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Like allsuperior thriller films, the 1978 thriller filmThe Silent Partnerintroduces an intriguingthrillerpremise and then attaches complications and surprises that generate suspense and tension all the way to the film’s exciting conclusion.The Silent Partneralso takes the time to develop interesting characters.The Silent Partnerstars Elliott Gould as Miles Teller, a seemingly meek teller at a bank in a Toronto shopping mall who suspects that the unsmiling mall Santa lurking around the mall intends to rob the bank.
By the time that ruthless criminal Harry Reikle, disguised as the mall Santa, does indeed rob the bank, Miles has already stashed the bank’s daily transactions, over $48,000, in a lunch box, leaving Reikle to escape with only a small amount. When Reikle realizes that he’s being outsmarted and shorted by Miles, Reikle proceeds to relentlessly stalk and threaten him in pursuit of the money, which Miles has cleverly hidden. From here,The Silent Partnerdevelopsan intense cat-and-mouse dynamicin which Miles and Reikle are limited by their ability to implicate each other.
Released with little fanfare in 1978,The Silent Partnerwas ignored by audiences at the time of its release and took more than 40 years to receive the warm recognitionthe film deserved in 1978. Featuring clockwork plotting, interesting characters and performances, Hitchcockian tension, and skillful direction,The Silent Partnerdeserves to be regarded as one of the best thrillers of the 1970s.
‘The Silent Partner’ Is a Masterpiece of Suspense and Tension
The Silent Partner
The Silent Partnertranscends the bank robbery genre through a stunning opening reversal in which the intended target of the robbery, Elliott Gould’s bank teller Miles Cullen, becomes the actual robber, while the supposed criminal, Christopher Plummer’s Harry Reikle, becomes a victim of Miles’ elaborate deception. In the aftermath of the robbery, Miles ends up with the bulk of the money, over $48,000, while Reikle, disguised as a mall Santa Claus, is on the run from the police.
With the flawless anticipation and timing with which Miles executes his hastily assembled plan to steal the money for himself,The Silent Partnerdemonstrates a level of precision and skill that recalls Alfred Hitchcock in his prime. Actually,The Silent Partnergenerates much the same level of excitement and tension asHitchcock’s final masterpiece, the 1972 thrillerFrenzy,in which an innocent man is implicated in a series of strangling murders committed by his best friend.
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InThe Silent Partner, Miles becomes inexorably implicated in the sadistic Reikle’s crimes, especially as Miles can’t say anything due to his own precarious situation. After all, Miles has stolen more than $48,000 from the bank at which he’s unhappily employed. In detailing how Miles extricates himself from this increasingly nightmarish predicament,The Silent Partner, which was scripted by future Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson, emerges as a thriller of uncommon ingenuity and intelligence.
Gould and Plummer Create a Diabolical Partnership in ‘The Silent Partner’
The Silent Partnerfeatures an excellent leading-man performance by Elliott Gould, whose disarming quirkiness made Gould oddly fashionable as a leading man in the 1970s. Gould’s unconventional appearance is especially effective inThe Silent Partnerin establishing the power of underestimation that Gould’s character, the seemingly non-threatening Miles, wields like a magic spell in the film, in which the timid Miles is the last person anyone would suspect ofmasterminding a bank heist.
One person who doesn’t underestimate Miles is the dangerous Reikle. As played by Christopher Plummer in one ofPlummer’s best screen performances, Reikle embodies cruelty and wickedness. After being duped by Miles, Reikle brutally assaults a woman in an unpleasant scene that serves to highlight what Reikle is prepared to do to Miles if Miles doesn’t give Reikle the money.
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The relationship between Miles and Reikle is one of fear but also mutual respect for what the other is capable of. Reikle marvels at Miles’ cleverness and intelligence, with which Miles continually frustrates Reikle by anticipating Reikle’s moves. By the end of the film, there’s real suspense regarding whether the deranged Reikle’s pursuit of Miles, who becomes convinced that Reikle will kill him even if he gives Reikle the money, is driven as much by humiliation and wounded pride as pure greed.
Roger Ebert Loved ‘The Silent Partner’
The Silent Partnerwas financed by Canada’s Capital Cost Allowance, which was created to boost Canadian film production by providing generous tax deductions. TheCanadian tax shelter eraresulted in a stream of exploitation and horror films featuring B-level Hollywood stars, such as the classic 1974 slasher filmBlack Christmaswith Keir Dullea and Olivia Hussey. However, despite its dubious point of origin,The Silent Partner, which was directed by Daryl Duke, became one of the most acclaimed Canadian film productions of the 1970s.
Despite a lackluster promotional campaign and theatrical release,The Silent Partnerreceived excellent critical reviews at the time of its release. One of the film’s most ardent critical admirers was the great Roger Ebert. InEbert’s reviewofThe Silent Partner, Ebert, who said that he approached the movie with low expectations, praisedThe Silent Partnerfor its clever plotting and excellent performances while also comparingThe Silent Partnerfavorably tothe work of Alfred Hitchcock. Ebert wrote:
“I was witness to a small miracle: To a thriller that was not only intelligent and well acted but also had the most audaciously clockwork plot I’ve seen in a long time. The Silent Partner’s plot, indeed, has such ironies and reversals and neatly inevitable triple-crosses that it’s worthy of Hitchcock.”
