The Screen Addict | Pryor & Wilder
My heroes growing up were Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.
I wasnโt a huge fan of ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ๐ (๐ญ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ) โ which Pryor co-wrote and only Wilder starred in โ but man, I couldnโt get enough of their first official on-screen collaboration ๐ฆ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ (๐ญ๐ต๐ณ๐ฒ).
This was way before I had ever seen Hitchcockโs ๐ก๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต ๐ฏ๐ ๐ก๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐๐ฒ๐๐ (๐ญ๐ต๐ฑ๐ต) โ which obviously served as an inspiration for ๐ฆ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ โ so I was just enthralled by the fascinating idea of an ordinary man getting caught up in an extraordinary situation.
But more importantly: the combination of Pryor and Wilder was a revelation for me. They were without a doubt the funniest duo I had ever seen.
Next came ๐ฆ๐๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ (๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ฌ) which I liked even more. Looking back, I really believe this gem was the genesis of my fondness for prison-themed films. It wasnโt until much later that I realized ๐ฆ๐๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ was directed by Sydney Poitier, another hero of mine.
Astonishingly, the combined efforts of Pryor, Poitier and Wilder made $100 million at the box office, making it the third-highest grossing picture of 1980. Only Dolly Partonโs ๐ก๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ (๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ฌ) and a small arthouse film called ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฉ: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ (๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ฌ) did better that year. Even more impressive: ๐ฆ๐๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ at the time was the highest-grossing Comedy ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ.
The golden years continued with ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ก๐ผ ๐๐๐ถ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ก๐ผ ๐๐๐ถ๐น (๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ต), reuniting Pryor and Wilder with their ๐ฆ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ director Arthur Hiller. Wilder famously only agreed to do this film when the studio asked him to rewrite the other lead for his old buddy Pryor.
Kevin Spacey pops up as the villain in a very early part, alongside his ๐ช๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐๐ co-star Joan Severance.
Itโs hard to imagine two able-bodied people playing deaf and blind characters these days. But fortunately, during The Eighties and early Nineties people werenโt so quickly offended and still believed in the concept of ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. Hell, Pacino famously won his only Oscar for playing a visually impaired veteran around that same time โ and rightly so.
The Dynamic Duoโs final film together was ๐๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ (๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ญ). It is my least favorite of the four they made as a team and an overall disappointment for a myriad of reasons. Peter Bogdanovich was originally hired as a director but was fired after five weeks, Pryor was seriously ill during the entirety of the production, and the fact that the film lost a ton of money at the box office was one of the main reasons Wilder effectively retired from feature filmmaking. I love many things about ๐๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐, but the stigmas attached to it just bum me out.
When I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2013, one of the ways I found to cope with this degenerative disease, was the realization that Pryor, too, had struggled with the condition. I know it sounds silly to feel a connection with someone who you only know from the movies, but it helped me enormously nonetheless. Sadly, Pryor passed away long before I entered the movie business, so I our paths never even remotely crossed.
Pryor and Wilder of course made many more stone-cold classics on their own. Who could forget absolute bangers like ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น๐ ๐ช๐ผ๐ป๐ธ๐ฎ & ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ (๐ญ๐ต๐ณ๐ญ)? ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ช๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฑ (๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ฐ)? ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟโ๐ ๐ ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ (๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ฑ)? ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ด)? And what about Pryorโs criminally underrated team-up with Eddie Murphy ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ฒ๐บ ๐ก๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ (๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ต)?
All films I deeply love and treasure. As a team however, Pryor and Wilder were on another level.
Seek โem out & get your fix.