Foul Play (1978)

Starring: Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Dudley Moore, Burgess Meredith, Brian Dennehy, and Frances Bay
Grade: A+

“But why kill the pope? He means nothing to you!”

Where Foul Play starts and ends is definitely not what you’re expecting.

Summary

A Catholic archbishop walks into a home, and Mrs. Russel (Frances Bay) lets him in. Following a quick conversation between the two, the archbishop goes to his room and puts on his record. He opens his cupboard to look in the mirror and sees a man behind him. The man looks almost exactly the same as him, clothes and all. The man throws a knife into the archbishop’s chest, killing him.

At a large party in San Francisco, Gloria Mundy (Hawn) is there by herself. Looking around, she makes eye contact with Lt. Tony Carlson (Chase). They flirt with just their expressions, but Tony ruins the moment by accidentally knocking over some drinks at the bar. She leaves by the time he looks for her again. Gloria is about to leave the party when her friend Sally (Barbara Sammeth) stops her to ask what’s going on. Apparently, Gloria is going to take a ride along the coast, and she has to go back to the city, though she promises to be back for Sally’s wedding. When Gloria mentions she’s going to see a movie that night by herself, Sally tells her not to give up. Ever since her divorce, Gloria has just worked at the library and avoided the world. Gloria understands what she’s trying to say and considers it for the moment. Once Sally leaves the room, Tony appears to be sitting in the chair nearby, eavesdropping the whole conversation. He attempts to flirt again with Gloria while acknowledging what Sally said, but Gloria spurns his advances. Later, Gloria is driving and sees a man on the side of the road who’s waving for help because of his car breaking down. She stops for him, and he kind of just forces his way into the car. He thanks her because he has to be in the city by 5PM, opens the door, and just sits down. Even so, Gloria decides to roll with it. Initially reluctant to say much, the man starts conversing with her once he sees a car behind them following them. He introduces himself as Bob Scott or “Scotty” (Bruce Solomon). He starts smoking a cigarette on the way. By the time they get to the city, Gloria agrees to let him come to the movies with her later that night. On top of that, Scotty asks her to hold onto his cigarettes because he’s trying to keep things down to a pack a day. Thinking she’s helping him quit, she agrees. However, Scotty is using her, putting some kind of small film into the pack of cigarettes and putting it into her purse. They agree to meet at 8PM for the movies. As soon as Scotty is dropped off, the car that was following him are pulling in close.

He runs, and two guys exit their car to chase after him. Gloria didn’t see any of this and drives off. At the movies that night, Gloria waits outside for Scotty, but he doesn’t show, so she goes in by herself. In the middle of the movie, Scotty sits down next to her and desperately asks for the cigarettes. She reminds him he can’t smoke in a theater. When he tries to bring up the film inside, she cuts him off and explains the plot of the film they are watching, not realizing what he’s talking about. Now, blood is coming out a major wound on his abdomen. Clearly, he’s on the verge of death. Realizing how little time he is left, Scotty tells her there will be a murder, to contact the police, and “beware of the dwarf”. Still clueless as to what’s going on, Gloria relays each point to the movie they are watching. Scotty dies and slumps over onto Gloria who now notices the blood and screams. Funnily enough, this happens just as the character in the movie brandishes a knife and everyone in the theater screams at the same time as her. Gloria runs out of the movie to concessions to ask for the manager, and the worker sends her to manager Harry’s (Lou Cutell) office. At the same time, the two people who chased Scotty earlier are there in the theater. After Gloria barges into Harry’s office, and he throws concessions worker Sylvia (Janet Wood) off his lap, Gloria tells him what happened. Harry stops the movie, and the two go inside to see what Gloria is talking about, but Scotty is miraculously gone without a trace. The theater patrons yell at the two, so Harry takes Gloria back into the lobby and restarts the movie. He doesn’t believe her now, especially because he saw her get there in the first place and knows she didn’t have a date. Sylvia storms back over to the concessions too, which further pisses off Harry. Gloria remembers aloud Scotty saying “Beware the dwarf”, but Harry tells her to go home and sleep it off. Additionally, he suggests she stop watching movies like that and smoking weed if she can’t handle it. Gloria runs home in a panic and is startled by her neighbor and landlord Mr. Hennesey (Meredith), though he quickly calms her down after she mentions a bit about what happened.

