By plane, by train, by the edge of your seat, it's the most hilarious suspense ride of your life - Silver Streak (1976)


Back in the 1970s, the movies had it all: planes were crashing down from the heavens, towering infernos, tales of world destruction, bad-ass cops, a cowboy in a Trans Am running beer across the south, King Kong, Godzilla, intergalactic wars, car chases, car crashes, and, in the case of todays featured trailer a passenger train crashing trough the Chicago rail terminal.

The 1976 action/comedy Silver Streak stars Gene Wilder as a newly divorced book editor who decides to take a (what he was hoping to be a relaxing) train trip from Los Angeles to Chicago. What he gets instead is action packed thrill ride of trip in which he falls in love with a secretary (Played by Jill Clayburgh), witnesses a murder, gets framed for another murder, gets thrown off the train (a couple of times), has to elude the cops with the aide of small time thief (Played by Richard Pryor) while trying to get back on the train to save his girl from mobsters, gets into a shootout with said mobsters, ultimately saves the girl only to find himself on a runaway train that is going to crash.

Ultimately not a relaxing vacay.


Silver Streak was a big hit with both audiences and critics back in the day. The film lived on past its initial theatrical run as an often-broadcast movie of the week on primetime television in the 70s and 80s. Despite this early popularity, the film has slipped into obscurity over the past decades. Silver Streak is a greatly underappreciated film that hopefully future movie fans will rediscover.


Check Out:

Silver Streak DVD


In this hilarious adventure, a train passenger named George Caldwell, played by Gene Wilder, gets caught up in a thrilling mystery after a romantic encounter with a charming secretary, portrayed by Jill Clayburgh. As he hops on and off the train, he finds himself tangled in a murder plot that feels like something out of a suspenseful movie by Alfred Hitchcock. The story is filled with laughter and unexpected twists as George navigates his way through funny and intense situations!

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