{ "id": "epfpbt8p87", "slug": "see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989-film", "title": "See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": 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"geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Satirical, black, and parody comedies of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s", "label": "Comedies of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t", "label": "Satirical, black, and parody comedies of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t" } ] } ], "excerpt": "See No Evil, Hear No Evil is a 1989 American comedy directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Richard Pryor as a blind man and Gene Wilder as a deaf man.", "snippet": "See No Evil, Hear No Evil is a 1989 American comedy directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Richard Pryor as a blind man and Gene Wilder as a deaf man.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t", "markdown": "# See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989 film)\n\n**See No Evil, Hear No Evil** is a 1989 American buddy comedy directed by [Arthur Hiller](https://www.edgepedia.org/arthur-hiller), starring [Richard Pryor](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-pryor) as Wally Karue, a blind man, and [Gene Wilder](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-wilder) as Dave Lyons, a deaf man, who become the chief suspects in a murder committed at the New York newsstand where they work and go on the run to catch the real killers.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58275-SEE-NOEVILHEARNOEVIL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=1&sid=b5eb0016-21e7-4fc5-bf1c-428f241b3271&sr=0.21398894) • [2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/seenoevilhearnoevil) It was the third film pairing of Pryor and Wilder, after *Silver Streak* (1976) and *Stir Crazy* (1980).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58275-SEE-NOEVILHEARNOEVIL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=1&sid=b5eb0016-21e7-4fc5-bf1c-428f241b3271&sr=0.21398894)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | May 12, 1989 (wide), by Tri-Star Pictures; produced by Marvin Worth[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58275-SEE-NOEVILHEARNOEVIL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=1&sid=b5eb0016-21e7-4fc5-bf1c-428f241b3271&sr=0.21398894) • [3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/See-No-Evil-Hear-No-Evil) |\n| Director / writers | Arthur Hiller; screenplay by Earl Barret, Arne Sultan, Eliot Wald, Andrew Kurtzman, and Gene Wilder[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58275-SEE-NOEVILHEARNOEVIL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=1&sid=b5eb0016-21e7-4fc5-bf1c-428f241b3271&sr=0.21398894) |\n| Leads | Richard Pryor as Wallace \"Wally\" Karue (blind); Gene Wilder as David \"Dave\" Lyons (deaf)[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/See-No-Evil-Hear-No-Evil) |\n| Villains | Joan Severance as Eve and Kevin Spacey as Kirgo[2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/seenoevilhearnoevil) |\n| Box office | $46,900,000 domestic; opening weekend $7,098,741 in 1,677 theaters; budget $18.0 million[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/See-No-Evil-Hear-No-Evil) • [4](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil/1031173/main/) |\n| Ratings | MPAA R; 103 minutes; Rotten Tomatoes 29% from 31 critics, 72% audience score[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/See-No-Evil-Hear-No-Evil) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/see_no_evil_hear_no_evil) |\n| Home video | VHS July 28, 1998 (Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment); DVD October 30, 2001[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/See-No-Evil-Hear-No-Evil) • [6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\n[Dave Lyons](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-lyons), a deaf man, runs a newsstand in midtown Manhattan and gets by in the hearing world by reading lips; he hires Wally Karue, a blind gambler looking for work.[7](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/See_No_Evil_Hear_No_Evil_1989?hl=en-US&id=MeSrRhcdWfQ) • [8](https://repository.stu.edu/ulma/va/3005/1989/06-09-1989.pdf) A man is shot and killed at the newsstand: Dave fails to hear the gunshot, while Wally, outside, hears the shot but cannot see the perpetrator.[9](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil) The police arrest both men as their main suspects.[2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/seenoevilhearnoevil)\n\nThe killing is tied to a gold coin dropped into Dave's coin tray, which turns out to be a disguised microchip worth millions.