The two sit down to go over everything, but he insists it was a prank by this random guy. Even so, Gloria is starting to have this feeling someone is trying to kill her. She starts to calm down though once Hennessey gives her a cookie and talks about stories when he was an anthropologist studying the Ibutu tribe in Africa. His pet snake Esme interrupts the two as it gets on the coffee table. Finally, Gloria is doing well enough to go to her apartment upstairs. Before she goes, Hennessey lets her know she’s his favorite tenant and if she runs into any trouble, all she has to do is scream and he’ll be there to kick some ass. When Gloria gets ready for bed, the news report on TV details the Pope being in the country and how he will be traveling to a few cities after meeting with the President. San Francisco will be the last stop on his trip before he goes to Japan. Little does Gloria know, some unknown man is outside watching her apartment. The next day, Gloria has lunch with her library co-worker Stella (Marilyn Sokol) to tell her what happened, and they go to a park. Stella immediately gets on her for not having anything to protect herself because the hitchhiker could have raped her. She shows Gloria the many weapons she has on her like a noisemaker referred to as “The Screamer” that gets everyone in the park’s attention, mace, and a pair of brass knuckles. Stella mentions how bad of a society they live in and gives her the advice of getting them before they get you. Gloria takes note of this. At the end of the workday, Gloria greets Mrs. Monk (Irene Tedrow). Monk stops Gloria because some man was asking about her. Apparently, this man knew Gloria’s pastor and would get in touch with her later. Monk calls him a nice little man, adding that he was a dwarf. Considering those haunting words from Scotty, Gloria gets anxious. Now, it’s closing time, and Gloria puts the last of her books back before turning out the lights to each row.

During this, a tall albino man (William Frankfather) shows up. Gloria freaks out but then calms down, explaining the library is closed. The albino man puts chloroform on a napkin and tries to put it in her face, but she fights him off with her umbrella and is able to escape. Following her running outside, the guy that drove with the albino tells the albino the direction she went. She runs to a nearby bar, and the albino follows her in. Looking for somewhere to hide, Gloria approaches Stanley (Moore) and asks to go back to his place since it’s closer. Stanley was by himself and thinks Gloria wants to hook up, so he’s all about it. Once they get back to his place, she closes the curtains but looks out the window for the albino. At the same time, Stanley thinks something is going to happen between them, so he makes two Spanish Flys, turns on “Staying Alive” by the Bee Gees, switches the lights to these disco lights he has installed, and dances around the room while talking to her. As he’s dances on his heart-themed bed with a mirror above it, Gloria spots the albino man look around the street and then entering a phone booth. She asks for binoculars. Thinking she’s into the same kinky stuff he’s into, Stanley pulls it out of a chest consisting of a bunch of sex toys and two prominent sex dolls. Still not noticing Stanley who just put porn on his projector and is undressing, she grabs the binoculars and sees the albino man exiting the phone booth and the guy from earlier picking him up. Finally, Gloria turns to see Stanley in this wild sex fever dream of a scene. Somehow, she just picked up on Stanley wanting to have sex with her, and he just realized that’s not why she was there. It’s embarrassing for the both of them. After he puts his clothes back on and cleans up the place as best he can in the moment, Stanley calls a cab for her.

