Movie in which thieves sync their heist with songs?

August 23, 2009 9:13 AM

What's that movie in which two male thieves synchronise the timing of their heist by whistling jazz songs?

I've seen it probably in the eighties, the jazz songs most probably where swing standards and the whistling might have been singing or even humming. Still I think the respectives parts of the movie where accompanied with the real music, played by a band.

Unfortunately search engines and movie database's similarity features didn't help. Thanks for letting me tap your memorisation.

posted by oxit to media & arts (14 comments total)

Hudson Hawk.
posted by st looney up the cream bun and jam at 9:14 AM on August 23

Here's a YT clip of that scene.

I'd never seen this before. It makes me want to go out and rent HH.
posted by marsha56 at 10:06 AM on August 23

Bing Crosby originally sang the song, FWIW.
posted by chiefthe at 10:16 AM on August 23

You'll be sorry marsha.
posted by Max Power at 11:01 AM on August 23 [1 favorite has favorites]

Thanks for the heads up Max. So, yeah, maybe not. S & E both gave it thumbs down.
posted by marsha56 at 11:23 AM on August 23

If you are the type of person who appreciates a particular genre called 'bad action movies' then you will probably like the movie. (I'm an aficionado of said genre). (BAM good examples: Commando, Starship Troopers, Red Dawn, Big Trouble in Little China, etc).
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 1:11 PM on August 23

Maybe she won't Max. I liked it.
posted by substrate at 1:18 PM on August 23

"Catholic girls are scary."
posted by and for no one at 2:06 PM on August 23

What? HH is awesome!

I've never heard of someone not liking it, but I suspect those who don't made the mistake of thinking that it takes itself seriously.
posted by cmoj at 2:23 PM on August 23

I've never heard of someone not liking it

I haven't seen it, but Hudson Hawk was noted for being one of the biggest flops of the early 90s, along with Last Action Hero and Waterworld. But I guess if you go in knowing what to expect, it might not be as bad as it was made out to be.

Apparently a big problem was that it was marketed as a straight action film in the Die Hard mold, but it was actually more of a wacky comedy. But if it was a good wacky comedy, I'd still think people would've enjoyed it regardless of their expectations.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:56 PM on August 23

Hudson Hawk wasn't bad....I think its biggest problem was that it was trying to be a couple different types of film all at once (imagine if DaVinci Code was a Moonlighting episode, basically) and people didn't quite know what to make of it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:19 PM on August 23

Hudson Hawk is one of the most awesomely bad movies ever, and is extraordinarily enteratining. Just go in understanding that it's awesomely bad.
posted by The World Famous at 5:47 PM on August 23

Hudson Hawk is awesome. Joel Grey was awesome. Bruce Willis was awesome.

For the record, they were govt operatives, not thieves.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:53 PM on August 23

I agree - I think it's a great movie. It's wacky and clever.
posted by Caviar at 7:09 PM on August 24