[7](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/See_No_Evil_Hear_No_Evil_1989?hl=en-US&id=MeSrRhcdWfQ) • [10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989) The actual killers, the \"wickedly beautiful\" Eve ([Joan Severance](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-severance)) and her cold-blooded cohort Kirgo ([Kevin Spacey](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-spacey)), pose as the pair's lawyers to spring them from jail, then repeatedly botch attempts to kill them and retrieve the coin.[2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/seenoevilhearnoevil) • [6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil) Escaping custody, Wally and Dave are chased by both the police and the killers, with set pieces including car chases with the blind man driving, a stolen police car, and Wally posing as a Swedish doctor at a medical conference.[9](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil) • [6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil) The story concludes at the mansion of crime lord [Sutherland](https://www.edgepedia.org/sutherland) (Anthony Zerbe).[7](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/See_No_Evil_Hear_No_Evil_1989?hl=en-US&id=MeSrRhcdWfQ)\n\n## Production\n\nA June 1986 *Daily Variety* item reported that [Jim Belushi](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-belushi) was attached to the project before it was reimagined for Wilder and Pryor.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58275-SEE-NOEVILHEARNOEVIL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=1&sid=b5eb0016-21e7-4fc5-bf1c-428f241b3271&sr=0.21398894) While working on the screenplay, Wilder, who is credited among the five writers, consulted a psychologist-audiologist.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58275-SEE-NOEVILHEARNOEVIL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=1&sid=b5eb0016-21e7-4fc5-bf1c-428f241b3271&sr=0.21398894) The film was shot in New York City, Pound Ridge, New York, and [Hackensack, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/hackensack-new-jersey), with cinematography by Victor J. Kemper and editing by [Robert C. Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-c-jones).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58275-SEE-NOEVILHEARNOEVIL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=1&sid=b5eb0016-21e7-4fc5-bf1c-428f241b3271&sr=0.21398894) The score was composed by Stewart Copeland.[4](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil/1031173/main/)\n\n## Box office\n\nThe film opened at number one on the weekend of May 12, 1989, grossing $7,098,741 from 1,677 theaters, and held the top spot the following weekend before declining.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/See-No-Evil-Hear-No-Evil) It finished with a domestic gross of $46,900,000 against a budget of $18.0 million, a return of about 2.6 times its cost.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/See-No-Evil-Hear-No-Evil) • [4](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil/1031173/main/) The Numbers records a domestic share of 100.0 percent, meaning all of its gross came from the United States, and an inflation-adjusted domestic total of $132,942,094.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/See-No-Evil-Hear-No-Evil)\n\n## Critical reception\n\nCritical response was mixed to negative. Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 44, \"Mixed or Average,\" based on 16 critic reviews.[11](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil/critic-reviews/) Rotten Tomatoes records 29 percent on the Tomatometer from 31 reviews, against a 72 percent audience score from more than 25,000 ratings; its critics consensus calls the film \"an unfunny dud\" despite the pedigree of its leads.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/see_no_evil_hear_no_evil)\n\nReviewers were divided on the same qualities. Kevin Thomas of the *Los Angeles Times* called it a \"brisk, ingenious and funny comedy that happily reunites\" the two stars, while [Gene Siskel](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-siskel) of the *Chicago Tribune* gave it one star out of four, writing that the concept might have worked \"if someone had written something funny for either comic actor to say.\"[11](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil/critic-reviews/) Vincent Canby of *The New York Times* granted that, against the odds, the film proves its premise with \"a lot of good, unlikely humor,\" and that Pryor and Wilder \"have never worked better together.\"[11](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil/critic-reviews/)\n\nRoger Ebert, the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic from 1967 until his death in 2013 and winner of the 1975 [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) for criticism, gave the film two stars.[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989) He argued the central idea, two friends whose complementary disabilities make a great team, had rich possibilities for visual comedy, but that the movie instead plugs the characters into \"a dumb plot about industrial espionage\" and gives them no edge, since both heroes are written as nice guys.