Getting home, Gloria knocks on Mr. Hennessey’s door, but there is no answer. So, she goes back to her place. In the bathroom, she notices the shower curtains moving, so she checks it out. Thankfully, the window was just opened slightly, forcing a breeze. She goes to exit the bathroom, but a man with a scar (Don Calfa; later referred to in the movie as “Scarface”) grabs her and demands the object Scotty gave her. Gloria doesn’t have anything, but when she mentions it was just a pack of cigarettes, he wants to know where they are. Once she points him in the direction of her purse, Scarface goes to take a look and tells her to stay on the bed. He finds the film he was looking for and turns to Gloria. He starts choking her with the scarf from around his neck, but he is momentarily distracted by the cuckoo clock going off. This gives Gloria enough time to grab the knitting needles she has nearby, and she stabs him. Right after, she calls the police to report the murder. In the middle of the phone call however, Scarface somehow recovers long enough to try and attack her with a poker from her fireplace. However, when he enters the room, the albino pops up from the window and kills Scarface officially by throwing a knife into him. Gloria sees the albino and faints. When she wakes up, she’s on the couch, and Tony is there along with his partner Inspector Ferguson (Dennehy) and Mr. Hennessey. They had to get Hennessey to help them break the door to get in. Immediately, Gloria tries to show them the dead body, but it’s inexplicably missing once again. She tries to explain what happened to the best of her ability, but nobody is buying it. The entire room is clean, and her knitting needles are back in the basket where she keeps them. She insists there was a murder, and someone must have just taken the body and cleaned the place up, as crazy as that sounds. Gloria tells them it must have been the albino and he’s the one who killed the man with the scar, and now they just think she’s crazy.

After she rants about how Scarface was only temporarily wounded by her until the albino took him out, Ferguson sits down in disbelief. Hennessey says he believes her, but it’s more of a patronizing response. He exits to get a new lock to put on the door. Tony asks if she dropped some acid, but she promises this isn’t the case. She brings up the cigarettes being the potential thing everyone wants, the albino trying to kill her earlier, and Scotty, and explains it all pretty terribly. When Gloria comes to the conclusion that the albino is working for the dwarf, Tony and Ferguson leave. The two go to their car and note how weird Gloria is. Even so, Tony invited Gloria to lunch at the station house tomorrow, and Ferguson doesn’t know why. Tony sees it as fate, as he obviously likes her. At work the next day, Gloria tells Stella everything that happened, and Stella is convinced that everyone involved in her story wants to have sex with her, including Tony. She gives Gloria all three of her weapons to use against potential attackers. Later, Gloria steps outside for a moment and a mustached man (Ion Teodorescu; later known as “Turk Farnham”) steps out of a black car. She stops, but the albino appears and knocks her out with the chloroform. Gloria wakes up in a locked room, face first on the ground, and by herself. She looks through the keyhole and sees Turk, so she turns on the Screamer to make a bunch of noise. Turk barges into the room and stomps on the Screamer to break it. Gloria shows up from behind the door, sprays Turk with mace, hits him with the brass knuckles., and locks the door, as it locks from the outside. She can’t get out of the main door, so she climbs out the window in the rain and onto the fire escape to get out of there. Just then, the albino pulls up and enters the building. Gloria tries to get the attention of two old women playing Scrabble, but they don’t notice her. Turk and the albino spot Gloria on the fire escape. Seeing them, she jumps onto a truck driving by to escape.

Gloria shows up at the police station looking like an absolute mess, and Tony and Ferguson are already shaking their heads. Tony takes Gloria back to her apartment to calm her down. He makes her some warm milk as she’s wrapped up in a blanket, and he smokes a cigar while talking about his father being a doctor, how he wanted Tony to be a doctor, and how Tony got into medical school and became a paramedic before becoming a cop. Gloria brings up what happened to her and asks if Tony believed what she was saying. He believes that she believes it. When Gloria brings up the events that happened to her that day, reminds Tony that she has the address of the place she was held, and the license plate number of the car she was forced in, he promises to get on everything in the morning. She insists she isn’t lying, and Tony says no one thinks she is. As she wonders why anyone would want to kill her, Tony calms her down by adding that he checked everything around her apartment and how she should be safe. He says he’ll call her tomorrow and jokingly asks if she wants him to carry her to her bedroom. She declines, but she’s smiling ear to ear. Before Tony leaves, he tells Gloria not to worry. He promises that if there really is someone out there trying to kill her, they will find out who and why. The next day, Ferguson and Tony check out the inside and outside of the apartment Gloria was held at. Outside on the ground, Tony finds one of Gloria’s shoes while Ferguson confirms that the room checks out. The landlord said it’s been empty for months, but it’s rented on a yearly basis to a guy named Stiltskin (Marc Lawrence). Tony has heard that name before, so he heads back to the department to speak with Chief Coleman (John Hancock). After Coleman is done giving Tony shit for being suspended for three weeks for arresting the mayor for speeding, Tony brings up the name Stiltskin. Coleman shows him a picture of Scotty. He says Scotty was working undercover, and they just found him dead. Scotty was working on a tip of a major assassination that was going to take place in the city. Apparently, the biggest hitman west of Chicago was hired for the job, and his name was Robert Stiltskin, alias “The Dwarf”.

