hit back in the day and it's still seen as one of the greatest comedies of all time. As with many other Mel Brooks comedies, Blazing Saddles could have easily backfired and been dismissed as being in poor taste but the writing (Richard Pryor helped with the script) is so clever and so funny that it somehow completely works as a biting parody of Western clichés and the genre's reluctance to acknowledge the unapologetic racism of the times. The plot is set into motion when Harvey Korman's corrupt State Attorney General Hedley Lamarr decides to drive the people of Rock Ridge out of town in order to lower land prices. He appoints an African American sheriff to shock the inhabitants away but when that doesn't work he tries various oth

Directed by Leonard Nimoy, Funny About Love was a romantic drama/comedy from 1990 starring Gene Wilder and Christine Lahti as a couple who struggle to have a baby and slowly drift away from each other as a result. Like Woody Allen's Husbands & Wives or Kramer vs Kramer , Funny About Love aims to tell a very real story about real people who have real marital problems as we see a genuinely sweet relationship come together then reach a dead-end and finally split apart. It's not too surprising that critics weren't too keen on this one (Roger Ebert hated it) upon its release since the first act of the film tells a harmless enough, pretty adorable love story then purposely takes a detour to uncomfortable places, something which probably lost a portion of the audience who was enjoying the light-hearted aspects of the film and expected another Mr Mom . Indeed, the main couple's attempts at conceiving a child and their eventual split are awkward to witness but if you&

A 1984 remake of French comedy Pardon Mon Affaire , The Woman In Red was directed by and starred Gene Wilder as a man struggling with a mid-life crisis who is tempted to have an affair with Kelly LeBrock's young model despite being happily married. The Woman In Red is a comedic look at the difference between love and lust as everyman Teddy Pierce (Wilder) first encounters the woman of his dreams as she spontaneously re-enacts that iconic Marilyn Monroe flowing dress moment and, from then on, he finds himself spiralling down into a succession of clumsy, embarrassing and very funny misjudged attempts at wooing Charlotte (LeBrock). In the vein of some earlier Woody Allen comedies or Steve Martin's The Lonely Guy , the main character's story is told to us through his eyes but we also get to step back and witness the absurdity of his actions through some enjoyably silly sequences. Gilda Radner also appears in the film as Teddy's colleague who mistakenly believes he is

Based on an absurdist play by Eugene Ionesco, it doesn't get much weirder than Rhinoceros , the 1974 film starring Zero Mostel as a man who slowly turns into a rhinoceros and Gene Wilder as his alcoholic friend who has to accept living in a world peopled with rhinos. If you went into this one expecting The Producers , then you might end up feeling slightly confused about what you've just witnessed. Rhinoceros is unapologetically surreal and abstract as characters talk about some kind of rhinoceros pandemic where people literally become rhinos until it becomes a worldwide event but you never actually see one of them. This certainly helps sell the fact that the world is going completely mad but it makes for a stagey film and some might feel almost claustrophobic watching it. It really is like sitting through an absurdist play but, since it's also directed with plenty of movement and energy by Tom O'Horgan, it's also like watching one insane whirlwind of a film.

Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner star in Hanky Panky , a comedy thriller from Sidney Poitier about a man on the run after being accused of a crime he didn't commit who meets a reporter before they both find themselves entangled in a web of top secret intrigue. Don't let the inexplicably silly title fool you, this is actually a fun, at times suspenseful film. It's really not the ridiculous farce it sounds like and it is, in fact, more akin to something like Silver Streak in that, while it does have some comedy elements, it's mostly a thriller. There's a Hitchcockian vibe to this one as Wilder plays a similar role to Cary Grant in North By Northwest : a desperate man trying to prove his innocence. The whole thing starts with Michael Jordon (Wilder) flirting with a woman in a cab and offering to mail an envelope for her. Unfortunately, he is spotted helping her and, when she is later murdered, he becomes the prime suspect and some shady parties start questioning him