[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989)\n\n## Portrayal of disability\n\nThe film has drawn sustained commentary for its use of disability as a comic engine. A disability-inclusion coursebook lists it among films in which disabled characters are the butt of jokes, and a Society for the Study of Social Problems essay describes Pryor and Wilder as playing two disabled men who \"enact an unending series of slapstick gags that make fun of the characters' disabilities.\"[12](https://worldofinclusion.com/res/duty/Secondary_coursebook.pdf) • [13](https://thesocietypages.org/specials/whats-so-funny-about-disability/) Common Sense Media notes that a politically incorrect comedy about disability of this kind would most likely not be made today by comedy legends of this stature, while also pointing to the film's moments of prejudice made explicit, such as Dave's remark that people avoid touching him for fear his deafness is contagious.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil)\n\nDeaf viewers and commentators have also criticized the film's realism. One analysis notes that Dave speaks like a hearing person throughout and never uses sign language, and that the film never shows him receiving speech therapy after losing his hearing, which would have been needed to keep his \"hearing voice.\"[14](https://vickifourie.com/chapter-four-results/) In the final scene, Wally asks Dave, \"How does it feel to be handicapped?\", a line one commentator reads as forcing the audience to see the person beyond the physical limitation.[14](https://vickifourie.com/chapter-four-results/)\n\n## Legacy\n\nThe film has remained in circulation on home video and streaming, with a VHS release in 1998, a DVD in 2001, and later availability on services including Amazon Video, Apple TV, and the Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/See-No-Evil-Hear-No-Evil) • [9](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil) Audience scores have consistently run well above the critics' scores: 72 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, 6.9 of 10 on IMDb from about 63,000 votes, and 4.7 of 5 stars from 155 [Google Play](https://www.edgepedia.org/google-play) reviews.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/see_no_evil_hear_no_evil) • [9](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil) • [7](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/See_No_Evil_Hear_No_Evil_1989?hl=en-US&id=MeSrRhcdWfQ) Pryor and Wilder made one further film together, *Another You* (1991).[15](https://www.wikileaks.org/sony/docs/01/Sales/SPT%20Sales/Broadcast%20Favorites%20II/SPTBroadcastFavoritesIIapril2009.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58275-SEE-NOEVILHEARNOEVIL?cp=1&cxt=Filmography2&pos=1&sid=b5eb0016-21e7-4fc5-bf1c-428f241b3271&sr=0.21398894)\n2. [See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/seenoevilhearnoevil)\n3. [See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), Box office and financial information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/See-No-Evil-Hear-No-Evil)\n4. [See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil/1031173/main/)\n5. [See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/see_no_evil_hear_no_evil)\n6. [See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Parents' Guide and Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil)\n7. [See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/See_No_Evil_Hear_No_Evil_1989?hl=en-US&id=MeSrRhcdWfQ)\n8. [Entertainment, The Voice (Miami), June 9, 1989](https://repository.stu.edu/ulma/va/3005/1989/06-09-1989.pdf)\n9. [See No Evil, Hear No Evil streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil)\n10. [See No Evil, Hear No Evil movie review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, May 12, 1989](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989)\n11. [See No Evil, Hear No Evil critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil/critic-reviews/)\n12. [Disability Equality (Secondary coursebook), World of Inclusion](https://worldofinclusion.com/res/duty/Secondary_coursebook.pdf)\n13. [What's So Funny about Disability?, The Society Pages](https://thesocietypages.org/specials/whats-so-funny-about-disability/)\n14. [Vicki Fourie, Chapter Four: Results](https://vickifourie.com/chapter-four-results/)\n15. [Sony Pictures Television, Broadcast Favorites II (2009)](https://www.wikileaks.org/sony/docs/01/Sales/SPT%20Sales/Broadcast%20Favorites%20II/SPTBroadcastFavoritesIIapril2009.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s › Satirical, black, and parody comedies of the 1980s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-1989-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "See No Evil, Hear No Evil is a 1989 American comedy directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Richard Pryor as a blind man and Gene Wilder as a deaf man." }