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1[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/silverstreak.jpg]]
2
3->''"Getting on the Silver Streak is easy. ''Staying'' on is the problem."''
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5A 1976 American comedy/action/mystery film directed by Creator/ArthurHiller, written by Colin Higgins, and starring Creator/GeneWilder with Creator/JillClayburgh, Creator/RichardPryor, and Creator/PatrickMcGoohan.
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7George 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 garrulous vitamin salesman named Bob Sweet (Creator/NedBeatty) and an alluring secretary named Hilly Burns (Clayburgh), the latter whom he quickly romances.
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9While getting intimate with Hilly, George sees the body of Hilly's employer, Professor Schreiner, falling from the roof of their car. When George attempts to investigate, he too is thrown off the train. Eventually making his way back onto the train, George tells Bob Sweet what happened, and Sweet reveals that he's actually an FBI agent who's been tailing international art dealer Roger Devereau ([=McGoohan=]), whom he believes to be the one responsible for Schreiner's death. Schreiner's new book on Creator/{{Rembrandt|VanRijn}} would have exposed several of Devereau's prized pieces as frauds. 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]]. Evading the police with the aid of a thief named Grover T. Muldoon (Pryor), George must find a way back aboard the Silver Streak in order to stop Devereau and rescue Hilly.
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11This was the first of four films that Wilder and Pryor appeared in together, though Pryor plays only a supporting character this time.
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13----
14!!Tropes seen in ''Silver Streak'':
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16* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: George's reason for getting back on the train [[spoiler:the second and third times]].
17* AndADietCoke: The '70s version: we see two [[BigEater very hefty men]] in the dining car drinking Tab with their meals.
18* ArtisticLicenseLaw: The Feds bring George along to an armed confrontation between police and the villains and even give him a loaded revolver to use. Police would never do this, but we need to keep the protagonists in the action.
19* BerserkButton: Grover's reaction to Devereau dropping the N-Bomb on him... priceless!
20* {{Blackface}}: There's a somewhat infamous scene in which Grover convinces George to bypass a police checkpoint by donning blackface and acting in a stereotypically black manner.
21* BloodFromTheMouth: [[spoiler: Bob Sweet]] after being shot dies this way while talking to George.
22* BookEnds: Provided by the train porter, Ralston:
23-->"Goodbye, L.A., goodbye!"
24-->"Hello, Chicago, hello!"
25* BuzzingTheDeck: Rita's "just itchin'" to buzz some sheep. George is somewhat [[BringMyBrownPants less enthused]].
26* CarMeetsHouse: The film ends with the engine of the Silver Streak ploughing through the wall of Chicago's Union Station and into the terminal.
27* ChessMaster: Devereau certainly fancies himself as one, although his supposed mastery is mostly one IndyPloy after another. Bob Sweet (a.k.a. [[spoiler: Agent Stevens]]) is one of these, of the CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass variety.
28** [[spoiler: If it hadn't been for the ContrivedCoincidence of Reace showing up just after Sweet buzzed for the porter from George's cabin, Sweet's plan to have Devereau, Whiney, and Johnson locked up would have succeeded and the letters would have been saved, not to mention that the runaway train situation at the end would have been prevented. Instead, he answers George's door just as they enter a tunnel and is mistakenly shot by Reace, who thinks he's killing George.]]
29* ClearMyName: As if George didn't have enough to worry about, he's framed for [[spoiler:Sweet's]] murder.
30* CloudCuckooLander: Rita Babtree, who encourages George to [[ItMakesSenseInContext "take a tit in each hand and let nature take its course,"]] takes him on [[BuzzingTheDeck a sheep-buzzing dive]] despite [[ImplausibleDeniability his clear discomfort with flying]], and simply ''cannot'' get his name right.
31-->'''Rita:''' So long, Steve!
32-->'''George:''' ''(over his shoulder, running for the train)'' GEORGE!
33** Bob Sweet [[spoiler: is pretending to be this, but really, he's the ChessMaster.]]
34* CoolCar: The Jaguar XK-E that Grover steals from the used car lot, and the Fiat he liberates after the Union Station crash at the end.
35-->'''George:''' Are you crazy? I thought we were gonna take the Chevy in the back?
36-->'''Grover:''' Chevy? That's a jerk-off, man! This here is ''pure pussy''!