Just then, it hits Tony. Gloria was telling the truth!

My Thoughts:

A Hitchcockian film with a lot of humor, Foul Play blends genres and tones to create a fun and somewhat peculiar romantic action comedy that is pure entertainment. Writer and director Colin Higgins rides the momentum of the highly underrated smash hit Silver Streak and utilizes a similar style in its ability to mix in thrills, an intriguing mystery to drive the plot, and bona fide comedic stars at the helm. Goldie Hawn leads the charge and with an excellent turn from Chevy Chase, we get one of the better films of 1978.

Goldie Hawn had a serious chokehold on Hollywood during her prime. Even her worst movies are watchable because of how entertaining she can be in virtually every role she’s had over the years. In this underrated movie, she is once again excellent in playing the aloof divorcee who manages to find herself in the middle of a plot to kill the Pope simply because she took the advice of her friend to get out there more.

Remember kids, never listen to your friends.

Now, Hawn will always be a selling point to a film, but Foul Play‘s biggest highlight is the effortless chemistry between Hawn and Chevy Chase. Trust me, it’s as great as they say it is. In fact, it’s so charming in its buildup, you wouldn’t mind seeing these two match up in a whole bunch of romantic comedies over the succeeding years. Actually, Hollywood saw it too, which is why they co-starred in another phenomenally underrated film in Seems Like Old Times two years later. Regardless, the teasing of their romance is very fun (“You have the prettiest green eyes I’ve ever seen”; “They’re blue”). Even though there is danger afoot, you’re practically begging these two to get together. It’s simply a pleasure to watch Hawn’s Gloria slowly warming up to the smooth Tony’s flirtatious comments like when she tells Tony she’s been doing some of her own research and he reminds her that he is the detective, not her. Gloria responds by saying that it’s her ass they’re after, leading to Chase’s excellent line delivery of “It is your ass they’re after, and it’s my job to see to it that I get there first”. Her giggling never gets old. Another great example is when Tony first shows up to Gloria’s apartment with Ferguson and Hennessey after the albino and Scarface broke into her apartment and almost killed her. When Tony recalls the events that took place when she was unconscious, like how he carried her to the couch and she asks him to confirm this part again, he smiles, responds “Yes”, and keeps it professional. On the other end of it, you can’t help but smile when Gloria smiles back at him with a cute little, “Thank you”. It continues as he sits close to her, and the viewer can pick up on little subtleties like her looking into Tony’s eyes when he talks, and Tony looking at her lips when they are only a foot apart from each other. It’s pure heat. This leads to the electric sequence on Tony’s houseboat that solidifies the romantic angle of the plot, with arguably the best moment of the film being the two sitting on the floor while discussing their first impressions of each other. It’s a wonderfully done romantic scene, and their chemistry just oozes through the screen as Tony continually asks what she thought of him before his klutzy antics until she admits she thought he was cute.

