“Hanky Panky” (1982) Blu-Ray Review

Completely innocent man, Michael Jordon, is drawn into a web of government secrets when a girl carrying a mysterious package gets into a taxi with him. When she’s later murdered, Michael becomes the chief suspect and goes on the run. (from IMDb)

 

I know, I know. I’m sure most reading this review are more shocked to find a movie on here being reviewed called Hanky Panky than have actual interest in the film — and that’s totally understandable. But given its Hitchcockian style and accessible rating (aside from the fact that it was specifically serviced to us for review purposes), it seemed reasonable to check out Gene Wilder’s 1982 screwball thriller, Hanky Panky.

So what is Hanky Panky, really, then? (I can almost hear season 2 Jerry Seinfeld exasperating, “I can’t believe I’m even saying ‘hanky panky!'”) Honestly, I believe its title use is more tongue-in-cheek than anything. The story is entirely an absurd mistaken-identity comedic thriller in which Gene Wilder plays a hapless bystander named Michael Jordon (ha!) who ends up in the cab with a woman who is on the run from some questionable characters, trying to deliver a sensitive package. The earnest and flirtatious Michael offers to drop the package in the mail for this woman, instantly becoming involved in the governmental affair. And when he bumps into the woman at a hotel later, he’s caught with her murdered body in his arms and suddenly he’s the prime suspect. He then soon meets Gilda Radner’s Kate Hellman who accompanies him in an effort to get to the bottom of the mystery and clear his name.

Surprisingly directed by Sidney Poitier, the film opens curiously with a man deliriously waking up in his room in front of a mural on his wall, walking outside to a barn, and then hanging himself. The next scene then shows a man being poisoned, and you’re quickly wondering how exactly this could be a comedy. But once Wilder comes into the picture and is swiftly caught up in the mess, things lighten up considerably. It’s very much a sillier take on North By Northwest or The Man Who Knew Too Much, but never as good as either of those. Wilder’s unhinged and spastic line deliveries and tirades are humorous, but I couldn’t help but think, while watching him freak out, that this role would have been better suited for Martin Short (Innerspace, anyone?). Still, Wilder is charming and amusing enough here to carry the film – even if it never really rises above B-movie status.

When Wilder and Radner team up, the movie feels like it has a better vibe, so when Radner is temporarily removed from the picture for a good portion of the last act, it starts to lose steam — even though the plot is trying to up the stakes and introduce some “action.” The movie works best when it’s smaller and mysterious, but as the curtain slowly gets peeled back, it kind of loses its momentum. (And let’s be honest; there’s a reason why you’ve probably never heard of this movie before.) Since this was an early-80’s thriller, and not exactly deemed a classic, I had not seen this one before, but now I know why.

Don’t let the early-80’s PG rating fool you; Hanky Panky would be rated PG-13 by today’s standards. There’s a single use of the “F” word, almost 10 uses of the “S” word, and then plenty of other colorful language scattered throughout, including several uses of Jesus’ name in vain — by Wilder, especially. It feels off for a movie that seems like a 60’s throwback more than an 80’s effort, too. The opening scene where the guy hangs himself is shown quickly, but we briefly see him hanging after he jumps off the ledge, eyes frozen wide in death. There are a couple rough fight sequences – the most startling being an older man roughly punching and tossing around a woman. And after said woman is shot, we see some blood on her mouth and clothing. There is some other violence, but the rest of it is without blood shown. An explosion in the finale claims the lives of some bad guys, but nothing is shown graphically. We also briefly see a man lying dead in his apartment with his eyes frozen open, which may be unsettling to some viewers. There isn’t much by way of sexual content, but when Michael is trying to escape a thug, the camera zooms all the way in on a fit woman’s leotard-clad butt a couple times, which we see Michael grab and then tell the victim it was the thug who did it (which of course gets the bad guy punched in the face, enabling Michael to get away). There’s a brief scene showing Michael and Kate kissing and him nuzzling her neck, but it ends quickly, and a later scene shows them waking up fully clothed in the same bed, with it not being clear if anything else had happened.

Not exactly a classic, Hanky Panky is an average thriller in the style of Hitchcock that never quite lives up to its potential. It has its moments, definitely, and Wilder and Radner definitely have chemistry, but this genre has been done much better previously (and since), making Hanky Panky feel more superfluous viewing than essential.

