5/5 "Beware of the dwarf!"
  by M. Hart (USA)
After his meteoric rise in popularity from starring in the inaugural season of the ongoing, late-night TV comedy variety show "Saturday Night Live" (1975-), now veteran film actor Chevy Chase effectively began his big-screen career along side veteran big-screen comedic actress Goldie Hawn in the hilarious 1978 film "Foul Play". Taking place in the beautiful city of San Francisco, the single librarian Gloria Mundy (Goldie Hawn) becomes unwittingly entangled in a mysterious terrorist plot to kill Pope Pius XIII (Cyril Magnin, 1899-1988) when (while visiting San Francisco) he attends a performance of the 1885 opera "The Mikado" by William S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900). After Gloria witnesses a brutal killing and escapes an attempt on her own life, she is interviewed by bumbling San Francisco police detective Lt. Tony Carlson (Chevy Chase). Not totally convinced about her seemingly outlandish story of being attacked by an albino (William Frankfather, 1944-1998, in his big-screen debut) or the warnings she received about a dwarf, Tony nonetheless keeps a watchful eye upon Gloria whom he is attracted to. As Gloria continues to evade the killers, she meets the satyrical musical conductor Stanley Tibbets (the hilarious Dudley Moore, 1935-2002) and mistakenly confuses a short & innocent bible-salesman, J.J. MacKuen (Billy Barty, 1924-2000), to be the infamous dwarf. With a myriad of chase scenes, wistful dialog, unusual characters, Hitchcockian mystery and 1970's nostalgia, "Foul Play" is sure to bring a smile to most viewer's faces.

Memorable scenes in the film include Gloria meeting Stanley for the first time, Stanley's apartment, J.J. MacKuen at Gloria's front door, Gloria visiting J.J. at the hospital, the "massage" club, Gloria's friend & landlord Mr. Hennessey (Burgess Meredith, 1908-1997) taking on Delia Darrow (Rachel Roberts, 1927-1980), trying to get to the opera house, the Japanese couple (Rollin Moriyama, 1907-1992, and Mitsu Yashima) and the "Mikado" performance. Other memorable characters include Gloria's friend Stella (Marilyn Sokol), Archbishop Thorncrest/Archbishop's brother (Eugene Roche, 1928-2004), Rupert Stiltskin (Marc Lawrence), The Turk (Ion Teodorescu, 1934-1985), the truck driver (M. James Arnett) and Esme the snake (Shirley Python). Overall, I rate "Foul Play" with 5 out of 5 stars and am very happy to see it finally released on DVD. In an interesting bit of trivia, the name "Gloria Mundy" was derived from the Latin phrase, "Sic transit gloria mundi," which means, "So passes the glory of the world."

5/5 Classic Suspense-Comedy an Homage to Hitchcock & Film Noir!
  by
This comedy has stood the test of time; don't listen to detractors. Leonard Maltin says the film is "protracted" but is perfect by today's standards (think about the 3-hour epics to which audiences readily flock). "Foul Play" is also an OBVIOUS homage to Hitchcock, not a "plagiarism of Hitchcock" as Maltin shortsightedly declares. Colin Higgins does a great job mixing suspense with comedy (something Hitch fans will recognize). Sure, this is Goldie's movie, and Chevy plays it laid-back (if Chase were to ham it up he'd be distracting); they make a terrific duo. Saying Goldie was the 70s Meg Ryan (as one reviewer did) is like comparing diamonds to junk jewelry (Meg Ryan is paste; Goldie's the gem). Supporting actors show inspired casting, especially Dudley Moore as the kinky conductor. Sets are pure 70s in full-tilt (a retro-decorator's dream). Car-chases with lots of point-of-view will induce vertigo on larger screen TVs (in the theater it was like riding a rollercoaster): it's grand scale entertainment! "Foul Play" can easily be judged a classic -- delightful, fluffy, colorful cotton-candy which should be enjoyed as such. If you're in the dumps, this film will pick you up. Paramount should have the good sense to release "Foul Play" to DVD in it's original theatrical aspect ratio...SOON!!!!

4/5 Just plain Good Entertainment
  by Brad Baker (Memphis, TN)
This is one of my favorite "comfort" movies. You don't have to think a lot, and there's not much deeper meaning. But as homage to Hitchcock, Foul Play is just plain good entertainment. THIS NEEDS TO BE ON DVD IN WIDESCREEN FORMAT!

There. Now I feel better. Watch this one with your sweetie.

5/5 So where's the DVD???
  by CWC (Long Beach, CA)
I was recently strolling through the DVD section of my local Circut City and found Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase's movie "Seem Like Old Times" on DVD. Excited, I jumped over to the "F" section to see if "Foul Play" had been released on DVD... only not to see it there. "Seems..." was a disappointing follow-up movie to me that paired up Chevy and Goldie two years after "Foul Play." I am perplexed as to why "Seems..." is available on DVD format before "Foul Play."

"Foul Play" is one of those movies that just gets better with time. Colin Higgins created one of those films in a Hitchcock manner that shows how "the student can outshine the teacher." The plot is spelled out in many other reviews posted here so I won't do that in my post... just give you a few of the impressions the movie gave me- and continues to give me 25 years later. Few, if any, movies are superior to me in moving seamlessly from a suspense scene to a comedy scene to romantic scene and back to a suspense scene without falling apart and becoming disjointed as "Foul Play." SO many funny scenes and phrases that stick with me today... "Beware the dwarf," "I gotta go warm up the... uh... weenies," Nobody messes with Stella unless Stella wants to be messed," "That was one tough mama!," "Far out," "Bang, bang Kojack"... the list just goes on and on. How many films can you really say that about?

The movie has one of those casts with a chemistry that you couldn't imagine anyone else being cast in their place. Goldie and Chevy interact as if this was their 100th movie together, not their first. Dudley Moore, Rachel Roberts, Bruce Soloman, and Burgess Meredith, and everyone else whose names I can't remember or don't know... perfect, perfect, perfect in their respective roles... and Barry Manilow, at the height of his career, singing the theme song. How many car chases have been filmed in San Francisco?? This car chase out does them all! It just doesn't get better than this.

"Foul Play" is the reason people go to see movies and how movies should be made. My idea?? Any aspiring film-maker shoudl be required to watch and discuss this movie in film class! In general, comedies always play second rank to the serious films when being ranked for influence and greatness. "Foul Play," however, deserves the title of "classic" in its own right. It is truly that great a film to me. If you haven't seen this movie, run, don't walk to your local video store and hope they have the VHS edition available. An evening home with an imaginative, first-class, blue ribbon, and Oscar-worthy best director, best actor, best actress, best screenplay, best cinematography, best movie (whew!- heh heh) movie- can't get better than "Foul Play."

5/5 One of the funniest comedies of all time.
  by
It's a romantic comedy with a little action adventure. Amazing on screen chemistry between Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. This is probably one of the few films when Chase comes across as the sexy leading man, not the goofy father of Vacation. The story has lots of twists and turns and some very funny characters, like Dudley Moore, the symphony conductor with a dirty mind always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Burgess Merdith, the landlord with a pet snake, and a quick but memorable appearance by an Asian couple getting their first taste of America in a police chase through the streets of San Francisco. Simply hilarious.