Gene Wilder is most notable for his works with Mel Brooks and as Willy Wonka but had a whole slew of other movies including numerous with comedy legend Richard Pryor. In 1982 he teamed up with Sidney Poitier in the directors’ chair for the film Hanky Panky co-starring Robert Prosky, Kathleen Quinlan, Richard Widmark and his first meeting with his future wife Gilda Radner. Could this comedy mystery bring some fun for fans, or will it fail to survive the misunderstanding?

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Hanky Panky follows Michael Jordon, a Chicago architect, who is New York on business. A beautiful stranger identified as Janet Dunn; runs into the taxicab he's using. He volunteers to put a package into the mailbox for her after she hastily addresses the envelope. A mysterious group that's after the package is now after him. His only ally is Kate Hellman, who has secrets of her own. To clear his name, they must find out what was in the package, who wanted it and why.

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It’s been years since I saw this film and honestly don’t know if I have ever seen it all the way through before now. Fun fact this film was supposed to be another reteaming of Wilder and Pryor with Poitier who had directed them in Stir Crazy, but obviously that didn’t happen. This film is the retooled version to the film we have now and it’s a decent enough comedy thriller with the highlight being Wilder himself. He brings his everyman manic energy to the role and is a fun watch in every situation.

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The story is a generic idea that we have seen numerous times, so it doesn’t stand out all that much, but it still delivers. The balance between comedy and