63 - "Foul Play" (1978)

     Chevy Chase's movie career since the mid-90's hasn't been a thing of beauty and because of that it can be easy to forget just exactly how big he was in the first decade of his film career. There was a time when he was a leading comedy star and that reputation was well deserved. After his stint on Saturday Night Live was over, his first big movie role was in Foul Play alongside the beautiful Goldie Hawn. It was a great start to a great comedic film career. Chase is Tony Carlson, a San Francisco detective, who gets involved in a case where some unknown people are trying to kill a young librarian named Gloria Mundy (Hawn). Gloria is a young bachelorette who after leaving a party one day picks up a hitchhiker who is kind to her, but it leads to the assailants coming after her. The gentleman she picks up is an undercover detective and he has evidence of a crime that is to take place in the city. He hides the evidence with Gloria but doesn't tell her so when the assailants catch up with him, they eventually turn their attention to her. Tony takes on the role as her protector while also trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle and figure out what crime is about to take place in his city. Foul Play from this description may sound like a mystery, and it is, but the film is also very funny. Much of the humor is provided by Chase and Dudley Moore who has a small, scene-stealing role as a playboy. This is a movie that may have easily slipped under your radar so if you haven't had a chance to see it I highly encourage you to dig up a copy somewhere. See Chevy Chase in top form when he was one of the leading men of comedy.