Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor first appeared on screen together in the 1976 film Silver Streak. They would go on to make three more movies together: Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991). Despite the duo’s association being short-lived, their chemistry was undeniable, with some even comparing them to Laurel & Hardy. Unfortunately, they didn’t get to collaborate as much as they would’ve liked, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Here are a few other Wilder & Pryor movies we might’ve seen under different circumstances.
3. Hanky Panky (1982)
Director Sidney Poitier originally intended to cast Wilder and Pryor in a follow-up to Silver Streak called Traces. Pryor unexpectedly turned down the opportunity, forcing the writers to rework the script for someone else. Later retitled Hanky Panky, the story follows Wilder as an architect on the run for a murder he didn’t commit. The Pryor role was rewritten for Gilda Radner, who would marry Wilder a couple of years after meeting him on the set of the movie.
2. Trading Places (1983)
Screenwriters Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod wrote the script for Trading Places with Wilder and Pryor in mind. Wilder would have played the Dan Aykroyd role (Louis Winthorpe III) and Pryor would have gotten the role that eventually went to Eddie Murphy (Billy Ray Valentine), of course. However, Pryor lit himself on fire while freebasing cocaine before production started and was too injured to participate. John Landis took a chance on Murphy instead, whom he hadn’t heard of at the time.
1. Blazing Saddles (1974)
Wilder and Pryor were set to make their debut appearance together in Mel Brooks’s classic 1974 Western spoof, Blazing Saddles. According to Brooks, he wanted Pryor to play Bart, the new sheriff of Rock Ridge, but Warner Bros. wouldn’t insure him because of a prior drug arrest. Brooks threatened to quit if they didn’t cast Pryor; however, Pryor talked him out of it and actually helped Brooks find Cleavon Little, who served as his replacement in the movie. Still, Pryor co-wrote the film with Brooks, so it technically counts as the first collaboration between him and Wilder.
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