37-->'''George:''' "Pure pussy"? I'll tell that to the judge!
38* CoolOldLady: Creator/LucilleBenson (who specialized in that kind of role) as Rita Babtree, the crop-duster pilot who gives George a lift after he's ejected from the train the first time.
39* CrooksAreBetterArmed: The Feds have revolvers. Devereau and his men have what appear to be AR-18s.
40* DeadfootLeadfoot: [[spoiler:Devereau is killed after taking over the train, but unfortunately there's still a heavy toolbox sitting on the dead-man's pedal (Which would otherwise apply the emergency brakes if not constantly held down.). Modern locomotives use an intermittent alerter system to avoid this potential for abuse.]]
41* DumbMuscle: Devereau claims Reace is "like a child."
42* EvilKnockoff: Devereau has an EvilMinion who can impersonate Professor Schreiner.
43* FictionalCounterpart: [=AMRoad=], for Amtrak. The "Silver Streak" itself is presumably based on Amtrak's "Southwest Chief" train (though the train scenes were actually filmed using the thinly disguised Canadian Pacific Railway "Canadian").
44* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Feds inform George that Devereau once crashed an airliner full of passengers to kill one man, in order to cover up a crime. [[spoiler:When his original plan is derailed, Devereau resorts to crashing the train into the station to cover up his tracks.]]
45* GenreBusting: It's a comedy-mystery-suspense film with a romantic subplot, hints of Blaxpoitation, and a disaster movie ending.
46* GiantMook: Reace, played by 7'2" Creator/RichardKiel.
47* GoryDiscretionShot: Devereau [[spoiler: is (presumably) [[LosingYourHead decapitated]] by another train]]; it's not shown onscreen (it's a PG film, after all), but George ''does'' see it, and prevents Hilly from looking.
48* HarpoonGun: George finds one in the cargo car before confronting Reace on top of the train and shooting him with it.
49* HiddenDepths: Bob Sweet, who at first seems to be an obnoxious, womanizing buffoon, is actually [[spoiler: an undercover government agent chasing the BigBad. In fact, given his first conversation with George, he may even be the ChessMaster.]] Hinted at by how much he knows about Devereau.
50* ImplausibleDeniability: George repeatedly denies being afraid of flying, but when we see him in a plane, he's clearly ''very'' uncomfortable. Granted, the fact that [[CloudCuckooLander the pilot]] briefly puts the plane into what must, to him, appear to be [[BuzzingTheDeck a suicidal dive]] may have something to do with it.
51* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Grover, a car thief that George encounters and helps free from arrest about halfway through the film, goes out of his way to help George rescue Hilly instead of simply thinking about his own freedom.
52--> '''Grover:''' You forgot your wallet.
53--> '''George:''' Thanks. Some thief you are!
54* LingerieScene: The first time we (and George) see Hilly, she's in a mini-slip as George innocently opens the door between their adjoining compartments while she's dressing.
55-->'''George:''' ''(as he fumbles with the stuck door latch)'' I'm sorry... I'm not doing it on purpose.
56* LowClearance: George is knocked off the top of the train by a signal light.
57* MagicBrakes: Surprisingly accurate: [[spoiler: uncoupling the cars causes the air lines to break, thus setting off the emergency brakes...for the coaches, at least.]]
58* MeaningfulName: Bob Sweet is a jovial, friendly, talkative, and somewhat buffoonish guy [[spoiler: on the surface.]]
59* MistakenForCheating: Hilly, when George sees her with Devereau. Granted, they'd only met the night before, but the hurt on George's face is so obvious, even the apparently-besotted Sweet comments on it.
60--> '''Sweet:''' Well, what do you expect? She's a hot little number, and he's very heavy competition.
61* MoodWhiplash: George and Hilly share a romantic and flirty dinner, then retire to bed with more champagne and clear intentions of having sex, when -- complete with ScareChord -- George seels a figure "shot through the head" fall off the train outside the window.
62--> '''George:''' If this is what the [=DTs=] are like, I'm giving up the bottle for life!
63* NoHonorAmongThieves: Devereau barely cares about what happened to Reace, and is amused when George mentions that he shot him, responding "Good for you." Later, when Whiney is injured in the shootout and is desperately trying to get back on board the train, Devereau stomps on his hand instead of helping him.
64* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Every official in the movie other than the Feds is thoroughly unhelpful in getting the plot rolling, forcing George to do almost everything himself. Even the Feds themselves run into this: when they – the ''police'' – call Chicago dispatch to warn them of the runaway train in the climax, they're met with a smarmy and incredulous middleman who refuses to cooperate until he gets absolute proof from his own people, and then can't even help them after he does. He does eventually pick up the pace in tracking down his boss, who's naturally taking his lunch break in the most remote part of the station.
65* OnlySaneMan: George is a simple book editor with a love of gardening who, while traveling to his sister's wedding, suddenly finds himself caught in a web of intrigue between government agents, art forgers, and a random petty criminal who becomes his partner as he tries to stop the plot.
66* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: "Professor Schreiner" going to have a Scotch tips Stevens off that he's an EvilKnockoff.
67* PlayingPossum: Grover plays dead during the final confrontation. When George checks on him and he pops back up perfectly fine, George curses and lets a table fall on Grover's head.
68* PoliceAreUseless: In play through most of the film. The Fed on the train gets himself killed almost immediately after revealing himself. 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. Later, the Feds are revealed to be onboard with George, but George and company are still left to do much of the thwarting and rescuing themselves.
69* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Devereau drops the N-bomb on Grover after being driven into a VillainousBreakdown and gets [[BerserkButton read the riot act at gunpoint]] for it.
70* ReasonYouSuckSpeech: George to the sheriff. "You stupid, ignorant son of a bitch, dumb bastard. Jesus Christ, I've met some dumb bastards in my time, but you outdo them all!"
71* RuleOfThree: George is forced off the train three times. [[RunningGag Each time]] he expresses his frustration with a loud "SONOFABITCH!!!"
72* RecklessGunUsage: The local sheriff watches television clutching his service revolver with his finger on the trigger.
73* RunawayTrain: Devereau has his men disable the emergency brakes as they prepare their escape, then kills the engineer and places a toolbox on the throttle.
74* ScaryTeeth: They're hardly ever seen but Reace has the same teeth as [[Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe Jaws]].
75* 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.
76* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler: Devereau burns the Rembrandt letters shortly before the climax, which are the whole reason for the conflict in the first place.]]
77* ShoeShineMister: The police are looking for George, so Grover buys some shoe polish from a shoeshiner at a stand at the train station to use to [[BlackLikeMe disguise him as a black man]].
78* ShoutOut: This line from [[Creator/RichardPryor Grover]] to [[Creator/GeneWilder George]]:
79-->'''Grover''': [[Film/BlazingSaddles What do you think this is, a Western?]]
80* SpannerInTheWorks: Devereau's plot would've probably gone off smoothly had George not taken it upon himself to investigate and gotten Grover involved; the duo (mostly because of George's stubborn determination) wind up taking down Devereau and his men (though as explained below Devereau still accomplished his actual goal).
81* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:In a manner of speaking. While he ends up dead, Devereau burned the real Rembrandt letters and without them, Professor Schriner's book would largely be dismissed by scholars as a crank work.]]
82* TheTeetotaler: Professor Schreiner, which [[spoiler:provides Stevens with an important clue to Devereau's plan]].
83* ThisIsReality: George is surprised as to how quickly a gun runs out of bullets. Possibly a ShoutOut to ''Film/BlazingSaddles''.
84--> '''Grover:''' [[LampshadeHanging What do think this is,]] [[BottomlessMagazines a Western]]?
85* ThrillerOnTheExpress: The plot doesn't get confined to the train all the time but most is there and the events on the train generate the reasons for George not having anywhere else to go.
86* TokenTrio: George, Hilly, and Grover.
87* 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}}''.)
88* UnusualEuphemism: "Yeah, I wanna lie back on the grass and have you teach me some more about gardening." Sold by George's reaction.
89* VehicleTitle: Silver Streak is the name of the train.
90* VillainousBreakdown: Grover's deliberate intervening bumbling causes Devereau to have one that causes him to throw a racial slur against him, which in turn prompts Grover to draw his revolver on him.
91* VillainousPlanInertia: Devereau plants a toolbox on the train's gas pedal to keep it moving while he takes potshots at the heroes. When he's killed, the box is still on the gas pedal and there's no way to get to the engine before it crashes into Chicago's train station.
92* WouldHitAGirl: Devereau is revealed to be an actual villain when he slaps Hilly out of George's sight.

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