Hanky Panky

An unashamed attempt to repeat the success of Stir Crazy, again directed by Poitier and taking the high security leak of a weaponry system for its soft centre, this comedy-thriller lets Wilder do his hysterical hero act yet again as he gets unwittingly embroiled with double-crosses, moles and cabbies who are allergic to elephant shit. Unfortunately, Hanky Panky doesn't have Richard Pryor in a chicken suit. Instead, there's TV comedienne Radner, whose efforts to pull a performance out of a poorly drawn female romantic lead are valiant, to say the most. Shored up by the mildly funny situation jokes and a superbly evil performance from the papyrus-faced Widmark as a horrid henchman, this is slick fun at best and cringing nonsense at its worst.