History Film / SilverStreak

** Later, when exiting the train at the emergency stop, one of them is escaping with a box of Twinkies and other snack foods.

* CrooksAreBetterArmed: Played straight. The Feds have revolvers. Devereau and his men have what appear to be AR-18s.

* GiantMook: Reace, played by Creator/RichardKiel.

* Music/HenryMancini: Provided the music score.

--> '''George:''' If this is what the DT's are like, I'm giving up the bottle for life!

* PoliceAreUseless: George's efforts to explain Devereau's plot to TheSheriff prove ineffective, culminating in the Sheriff ignoring everything he's saying while accusing him of being a murderer.
** Averted when it is revealed that the manhunt for George was a ruse to bring him in and get information on Devereau's plan (though the Sheriff and the other street cops evidently didn't know that). Then, sadly, reinstated when the shoot-out at the end is [[TheLopsidedArmOfTheLaw started by the Feds]].

** Doubles as a PrecisionFStrike.
** He also slaps Hilly for after she fails to get George alone to explain his scheme.

* VehicleTitle
* WhatAnIdiot: In universe, the shoe shine guy's reaction to George and Grover's shopping spree at his stand, especially seeing as they didn't buy a brush.

While trying to get intimate with Hilly, George sees the body of Hilly's employer, Professor Schreiner, falling off the roof. When George attempts to investigate, he too is thrown off the train. He eventually makes his way back on the train, and tells Bob Sweet what happened. Sweet reveals that he's actually an FBI agent who's been tailing international art dealer Roger Devereau ([[Series/DangerMan Patrick]] [[Series/ThePrisoner McGoohan]]), whom he believes to be the one responsible for Schreiner's death. Schreiner's new book on Rembrandt would have exposed several of Devereau's prized pieces as frauds. However, Devereau's henchmen [[spoiler: kill Sweet]] and attempt to kill George, who escapes the train hoping to inform the authorities. Unfortunately, Devereau has already framed George for [[spoiler:Sweet's death]]. He is able to evade the police with the aid of a thief named Grover T. Muldoon (Pryor), and must find a way back aboard the Silver Streak to stop Devereau and rescue Hilly.

* MagicBrakes: Surprisingly accurate: [[spoiler: uncoupling the cars causes the air lines to break, thus setting off the emergency brakes.]]

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: "Professor Schreiner" going to have a Scotch tips Sweet off that he's an EvilKnockoff.

While trying to get intimate with Hilly, George sees the body of Hilly's employer, Professor Schreiner, falling off the roof. When George attempts to investigate, he too is thrown off the train. He eventually makes his way back on the train, and tells Bob Sweet what happened. Sweet reveals that he's actually an FBI agent who's been tailing international art dealer Roger Devereau ([[Series/DangerMan Patrick]] [[Series/ThePrisoner McGoohan]]), whom he believes to be the one responsible for Schreiner's death. Schreiner's new book on Rembrandt would have exposed several of Devereau's prized pieces as frauds. However, Devereau's henchmen [[spoiler: kill Sweet]], and attempt to kill George who escapes the train, hoping to inform the authorities. Unfortunately, Devereau has already framed George for [[spoiler:Sweet's death]]. He is able to evade the police with the aid of a thief named Grover T. Muldoon (Pryor), and must find a way back aboard the Silver Streak to stop Devereau and rescue Hilly.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'', which this film's director (Arthur Hiller) and screenwriter (Colin Higgins) admired.

While trying to get intimate with Hilly, George sees the body of Hilly's employer, Professor Schreiner, falling off the roof. When George attempts to investigate, he too is thrown off the train. He eventually makes his way back on the train, and tells Bob Sweet what happened. Sweet reveals that he's actually an FBI agent who's been tailing international art dealer Roger Devereau ([[Series/DangerMan Patrick]] [[Series/ThePrisoner McGoohan]]), whom he believes to be the one responsible for Schreiner's death. Schreiner's new book on Rembrandt would have exposed several of Devereau's prized pieces as frauds. However, Devereau's henchmen [[spoiler: kill Sweet]], and attempt to kill George who escapes the train, hoping to inform the authorities. Unfortunately, Devereau has already framed George for Sweet's death. He is able to evade the police with the aid of a thief named Grover T. Muldoon (Pryor), and must find a way back aboard the Silver Streak to stop Devereau and rescue Hilly.

