dglink With several nods to Alfred Hitchcock, Colin Higgins's romantic-comedy-thriller, "Foul Play" is a clever entertainment from the late 1970's. The film was both written and directed by Higgins, who also helmed the amiable musical "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and the comedy, "9 to 5," in his tragically brief career. After an opening party scene, stars Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase work well together as Higgins's screwball-comedy plot unfolds and takes unexpectedly bizarre turns.Along the California coast highway, Goldie picks up a stranger, who appears to be having car trouble, and she drives him to San Francisco; unbeknownst to her, he slips a roll of film into a cigarette pack and, because he is trying to cut back on smoking, asks her to hold the pack until they meet again that evening for a movie. Arriving late in the theater, the mystery man drips blood into Goldie's popcorn, whispers "beware of the dwarf," and dies in his seat. Goldie's act of kindness and subsequent naivete immerse her in a string of events that involve an albino, a scarface, and the aforementioned dwarf, who are plotting with the city's archbishop, his housekeeper, the chauffeur... But who is keeping score, and what they are plotting is only the "McGuffin," because the fun is in the journey.Chevy Chase as the police detective investigating Hawn's outlandish claims is amusing, and Goldie herself is an especially endearing heroine. The duo are supported by Burgess Meredith as Hawn's friend and landlord, who is quite good, as are Brian Dennehy, Rachel Roberts and Marilyn Sokol. However, Dudley Moore in his American film debut manages to steal his few scenes, which admittedly have little to do with the plot. As Stanley, a Hugh Hefner wannabe with a Vegas-style bachelor pad, Moore does a wonderful John Travolta disco strip tease to "Stayin' Alive." Higgins has evidently seen more than his share of Hitchcock movies and incorporated several of the master's touches such as slow suspenseful build-ups, disappearing corpses, and a climactic scene during "The Mikado." Higgins's romantic-comedy-thriller succeeds fairly well on all three counts, although the attempts at slapstick fail to click, and the requisite chase is predictable and unfunny. Nevertheless, "Foul Play" is generally fun and an entertaining two-hour diversion with two comedic stars, who are pleasant company indeed.

slightlymad22 This was the first movie that I found Chevy Chase funny, and the first movie that I found Goldie Hawn attractive. I'm of the opinion that Hawn got more and more attractive as she got older, peaking in the "Bird On A Wire" and "HouseSitter" era. Plot In A Paragraph: Recent divorcée Gloria (Goldie Hawn) is a librarian living in San Francisco. On the way home one afternoon, Gloria picks up a man named Scotty, when she encounters him broken down on the highway. She impulsively accepts Scotty's invitation to join him at the movies that evening, and before they part ways he asks her to take his pack of cigarettes in order to help him curb his smoking. Unbeknownst to her, Scotty has secreted a roll of film in the pack. Before she knows it, Gloria is drawn into a complicated mystery that involves albino's dwarfs, an assassination and a charming policeman (Chevy Chase)Chevy Chase was brilliant here, good looking and charming when needed and a bumbling clutz when needed too. As for Hawn, she looked great (especially when wearing her glasses) and she seemed to have permanently erect nipples. (Not that I'm complaining lol) she handles all her action scenes, romantic scenes and comedy scenes wonderfully. Burgess Meredith is great here, I always like seeing him on screen, Brian Dennehey does well in his small role and Dudley Moore (who I have never been a fan of) is a lot of fun here. The movie's theme song "Ready to Take a Chance Again" sung by Barry Manilow garnered a Best Song Academy Award nomination.

John T. Ryan FOLLOWING THE INDIVIDUAL career successes of both co-stars, Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase, the paring of the two in this crime drama send up seemed to be a boffo idea and In$tant Box Office $ucce$$.AS WE RECALL, it did have a certain degree of acceptance; but did not set any record at the turnstiles. Do they have them at movie houses anymore? Critical review also was less than enthusiastic. But then, when we talk of Film Critics, we think of what was said about Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy. That being: "Nobody liked them but the Piublic." OUR MAIN BEEF with this movie is that much of its promotional ads on the TV networks showed Chevy Chase doing some of those falls that made him so well known as a Charter Member of NBC'S Saturday NIGHT.WHICH BRINGS UP the curious coincidental occurrence that both Chevy and Goldie made their names via the network comedy show. In the case of Miss Hawn it was ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH IN, nearly a decade before the debut of Saturday NIGHT.SO, AS SILLY as it sounds, we took our kids to see it with us and were just a trifle surprised to see how many violent situations were so forcefully portrayed. But then, as we didn't understand then, it was both a spoof of and an homage to the films of Alfred Hitchcock.ONE OTHER ASPECT of this movie that we want to make, before signing off, is its use of the Pope, the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church at the center of its plot. This would make Writer/Director Colin Higgins an "ahead of his time" pioneer; for this predated both Francis Ford Coppola's THE GODFATHER: Part III and Ron Howard's THE DA VINCI CODE by some years.

mark.waltz "Kojak, Bang Bang!" "The albino works for the dwarf!" "She was one tough mama!"With lines like that, you know you're not in the San Francisco of Jeanette MacDonald and Clark Gable anymore. This is "Tales of the City" era San Francisco when you may not have worn a flower in your hair, but you could enjoy some great people watching in Golden Gate Park or down near the Embarcadero, and try and stroll down Lombard street without being hit by either Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal on a hot dog cart with a suitcase filled with rocks or Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase on their way to save a world leader from a terrorist organization.The gorgeous Goldie as at her screwball comedy best, a modern day Carole Lombard who works as a librarian and goes home to have dinner with her landlord and his pet snake, Esme, that is until the day police officer Chevy Chase comes into her life. He's assigned to protect her when she inadvertently gets her hands on some microfilm from a man she courageously picked up hitch-hiking. Having met at a party on the other side of the Golden Gate earlier (and not quite hit it off), that all changes now, and when Goldie is thrust into the middle of a federal investigation, she finds herself in dangers she never imagined she could be in.During her adventure, Hawn runs into some of the oddest characters you would ever encounter: a horny orchestra conductor (Dudley Moore) with a gadget filled play-pen in his bachelor pad; the rough-and-tough "secretary" to the Bishop of San Francisco (Rachel Roberts); a sweet bible selling little person (Billy Barty) whom she mistakes for the villain known as the dwarf, and of course, the man with the scar and the albino, both dangerous hit men on the mission of all missions. Burgess Meredith is hysterically funny as the landlord with the snake. There's also a very amusing sequence with Goldie spying on two old ladies playing scrabble.This is all concluded with one of the wackiest car chase sequences ever shot, along with "What's Up Doc?" and of course the more serious "Bullitt" utilizing as much of San Francisco's famous sights as it can. Then, there is the "Man Who Knew Too Much" spoof finale, one of the most bizarre productions of "The Mikado" ever staged with hysterical reactions by the cast and backstage personnel as the plot is wrapped up. Farce and screwball comedy really work when they surround a great plot, and "Foul Play" utilizes these elements very thoroughly. The classic Barry Manilow song "Ready to Take a Chance Again" is unforgettably heard here as Goldie drives back from Marin County into the city, the mountains and the city within distance. There's no chance to take here. Once you watch it, you will want to see it on a fairly regular basis over and over again.