Comedy
United States of America
Skip Donahue (played by Gene Wilder) is a struggling actor who has just been fired from his job as a waiter at a fancy restaurant. His friend Harry Monroe (played by Richard Pryor) is also out of work and the two of them decide to leave New York City and start fresh in California.
On their way across the country, they make a stop in a small Arizona town where a traveling circus is looking for performers. Skip and Harry audition and are hired to wear woodpecker costumes and promote the opening of a local bank.
Things take a turn for the worse when their costumes are stolen by two robbers who use them to pull off a heist on the very bank they were supposed to promote. The police catch Skip and Harry wearing the stolen costumes and mistake them for the bank robbers.
Although the two friends plead their innocence, they are sentenced to 125 years in prison. In the comedic chaos that follows, they find a way to escape from prison and are pursued by the police and a dangerous criminal who is also on the loose.
In the end, Skip and Harry clear their names and are released from prison. They return to New York City where they finally find success as comedians.