It’s even better when they do the reverse so he can complement her in the same way, resulting in their kissing. The dialogue and the performance in this scene alone makes this movie what it is. There is no way you’re not smiling ear to ear by the end of it. The only thing I would have left out was Tony having a note on his fridge from a side piece (which gave us his hilarious explanation of, “Well she won’t be back uh, Monica drowned this morning.”) and Gloria calling him out on it but not letting it affect her attraction to him. Though it fits the demeanor of Tony because of how Chase plays the character, it takes away from him being the guy of Gloria’s dreams, and it makes Gloria look stupid in general because her whole issue from the start was that she was coming off a divorce and was avoiding people like this. Falling for a guy who may or may not be a player doesn’t work for the story they’re trying to tell and the characters we want to see come together. It was an unneeded character trait. With the heroic actions of Tony throughout, making him a slight sleazeball at the same time doesn’t align with the goals of the screenplay. Now, had Tony gone through some redemption arc to stop being this person because he loves Gloria and he works hard to prove himself to her, then it would be acceptable. Plus, a burgeoning redemption arc would add even more gravitas to Stella’s excellent line after Gloria tells her she likes Tony and Gloria thinking it’s mutual with, “They say ‘I like you’, it’s not so bad. It’s when they say, ‘I love you’ that you gotta watch out”. Clearly, there is more to Tony since he still smokes weed despite being a cop. If they wanted to add more depth to Tony, they could have played with this more, but leaving as it stands is an unnecessary muck-up of the character. Remember, Gloria is the one who tells him that she doesn’t smoke anymore because she doesn’t think it’s necessary, so Tony pivots by jokingly saying he was testing her, “Never touch it myself. Not me, nope”. She’s the mature one and is over this type of behavior while he isn’t.

If you’re going to make Tony this type of cop and play with this side of personality, there needs to be more to it to show why they maybe shouldn’t get together to tease the viewer. Instead, it’s just treated as a throwaway conversation, and it backtracks on potential character development and more drama. Why bring it up then? If he was just some regular guy, it would work without question, but Tony is a cop assigned to protect her at this point in the film, so revealing things like this suggests there’s a lot more issues with him than he leads on. With the way they present it, it only hurts (albeit slightly) and makes us believe that Tony isn’t as great as he seems, and Gloria is picking a guy that could lead to future disappointment and may further deject her from relationships. Since this is not at all what they’re going for and Tony is treated as the hero she desires, throwing these sleazy traits only hurt the character.

It’s never talked about within the pantheon of Chevy Chase movies, but Foul Play should be right up there with the best. Everyone always thinks of films like Caddyshack, the Fletch and Vacation franchises, and Spies Like Us when talking about Chase’s comedic prowess, and rightfully so, but there is something that needs to be said about how great he is in Foul Play. According to Chase himself, he chose to star in this film over Animal House because he wanted to do “real acting” instead of “shtick”. Though there was a bit of Chase’s comedic stylings in the film, like when he tripped and fell into a body of water while walking Gloria to his houseboat (then asking if she was okay), tripping in the basement when trying to save Ferguson quietly (which screamed classic Chevy Chase), asking Gloria if she wants a joint even though he’s playing a cop (“You know what they say, cops have the best dope”), or knocking over all those drinks in the opening of the movie, Chase shows a completely different side of his acting ability. As Lt. Tony Carlson, Chase essentially shows why walking away from Saturday Night Live early was exactly the right move for his career. He’s not just a comedy legend. In Foul Play, he’s a certified movie star. The Tony character is so cool, he could have had his own spinoff, though he’s not the greatest cop ever as evidenced by him almost costing Gloria her life in the climax at the opera by forgetting to secure the perimeter. Chase is still naturally funny and retains what the audience loves about his well-known persona at the time, but he shows off this undeniable charm that is PERFECT for the romantic storyline intertwined in the action and also manages to turn himself into an action hero at the same time. It’s probably the most fit he’s ever been onscreen, and he looks like a natural in shootouts and car chases, emanating the aura of a badass leading man that I didn’t realize he had in him. Just watch the questioning of Archbishop Thorncrest and tell me Chase doesn’t change your mind about him.

Had Chevy Chase showcased more of this side of himself in picking projects, while balancing it with the comedic films that made him a superstar in the 1980s, there’s no telling what his career would have become going into the 90s and 2000s.

