Foul Play is a 1978 American romantic neo-noir comedy thriller film written and directed by Colin Higgins, and starring Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Dudley Moore, Burgess Meredith, Eugene Roche, Rachel Roberts, Brian Dennehy and Billy Barty.

The film inspired a television series of the same name starring Barry Bostwick and Deborah Raffin that aired on the ABC network in early 1981, and was cancelled after six episodes.

While attending a party overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, recent San Francisco divorcée and shy librarian Gloria Mundy sees Lieutenant Tony Carlson, a young police officer, at the bar, who ruins the moment by stumbling and spilling all the drinks.

She impulsively accepts Scotty's invitation to join him at the Nuart Theatre that evening, and before they part ways, he asks her to take his pack of cigarettes to help him curb his smoking.

When she awakens, all traces of what has happened have disappeared, and she cannot convince Tony, his partner Inspector "Fergie" Ferguson, or even her landlord Mr. Hennessy that she was attacked.

Gloria is abducted by Turk Farnum, the chauffeur of a limousine in which she earlier had seen Whitey riding, but she manages to subdue him with mace and brass knuckles given to her by her friend and fellow library employee, Stella.

Sneaking into the wine cellar, Tony discovers the imprisoned Fergie, who informs him that the Darrow hired Stiltskin to assassinate the Pope during a performance of The Mikado at the San Francisco Opera House that evening.

Tony is attacked by Rupert and kills him in self-defense by toppling shelves of wine upon him, but the fake archbishop's assistant Gerda Caswell, who is really Delia Darrow, holds him and Gloria at gunpoint.

Mr. Hennessy knocks out Charlie and defeats Delia in a duel of martial arts, after which Tony and Gloria drive to the opera house, having some unusual problems along the way such as crashing into an Italian restaurant and commandeering an airport limousine carrying a pair of Japanese tourists.

The premise of an innocent person becoming entangled in a web of intrigue is common in Hitchcock films, such as The 39 Steps, Saboteur, North by Northwest and, most notably, The Man Who Knew Too Much, which inspired the opera house sequence in Foul Play.

The Nuart Theatre, in which Bob Scott dies early in the film, is an art house located on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Los Angeles.

[10] A novelization, by James Cass Rogers, based upon the screenplay by Colin Higgins, was published by Jove Books in conjunction with the release of the film in 1978.

But as House Calls did a few months ago, it starts out promising genuine wit and originality only to fall back on more familiar tactics after a half-hour or so.

"[12] Arthur D. Murphy of Variety called it "an excellent film", adding "Writer Colin Higgins makes a good directorial bow.

"[15] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times remarked that "Foul Play does offer a kind of duplex pleasure—as a celebration of the movies the way they used to make them, sleek, funny, exciting but unworrying, and in its own terms as a vividly adventurous romantic comedy.

"[16] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote "Foul Play never begins to make sense as a mystery story, and it's not incidentally amusing or stylish.

"[17] Time Out London stated "Unsatisfactory as a whole, the film is hilarious and tense in bits" and noted "while writer/director Higgins uses almost every stock thriller device...he approaches this semi-parody with more zest and originality than is common.

The consensus summarizes: "Entertaining and charming like its charismatic leads, Foul Play is a rollicking homage to the master of suspense for those who prefer mysteries with gags on top.