10 Movie Scenes That Would Never Have Been Shot Today

Silver Streak, the first in many team-ups of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, still holds up as both a great buddy comedy and a great homage to the Hitchcockian thriller, as everyman Wilder gets mixed up in complex intrigue on a train. On the run from both the law and the real villains, he's forced to team up with car thief Pryor, who guides him back to the train, the girl in peril and eventually the authorities.

For the most part, it's harmless fun, and a great start for what turned out to be one of the best comic duos of 20th century cinema. Even their lesser works - like Sydney Poitier's Stir Crazy - benefit greatly from the onscreen chemistry of Pryor's off-the-cusp rambunctiousness against Wilder's straight man. One scene, however, stands out.

While trying to avoid authorities and board the train, Wilder is forced to paint himself black using shoeshine paint, some outlandish clothing and a wig. But to fully pull off the act, Pryor has to teach him how to "act" black. What follows is Wilder holding a small radio against his head, doing what can only be described as a one-man minstrel show.

This, obviously, is something that would be offensive today. But here's the kicker: in Silver Streak, it works. Part of this is that it has Pryor's approval (the comedian was asked by Animal House producers to view a similar scene to gauge whether or not it would cause theatre riots), but also because Wilder is so incredibly lame.