The third of four cinematic collaborations between comedy legends Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) was a cable television staple in the early to mid-1990s. That’s where I saw it, over and over again, probably on my beloved WPIX-11. The film’s plot sounds like the setup for a joke: a blind man (Pryor), a deaf man (Wilder), and a beautiful thief (Joan Severance) walk into a New York City concession shop. Hilarity ensues!
The real joy with this film comes from watching Pryor and Wilder bicker and banter up a storm as their characters Wally and Dave inadvertently get caught up in the hunt for a valuable coin—they’re one of the best comedic partnerships for a reason. However, I cannot lie that former supermodel-turned-actress Joan Severance was also a huge reason I sat through parts of, or all of this film several times back in the day. Severance put her supermodel glamour to effective use as the statuesque and stylish femme fatale Eve. Decked out in era-appropriate suit jackets with shoulder pads and tight pencil skirts, Eve is seductive and lethal—a deadly combination.
Speaking of death, when we meet Eve she’s committing cold-blooded murder. Dave is there but doesn’t see the crime (or hear it, of course) but—and just like me watching this movie in the ‘90s—he can’t help but notice Eve’s ridiculously long legs as she walks away. Right before the murder, Eve’s victim hid a valuable coin in Dave’s coin box at the concession shop. Eve and her accomplice Kirgo (Kevin Spacey) rightly think Dave and Wally have it, and what follows is a series of comedic confrontations between our heroes, our villains, and the police working the case.
Dave is understandably smitten and stammering when around Eve, and Wilder and Severance play their mismatched chemistry to great effect. In a memorably ludicrous scene, Dave is searching Eve’s room for the coin she stole back when Eve comes out of the shower in just a towel. Dave immediately becomes aroused, which Eve mistakes for a gun in his pocket. Dave smoothly plays along, making Eve raise her hands, so the towel drops and she’s completely naked. They share a brief kiss at “gunpoint.” This absurd scene would probably never fly today.
Back in the day, I was a sucker for Severance’s jaw-dropping beauty, those piercing blue eyes, and she’s the rare supermodel who can actually act. I even enjoyed her in the truly silly comedy Almost Pregnant (1992), where she was a riot, co-starring with other favorites Tanya Roberts, Jeff Conaway, and Dom DeLuise. (That’s a “Lost and Found” post for another day.)
Severance has been a welcome presence onscreen ever since, even if she wasn’t always in the best films. Do you remember Illicit Behavior (1992) or Criminal Passion (1994)? Neither do I. These days she’s busy as an interior designer and, as you might expect, aging like a fine wine (see below).
In an interview from a few years ago with Retro Junk, she said it was a blast making See No Evil, Hear No Evil with Pryor and Wilder. It certainly shows onscreen, which is part of why Eve, Wally, Dave, and the rest of the film always brought me joy when I was bored and channel flipping.
Now here’s a little Joan Severance as Eve gallery to see us out…
The Starfire Lounge 
I totally agree with you on Joan Severance 🙂
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