While trying to get intimate with Hilly, George sees the body of Hilly's employer, Professor Schreiner, falling off the roof. When George attempts to investigate, he too is thrown off the train. He eventually makes his way back on the train, and tells Bob Sweet what happened. Sweet reveals that he's actually an FBI agent who's been tailing international art dealer, Roger Devereau ([[Series/DangerMan Patrick]] [[Series/ThePrisoner McGoohan]]), and believes that he's the one responsible for Schreiner's death. Schreiner's new book on Rembrandt would have exposed several of Devereau's prized pieces as frauds. However, Devereau's henchmen [[spoiler: kill Sweet]], and attempt to kill George who escapes the train, hoping to inform the authorities. Unfortunately, Devereau has already framed George for Sweet's death. He is able to evade the police with the aid of a thief named Grover T. Muldoon (Pryor), and must find a way back aboard the Silver Streak to stop Devereau and rescue Hilly.

* TraintopBattle: George has one of these against Reace about halfway through the film. (Footage from the scene, with Wilder - or rather his stunt double - dangling from an overhead railroad signal, was later incorporated into the opening credits of ''{{Series/The Fall Guy}}''.)

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Creator/NorthByNorthwest'', which this film's director (Arthur Hiller) and screenwriter (Colin Higgins) admired.

* ThisIsReality: George is surprised as to how quickly a gun runs out of bullets.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Devereau drops the N-bomb on Grover.

George Caldwell (Wilder) is a book editor traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago via a passenger train nicknamed the "Silver Streak". On board, he meets a vitamin salesman named Bob Sweet (Ned Beatty) and a secretary named Hilly Burns (Clayburgh), whom he quickly romances.

* CrooksAreBetterArmed: Played straight. The Feds have revolvers. Devereau and his men have what appear to be M-16s.

* SerialKillingsSpecificTarget: According to the feds, Devereau once engineered a plane crash in Cologne, Germany that killed a hundred people just to get one man, in order to cover up Devereau’s involvement with a scandal at the Metropolitan Gallery.

* GiantMook: Reace, played by Richard Kiel.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Of the "life before cell phones" variety.

* PoliceAreUseless: George's efforts to explain Devereau's plot to TheSheriff prove ineffective.
** Averted when it is revealed that the manhunt for George was a ruse to bring him in and get information on Devereau's plan. Then, sadly, reinstated when the shoot-out at the end is [[TheLopsidedArmOfTheLaw started by the Feds]].

* TheWindyCity

While trying to get intimate with Hilly, George sees the body of Hilly's employer, Professor Schreiner, falling off the roof. When George attempts to investigate, he too is thrown off the train. He eventually makes his way back on the train, and tells Bob Sweet what happened. Sweet reveals that he's actually an FBI agent who's been tailing international art dealer, Roger Devereau ([[Series/DangerMan Patrick]] [[Series/ThePrisoner McGoohan]]), and believes that he's the one responsible for Schreiner's death. Schreiner's new book on Rembrandt would have exposed several of Devereau's prized pieces as frauds. However, Devereau's henchmen [[spoiler: kill Sweet]], and attempt to kill George who escapes the train, hoping to inform the authorities. Unfortunately, Devereau has already framed George for Sweet's death. He is able to evade the police with the aid of a thief named Grover T. Muldoon (Pryor), and must find a way back aboard the Silver Streak and rescue Hilly.

* [[CaliforniaDoubling Toronto Doubling]]: Many of the railroad station scenes (supposedly Los Angeles, Kansas City, and Chicago) were actually filmed in various parts of Union Station in Toronto. Also, Alberta stands in for the Midwest in several places.