Gene Wilder writes and directs The Adventure Of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother , a spoof comedy from 1975 starring Wilder himself as Sigerson Holmes, the iconic sleuth's lesser known younger brother, who is assigned to a case linked to Sherlock's arch-enemy Moriarty. Very much in the vein of Young Frankenstein , the film follows the goofier relative of a well known literary figure and a good old-fashioned farce ensues. Wilder reunites with slapstick legend Marty Feldman, a detective with a photographic memory who assists him, and their main lead is beautiful actress and compulsive liar Jenny Hill (a hilarious Madeline Kahn). The reliably great Dom DeLuise also appears near the end of the film as a shady opera singer with a cartoonish accent. The plot of the film pokes fun at the convoluted nature of Arthur Conan Doyle's novels and the clichés found in most Sherlock Holmes films but it's more of a loving homage than anything else. All the characters here are

Yesterday, we lost comedy legend Gene Wilder and the world instantly got a lot less funny. Wilder was one of my favourite actors and, although he rejected show-business some years back, this is a guy who did so much great work throughout his life that he pretty much cemented himself as a comedy god a long time ago and had nothing else to prove. Here are some of my favourite Gene Wilder moments. THE MEL BROOKS CLASSICS The pairing of Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks was an instant win. In 1967, Wilder starred as Leo Blum in The Producers alongside Zero Mostel and proved that, not only was he a remarkably talented actor but also one heck of a funny dude. Seeing him visibly turn red while clutching onto a blue blanket much to Max Bialystock's horror was quite a sight and his trademark mild-mannered yet secretly eccentric persona was born. The film was not only a masterpiece in its own right but, much later, it would give birth to a mega-hit musical adaptation and another m

Several years before Tim Burton rebooted Lewis Carroll's surreal masterpiece with all the 3D bells and whistles, we got this Alice In Wonderland TV movie in 1999 as an all-star cast took on the classic story. There was something irresistible about this interpretation of Alice In Wonderland as, not only would it be packed with great actors in familiar roles but it was the perfect opportunity to explore parts of the tale the older versions never explored and show off some creative new visuals. The film starts very differently from the book, which is a little off-putting at first, but soon enough Alice goes to Wonderland and the story finally begins in a faithful way with some added moments from "Through The Looking Glass" thrown in. The first thing you'll notice is Tina Majorina (known for  Napoleon Dynamite and Veronica Mars ) feels somewhat miscast as Alice: her performance is much too awkward, her English accent isn't convincing and that yellow dress she&#

After the success of their previous collaborations, Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder reunited in Another You , a comedy from 1991 in which a small-time con man befriends a pathological liar before they both find themselves in the middle of a large-scale con. Their last feature together or apart, Another You is something of a bittersweet creation since it not only flopped at the box-office but Pryor had already been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and you can tell he's not at his healthiest in the film. That said, both he and Wilder make a terrific team once again and look like they're having a good time throughout. The actors' usual dynamic is changed a little here as Gene Wilder plays the wackier role and Pryor is the straight man. We first meet the former in a mental institution as he attempts to shake off his bad habit of constantly lying and not being able to stop. Eddie (Pryor), meanwhile, is tasked with taking George (Wilder) out for walks as part of his community

The video version of my Haunted Honeymoon review.

Gene Wilder writes, directs and stars in "comedy chiller" Haunted Honeymoon , a homage to old horror-themed radio plays. The film was released in 1986 and was a box-office and critical bomb. On paper, this movie sounds like a riot: werewolves, a Hercule Poirot-style setup, Dom DeLuise playing an over-the-top character in drag, Gene Wilder, the whole thing looks like the spiritual successor to Mel Brooks' classic Young Frankenstein . And yet right off the bat there's something not quite right about Haunted Honeymoon. Billing itself as a horror/comedy, it proves to be neither funny nor scary. The plot is initially quite promising as Wilder's radio actor starts randomly acting strange as his shady uncle shows up to suggest scaring him to death in order to cure him. He then shows up with his fiancée (played by Gilda Radner) at the creepy mansion where he grew up for his wedding and we're introduced to various bizarre characters. Unfortunately, from then on, t