An uneven cocktail of romance, murder and comedy, Silver Streak derails long before losing its driver. Meanwhile, Gene Wilder has to work minus his partner in crime Richard Pryor… for nearly an hour.

Publishing executive George (Wilder) falls in love with Hilly (Jill Clayburgh), secretary to a reclusive author. The plot hinges upon a MacGuffin: Rembrandt letters that can dispel the financial plans of Devereau (Patrick McGoohan).

Admittedly, the joke could be on the plot here. It’s a bizarre Agatha Christie style murder mystery, spiked by the awful presence of Richard Kiel. Interestingly, he wears the same distinctive dentures that would define his character Jaws in the James Bond films Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me.

In short, Silver Streak emerges as a train wreck, and that’s no spoiler considering the film’s predictable nature. On occasion, Wilder and Pryor have justified their chemistry (Stir Crazy for example). Yet Colin Higgins’ dialogue in Silver Streak failed to make me laugh. As such, this could be the worst crime perpetuated by a comedy. (Capsule review)

(Released by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation and rated "PG" by MPAA.)