My apologies. I really did try to find the most recent trains/movie thread to add this too. No luck, so I started a new thread. Sorry.
I just watched The Silver Streak again recently. Something I had not noticed before, was a lot of what seemd to be, nods to old Hitchcock movies. I was thinking of *Strangers on a Train, The Lady Vanishes, and North by Northwest,*at various points in the movie. Was this done intentionally, as some sort of salute to, or perhaps parody of Hitchcock movies?
Very astute, Murph. You be 100 percent correct. [bow]
When meeting Gene Wilder after having seen “Silver Streak”, Cary Grant asked him if the script had been in anyway inspired by “North by Northwest”. As Wilder admitted it was correct, Grant then added, “I knew it! Have you noticed that each time you take ordinary people, say, like you and me, then take them in a situation way above their heads, it makes a great thriller?”
Thanks for the info PZ. As far as that quote goes, I’n not sure which part is funnier, Cary Grant being ordinary, or Silver Streak being a thriller.[:P]
Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to ask the movie’s writer, Colin Higgins, about script inspiration, rather than the actors themselves?
“Dam Hippies”
For some seriously silly nods and winks to Hitchcock, rent Mel Brook’s “High Anxiety”
It worth the rental just for the “Psycho” shower scene parody[(-D]
Back in the late 80s, I remember seeing a movie called “Runaway Train”. Don’t remember much about the plot, but while the whole movie was a bit depressing, I thought some of the footage was great.
I’d post a link to a review here, but since I use Firefox on these primitive forums, I can’t. Sorry…
The connection seemed pretty obvious. Is there a reason Wilder would not know the correct answer?
Actually, the quote above, attributed to me, is from PoppaZit. Following your logic, I guess it would have been more appropriate to have the Hitcock movie’s writer ask Mr. Higgins then?[:P]
Good movie with Jon Voight. Filmed in Montana and Alaska. The train hits the caboose. Wow!
There’s a fun B&W noir-ish thriller starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance, SUDDEN FEAR (1952). The theme is pretty much refugee-in-flight, but a significant portion of the film deals – and pretty realistically IIRC – the experience of traveling coast-to-coast and changing trains in Chicago.
I first saw this film a number of years ago at the Music Box, Chicago’s revival movie house. The character Crawford played was very “into” the proprieties. When her train was getting near its terminus in Chicago, la Crawford utters the line, “I’ve got to put on my Chicago lipstick.” Drew howls from the native audience!
Nonetheless it’s a very good film, esp. if you like the postwar noir-type American thriller. - a.s.
Silver Streak was a good flick [:)]
Actually, I’m partial to the original Silver Streak (1934).