– John DiBiase (reviewed: 2/11/26)

 

The blu-ray for the 1982 comedy, Hanky Panky, is available now. Sadly, there are no special features and, curiously, no digital copy either. But the picture quality of the film is really, really good – especially for 1982. Fans shouldn’t be disappointed with this transfer.

 

 Sex/Nudity: Michael calls Janet a “shameless hussy” when she says she has to go to a hotel; The camera focuses on a fit woman’s butt in leotard two times, with Michael grabbing her cheek twice (to get her and her boyfriend’s attention to hopefully attack the bad guy keeping Michael captive); Kate, thinking Michael is a thief, tells her he doesn’t want her money. So she pulls her jacket closed. He then says he doesn’t want her body either; As they run through an alley and into a theater’s backstage, we see dancers in bikini tops and cleavage-revealing onesie dresses; While playing piano, Michael says he played piano at a place where “women showed their tushies.” Kate acts surprised that he worked in a strip club; We see Michael and Kate kissing, mostly with him nuzzling and kissing her neck, but it stops there; Michael and Kate wake up fully clothed next to each other. It’s unclear if anything happened between them.
 Vulgarity/Language: 1 “F” word, 9 “S” words, 3 “Oh J-sus,” 2 “J-sus,” 3 “g*dd*mn,” 3 “S.O.B,” 7 “h*ll,” 2 “a” words, 2 “Oh my G-d,” 3 “d*mn,” 4 “G-d,” 3 “Oh G-d,” 1 “G-d forsaken,” 1 “b*stard”
 Alcohol/Drugs: We see people drinking at a bar. A man takes a drink; Kate offers Michael a drink, which he turns down. She pours one for herself and he turns and sips from it twice while frantically telling a story; Michael and Kate have wine together.
 Blood/Gore: Janet has blood on her lip in one shot. In the next shot, she has more on either side of her mouth; A woman with blood on her clothes falls into Michael’s arms, getting blood on his shirt, too.
 Violence: The opening scene shows a close-up of a man’s eyes opening and then looking wild. He walks out to a barn, climbs up a level, slips a rope in front of his eyes (that are zoomed in on) and then jumps off, hanging himself. It’s kind of shocking. We briefly see him hanging with eyes wide open; A man chokes from being poisoned and collapses (but isn’t dead); A woman hits a man in the stomach with a brief case and then in the face with it, knocking him over; Two thugs push Michael through a doorway and frisk him at gunpoint. They then punch him in the stomach and then the back. They then stick his neck with a syringe; Michael grabs a woman’s but twice as a distraction, but it’s basically “sexual assault”; On an escalator, a man punches another man in the face, sending him falling down the stairs; An older man grabs Janet’s face and throws her into the corner of the room. He struggles with her and she steps on his foot. They fall onto the bed, fighting, and she bites his hand. She then hits him in the back with a vase. He pulls her to the ground and hits her in the face, then punches her. They then struggle over a gun; Michael hears a gunshot and rushes to Janet’s room; A man fires a gun at Michael twice; Michael jumps away as a man lunges for him; Cops tackle a man with a gun; A mans is led to the electric chair in a movie on a hotel TV screen; Michael tackles Kate and they fall on, and crush, a desk; Kate smashes a bottle over a cop’s head; A car chases them while they’re running and crashes into cans on the curb; Michael pushes a man down stairs and knocks over another guy in a dressing room; A little kid jumps out with a cap gun and fires at Kate; We see a man lying dead in his apartment with his eyes frozen open. We hear gas filling the room, while a little kid in the hallway causes a wind-up car that makes sparks to hit the door of this apartment, causing the door to explode into pieces; There’s a foot chase thru the streets; After burping for a long time, a pilot suffers a heart attack and dies (and has some white residue coming from his mouth); A plane crashes into some shrubs in a desert; Soldiers point guns at Michael and Kate; A man points a gun at Michael. They wrestle for it and Michael is thrown onto a bed; Michael steals a car and immediately crashes it into a cop car; Michael breaks a window and climbs out; Michael lights a puddle of gas on fire; The bad guys shoot at a truck they’re driving; A truck explodes and takes a helicopter with it, killing a bunch of people inside. We see the wreckage of both on the ground; Michael punches a man in the stomach.