The Silent Partner (1978 film)

Miles Cullen, a bored teller at a small bank in a large Toronto shopping mall (the Eaton Centre), accidentally learns that his place of business is about to be robbed when he finds a discarded hold up note on one of the bank's counters. He also figures out who the would-be robber is when he sees a mall Santa Claus hanging around outside the bank whose "give to charity" sign has handwriting (especially the letter G), similar to that on the discarded note.

Instead of informing his bosses or contacting the police, Miles begins stashing the cash from his window's transactions in an old lunch box rather than in the bank's till. When the Santa Claus robber holds up Miles at the teller's desk, Miles, having expected his doing so, hands over a small amount and then reports he gave all the money from his day’s transactions.

The Santa Claus thief, a misogynistic psychopath named Arthur Reikle, figures out what happened when he sees news reports of how much was stolen during the robbery. He makes a series of violent attempts to get the money (totalling CA$48,300) that Miles has kept for himself. Reikle starts following Miles to and from his home, and making threatening phone calls to him.

Miles' coolness under pressure has attracted the attention of bank colleague Julie Carver, who has been having an affair with the bank's married manager, Charles Packard. After escorting Julie to a Christmas party at the Packards' house, he reveals to Julie that he is attracted to her.

When the menacing Reikle breaks into Miles' apartment and trashes it to look for the stolen bank money, Miles turns the tables yet again by following Reikle and setting him up to be arrested for the theft of a delivery truck. When brought to the police station to identify Reikle in a lineup, Miles does not point him out, aware that Reikle would then implicate him in the bank robbery.

A few months later, at his father's funeral, Miles meets a flirtatious woman named Elaine, who says she was a nurse who had been caring for his father. In fact, Elaine is secretly working with the imprisoned Reikle, who wants Elaine to keep tabs on Miles and possibly discover where he hid the stolen money. But by the time Elaine discovers that Miles has stashed the holdup money in a safety deposit box at his bank, Reikle no longer trusts her, correctly deducing that Elaine has become romantically involved with Miles. Julie, meanwhile, has begun to suspect something about Miles and his new girlfriend.

Reikle is released from jail and confronts Elaine over where her loyalties lie. When she admits that she has fallen in love with Miles, an enraged Reikle murders her in Miles' apartment, decapitating her in a broken fishtank. Miles is revulsed when he discovers what Reikle has done to Elaine, but recovers his calm and disposes of her body in the foundation of the bank's new building, under construction. Reikle, having watched Miles do so, confronts Miles and congratulates him on his cleverness, but says he will kill him too unless he gets the money.

Miles agrees, but insists it be handed over in a public place where no harm can come to him. They agree that Reikle will come to the bank, again in disguise, and be handed the money at Miles' window, where Miles will feel safe. The next day, Reikle arrives dressed as a woman. After Miles hands him a packet, Reikle says he intends to kill him anyway, for all the problems Miles has caused him. Anticipating that Reikle was intending that, Miles hands him a forged recreation of the original stick-up note, and shouts "he has a gun", triggering the alarm. Reikle panics, pulls out his gun, and shoots Miles, then flees into the mall, where he is shot by the bank security guard. A gravely wounded Reikle tells the guard that Miles gave him the bank's money; the guard, not comprehending Reikle's meaning, responds, "Whose money did you expect?"

A wounded Miles is taken away by ambulance. Julie goes along, telling Miles that she has figured out everything. He reveals to Julie that he has the stolen bank money, which she also knows. Both decide the time is right to quit their jobs and find another line of work, somewhere far away.

Anders Bodelson's novel was published in 1969. The Chicago Tribune called it "an excellent suspense novel."[4] The New York Times called it a "fine suspense tale".[5] The film had previously been adapted twice, a 1970 Danish theatrical film directed by Palle Kjærulff-Schmidt and starring Henning Moritzen and Bibi Andersson, and a 1972 West German telefilm directed by Rainer Erler and starring Klaus Herm and Edith Schultze-Westrum. American filmmaker Curtis Hanson wrote the script on "spec" hoping to direct but was unable to persuade the producers to allow him.[6]

The lead role went to Elliott Gould who called it "the best script I've read since The Touch.[7] Gould later said, "I did adore Daryl Duke and we had a very good work relationship. "[8] According to Gould, after the film was completed, executives wanted Daryl Duke to add a beheading scene and he refused, so he was removed from the film. Gould shot it with another director. "I was not happy about it," said the actor. "Daryl really did a wonderful job."[8]

The film was the first to be produced by Carolco Pictures and one of the earliest films from within the country to take advantage of the Canadian government's "Capital Cost Allowance" incentive plan, which gave production companies tax inducements to make commercial films in Canada.[2] The film was shot entirely on-location in Toronto. One of the central locations was the then recently-opened Eaton Centre, which was open throughout the shoot. Harry Reikle's hangout was The Silver Dollar Room, a well-known live music venue in downtown Toronto. Interior sets were constructed at Cinespace Film Studios in Kleinburg.

Hanson later said, "I ended up finishing the movie. I was brought back by the producers to do a week of pick-up shots and all of the post-production."[6] Among the pick-up shots were scenes of Harry Reikle decapitating Elaine and Cullen disposing of the head in a plastic bag. The scene was added at the insistence of producers, but Duke refused to shoot it himself due to the graphic violence.

The Silent Partner did well in Canada both critically and financially, winning several Canadian Film Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.[9][10] The film was a sleeper upon its US release, with Brendon Hanley of the film database Allmovie noting that the film"...stands out as one of the best sleepers of the late '70s".[11]

Hanson said the film later influenced Bad Influence.[20]

It was the first film from Mario Kassar who invested half a million dollars in it. He tried to remake it but says Curtis Hanson could not do it.[21]

• The Silent Partner at AllMovie
• The Silent Partner at IMDb
• The Silent Partner at the TCM Movie Database
• The Silent Partner at Rotten Tomatoes
• Review of film at Cinema Scope
• Review of film at the Pink Smoke