Silver Streak Trivia Quiz

Answer: 20th Century-Fox

"Silver Streak" premiered in the United States on December 8, 1976. The movie's producers, Edward K. Milkis and Thomas L. Miller, are better known for their work on television, including the sitcoms "Laverne & Shirley" and "Happy Days" for Paramount Television. Frank Yablans, one of the executive producers, served as head of Paramount during the 1960s.

His counterpart, Martin Ransohoff, was a producer on such movies as "The Cincinnati Kid" and "Ice Station Zebra" prior to "Silver Streak".

Answer: He wanted to be bored

George Caldwell, played by Gene Wilder, admitted to a fellow passenger that he wasn't afraid to fly. He was simply tired of the Los Angeles rat race and wanted to relax. He figured that a nice, long train ride to Chicago would help him do just that, even though he also admitted to another passenger that he had never ridden a train. Caldwell had no idea that he was really in for the ride of his life.

Answer: Secretary

Played by Jill Clayburgh, Hilly Burns worked for an art historian, Professor Schreiner (played by Stefan Gierasch). She and Caldwell bonded over gardening tips that he had learned over the years in his job. While she was making love with Caldwell later on, he claimed to see Schreiner's body dangling past their window. Hilly tried to assure Caldwell that he was just seeing things and that her boss was just fine.

Answer: Ned Beatty

Using the cover of a vitamin salesman, the jovial and somewhat lecherous Sweet tried to make friends with Caldwell and make time with Hilly. He wasn't on board to win friends and move product, although he did pitch George on the benefits of Vitamin E when they first met. Sweet's job was to investigate the mysterious Rembrandt letters upon which Professor Schreiner based his book. Sweet met the same fate as Schreiner, and as a result, Caldwell was implicated in Sweet's murder.

Answer: Henry Mancini

The soundtrack to "Silver Streak" was never officially released in the United States before Henry Mancini's death in 1994. Intrada, a leader in production of music for motion pictures and television, released the soundtrack in 2002 -over a quarter-century after the film's original release. Mancini was responsible for a number of other musical scores, including "The Pink Panther" and "Romeo & Juliet".

Answer: Patrick McGoohan

Roger Devereau didn't want Professor Schreiner's book on Rembrandt to ever see the light of day. He was determined to destroy the Rembrandt letters, which would expose a group of art forgers, and take Hilly hostage, so she couldn't squeal to the authorities. On hand to help Devereau in his murderous plot were Mr. Edgar Whiney (played by Ray Walston) and the towering, metal-mouthed Reace (played by Richard Kiel).

Answer: Grover put George in blackface to escape the cops

Grover Muldoon, played by the late Richard Pryor, helped George Caldwell get past the police, who were looking for him in connection with Sweet's murder. To get the effect of blackface, Muldoon plastered Caldwell with black shoe polish. Eventually, the two men made it back onto the train, with Caldwell bent on saving Hilly from Devereau and his men.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Pryor was uncomfortable putting Wilder in blackface because he felt African-American viewers would be offended. He asked director Arthur Hiller to re-shoot the scene to show Muldoon reacting in horror.

Answer: A tool box

Devereau's theft of "Silver Streak" set up a showdown between him and police chief Donaldson (played by Len Birman). Devereau exchanged gunfire with Donaldson, who followed the train in a police helicopter. Devereau, stricken by a shot from Donaldson, died when his head, sticking out of the locomotive's door opening, was hit by a train passing in the other direction.

The train, with its dead-man's switch defeated, continued out of control towards Chicago.

Answer: Fred Willard

Jarvis told Chief Donaldson that the standard procedure for handling a runaway train was to derail it through the train yard. When Donaldson told him that there were still people on board, Jarvis stated that he couldn't be accountable for deciding what to do with the train, and that he would have to get his boss, who happened to be at lunch at the time.

The chief replied that Jarvis better do something quickly, or he'd "have two hundred tons of locomotive smashing its way through Central Station on its way to Marshall Fields!"

Answer: It plowed through the train station

Not only did Devereau defeat the dead-man's switch, he also cut the emergency brake cables in the train's passenger cabins. Knowing that they couldn't reach the cab of the locomotive, the three friends worked frantically to free the locomotive from the rest of the train. The brakes kicked in after that, slowing the rest of the train to a stop. The locomotive, free of its burden, picked up speed and smashed its way into movie history.

The amazing crash sequence was filmed inside two Lockheed aircraft hangars in California. A full-scale train station set was built inside the hangars and the filming did not involve any trick photography or miniatures. In fact, the entire sequence was shot in just one take.