Seriously, he’s that appealing in Foul Play. I implore to watch it purely for this reason alone. In an alternate universe, Chase could have played Han Solo in the Star Wars franchise, and no one would bat an eye. I’ll argue that with anyone. He’s that cool, charismatic, and charming here as Tony Carlson as Harrison Ford was in the iconic role. It was a gamble too. When you put a gun into a comedy star’s hands, it sometimes can be difficult for the viewer to feel comfortable with it because it’s so far away from the persona we know and love. In Foul Play, Chase proves that isn’t the case with him. Regardless of the supposed world class hitman somehow missing the unsuspecting Tony in the basement when he goes to collect Ferguson, Chase holding a gun and taking Stiltskin out with the pushing down of the shelving units and firing his gun at the same time to throw him off from reacting fast enough was that of a certified action hero that we want to see more of. It’s an eye-opener for audiences who only know Chase for his usual brand of comedy and completely changes your view on the potential Chase had as a leading man. He rose to the challenge for this film by taking on something different, showing audiences he can do so much more and absolutely delivering on this promise. Why he never pursued a few more thrillers, romantic comedies, or even action films during his peak is beyond me. It could have taken him to the next level as an actor. Make no mistake about it, he’s still one of the biggest stars of the 80s, but if he challenged himself more often like he did in Foul Play and stayed in shape, he would have had a much longer career at the top. It’s a damn shame he tried to pivot when it was too late, following three strikeouts in a row (Nothing but Trouble, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, and Cops and Robbersons). Again, if he balanced his career with productions similar to Foul Play WITH comedies like Three Amigos, he could have been unstoppable.

On a side note, Tony’s bedsheets are cool as hell. It’s very much “The 1970s” in a nutshell, but they are awesome.

Though it only made Tony look like an awful driver behind the wheel (how the fuck did he crash that truck?), I did enjoy the race to the opera in the finale. It was no Bullitt, but it was a great use of the steep city streets of San Francisco, the POV shots were very exciting and added a lot to the action, the decision to splice it with scenes from the opera to heighten the tension even more was exhilarating, and the slow-motion crash into the grand opening of Uncle Luigi’s pizza was excellent. The only thing missing there was a quip by Chase, which felt like a lay-up. Also, the big climax in the opera was a delight, but there was one misstep. It made much more sense for Tony to be the one to break the door down and follow Whitey and Gloria onto the scaffolding above the stage. For a moment like that, it needs to be intimate and near-death for everyone involved. Since Tony is in love with Gloria at this point, him refusing to leave the room and working hard to break the door down by himself in a fury, while sending the other cops to the backstage area to shoot from below, would fit the romantic aspect of the story arc a lot better and magnify the love he has for her. The one faceless cop getting the moment and failing, to add to Whitey’s threatening presence, was decent but awkward. Tony disarming Whitey instead and fighting him on the scaffolding would’ve been much bigger.

There could have been more humor, and you might even expect it considering our two co-stars and fellow comedic legend Dudley Moore, but it doesn’t hinder the entertainment value at all. If the production did have more humor, this would veer into “screwball” territory considering the outrageously recognizable, Scooby Doo-like, over-the-top villains (“Our suspects are albinos and chain smokers”) who possess striking names like “Turk”, “Thorncrest”, “Rupert Stiltskin”, and “Whitey” that round out the supporting cast. For the record, the movie would have been just as successful had they gone this route, with standstill comedy sequences like the colossal misunderstanding with dwarf Bible salesman J.J. Mackuen (“You have attacked an innocent dwarf”) being a great example as to how ridiculously funny this could have been, especially because there’s no follow-up to this chaotic sequence. Nevertheless, I like that filmmaker Colin Higgins decided to not go in this easy direction to not only give Chase a challenge to prove himself as a movie star (which again he succeeds mightily at), but to make the movie more of an action-packed thriller with humorous elements instead of an outright action comedy. Gloria getting chased and her hiding in the whorehouse from Whitey is a hair-raising sequence, as was Tony’s infiltration of Thorncrest’s place. The tension is palpable and gloriously entertaining, despite being lighter compared to modern films with a similar strategy and energy. Granted, the collision of tones isn’t as seamless as it is in Silver Streak because some of the comedy can feel a little too far-fetched, like Mackuen somehow falling directly into a manhole cover, Hennessey’s snake Esme audibly laughing when the cigarettes are thrown into the fire, or with Hennessey’s showcase of his 1945 black belt in a living room battle with Casswell/Delia Darrow. It gets a little insulting when Hennessey somehow knocks her out with an airplane spin and throws her inside a piano before karate chopping it shut. The only thing that did help me with the latter was Tony’s unimpressed expression while being tied up next to Gloria and him also visibly laughing a little in other shots.

