Foul Play



A delightful comic mystery movie with a great script.

Foul Play, written and directed by Colin Higgins, contains one of my favourite comic performances
and perhaps my most favourite comic scene in this entire Index, as enacted by Dudley Moore.
That's part of the scene pictured above.
If you've seen it, you will recall it. If you haven't, I will try not to spoil it.
To me, Moore as a befuddled Lothario circa 1978 steals this whole movie from its leads.
Goldie Hawn is strong and at her most fetching while Chevy Chase, making his film debut, smirks along.

The script, as well as one co-star, is serpentine. Add an undercover cop, an albino, a dwarf called
Stiltskin, the streets and harbour of San Francisco, a staging of the Mikado and a twist that is
not telegraphed. It's a deftly-written adventure by Higgins, who penned a string of hits including Harold and Maude, Silver Streak and 9 to 5.
There are some great comic set pieces, including the ride of a lifetime for a pair of elderly tourists in a San Francisco taxi cab.
Burgess Meredith shines as a snake-owning landlord. Esme, the snake, becomes an active player in the plot herself.

But for me, nothing tops Dudley Moore doing his striptease for an oblivious Hawn to Staying Alive.
The moment he throws his shirt down from his wrist with a snarl cracks me up, everytime I see it.
Even when glimpsed in Chuck Workman's compilation 100 Years At The Movies.

Foul Play is deftly-written, well directed and smoothly played.
Not to mention - a great deal of fun!
Highly Recommended.