The Silent Partner
Dir: Daryl Duke
1978
*****
Daryl Duke’s 1978 thriller The Silent Partner is one of the great films of the late 1970s that is still overlooked and largely unseen. It stars Elliott Gould as a bank teller whose intellect is somewhat underused in his mundane day to day role. When he suspects that his bank is about to be robbed, he takes advantage of the situation and attempts to commit the perfect crime. However, he underestimates the armed robber (played by Christopher Plummer) and his life becomes more and more complicated, as he has essentially become ‘The Silent Partner’. Based on the novel ‘Think of a Number’ by Danish author Anders Bodelsen, Duke’s direction is pure Hitchcockian, with a contemporary feel, that almost veers into giallo but not quite. There is so much I love about this film. Elliott Gould films of the 1970s are among my favorites of all time. You have classics like The Long Goodbye and M*A*S*H and you have the overlooked greats like Capricorn One, Who? and The Silent Partner. There are quite a few actors around in 1978 who could have played the part but I don’t think anyone could have played it quite as perfectly as Gould. Christopher Plummer’s villain, a misogynistic and psychopathic thief who likes to dress in disguise, is a chilling and unnerving character, terrifying in his unpredictability but also in the way that he isn’t a super villain as it were, he is defeatable but just frighteningly persistent. Gould’s character has two ‘love interests’ in the film but both have real substance to them, rather than being just beautiful women. Susannah York plays his colleague at the bank who is suspicious and has secrets of her own, while Celine Lomez plays a femme fatale who is also not who she first appears to be. The plot is the perfect balance of complexity and simplicity, brought to life by real story development and brilliant performances. It’s a film that understands that suspense takes time. There are no cheap tricks, the story takes place over several months and the smaller details add to the bigger picture. It’s easy to follow but the audience is never spoon fed, the plot thickens at a trickle down pace, making it a film you can really get your teeth into. It’s directed beautifully, with all that glorious flare that make 1970’s films so great – indeed, the best. If that weren’t enough, it also stars a young John Candy, in one of his first ever screen appearances. I love how the film stars rather innocently, playful even, and then gets unexpectedly dark. Elliott Gould actually held a private screening for Alfred Hitchcock, who thought the film was brilliant. It’s a Brian De Palma film but without the nonsense, a Hitchcock without the suddenness and a Dario Argento but without the fantastical element. It’s all of the above but with heaps of intelligence and and its own individual charm. It couldn’t be made today due to the levels of security and technology in banks, so it sit well in its era and is another great example of why 1970s thrillers are still the best. The soundtrack is also something special, adding its open important level of suspense, and it remains the only film to be scored by composer and Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. Scriptwriter Curtis Hanson would go on to write the brilliant The Bedroom Window, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and L.A. Confidential while director Daryl Duke only made four films in his career. Duke’s films are largely unseen and unreleased, with his last film bombing at the box office, which I think is a shame, as I believe he was a rare talent and I would have loved to have seen more. The Silent Partner did very well in Canada but nowhere else, it’s a mystery really, as it’s easily one the most entertaining thrillers of the 1970s and the one of the best Alfred Hitchcock films that Alfred Hitchcock had nothing to do with. Its last DVD release was limited and marketed as a Reservoir Dogs style heist film - which it isn't - suggesting that the studios that own the rights haven't even bothered to watch it and don't even know what a great film they have in their collection. See it - immediately.