With that being said, Burgess Meredith was a fun addition as the protective and loving old landlord and he played off Chase and Hawn well. If anything, I would’ve loved to see him have a few more interactions with Tony, especially after he breaks those planks on the second try to show off his karate skills. Additionally, Dudley Moore was a show-stealer in his first American film. Treating his role initially as a one-off was genius, as Higgins perfects the “Rule of Three” and maximizes the laughs anytime Stanley reappears to the delight of the viewer. Being a huge fan of Moore, I would’ve loved to see him interact with Chevy Chase more because of how momentous of an occasion it is for fans of comedy, but I can’t help but see from a storytelling perspective that he was in the movie exactly as much as he should have been. Any more than that would have been overkill and bordered on nonsense. Again, if this was just a full-fledged comedy, more Stanley would have felt right at home, but Higgins took Foul Play in the direction it needed to go and handled the inclusion of certain characters and plotlines in the manner he needed to complete his vision.

One gripe I do have is with the MacGuffin aspect of the film. Though it’s funny that we don’t know see what’s in the pack of cigarettes and it’s proven to be ultimately unimportant, it doesn’t make sense for this to drive 85% of the film, only for the bad guys to have a “foolproof contingency plan” all along. If their backup was just to send Whitey to assassinate the Pope at the opera and he’s cool with whatever happens afterwards, why go through all the trouble for the film in the pack of cigarettes in the first place? Why would they even need to hire Stiltskin? They could have just saved money by employing Whitey by himself if he was so willing. Hell, they didn’t even need Turk. Casswell and Thorncrest just say he left, and it’s treated as no big deal, despite finding out Turk’s identity and his relation to the Tax the Church League being a crucial element to the second act. Tony goes through his research with Gloria detailing how Scarface wanted to double cross the team and give Scotty the evidence regarding their hit, which resulted in Scotty’s death. Then, Scarface tried to get the evidence himself from Gloria which resulted in him getting killed too, but why would it essentially mean nothing by the time the finale came about? They were trying to hide the hit up until this point, and now they don’t care? Also, why wouldn’t Whitey just kill Gloria when he was in her fucking apartment, and she passed out to make things easier? Isn’t she a witness to it all? This is an ENORMOUS crack in the foundation that is this plot. As crazy as Casswell’s backstory is and how her and her husband attempted to kidnap Billy Graham which is what put them in prison back in the day, their reasoning for killing the Pope is James Bond levels of insanity. With all of this being said, it’s a moot point, isn’t it? The audience is having just as much fun as Hawn and Chase are, so it really doesn’t matter I suppose. Plus, it only intensifies the ending, which I adored. You have to realize that placing the cuckoo clock in the end credits wasn’t for no reason. It’s just a reminder at how goofy the movie is and everyone in the production being in on it. When you consider this, it’s hard to get too angry at certain details.

Overcoming some shotty editing and plot holes through sheer entertainment and great chemistry between our leads, Colin Higgins’s Foul Play is a forgotten gem that I cannot recommend enough. It’s funny, it’s action-packed, it’s romantic, it’s bizarre as hell, it’s Chevy Chase like you’ve never seen him before, and it’s peak Goldie Hawn. You throw in a scene-stealing Dudley Moore, and you got one of the more lovably fun movies of the late 70s that will have you asking on a consistent basis, “What in the blue hell is going on?”.

Fun Fact: At one point, they were looking to have Farrah Fawcett star, but she was stuck in a legal battle with the producers of Charlie’s Angels, so it was decided to go with Hawn. Dudley Moore’s role was actually written for Tim Conway, but Conway turned it down. So, it was offered to Moore instead. Harrison Ford and Steve Martin were offered Chevy Chase’s role, but they both turned it down.