Silent Partner

I've been going over movies I've already watched that have a holiday theme or take place during the holiday season. In Silent Partner, a nerdy bank teller discovers his bank is to be robbed. He has the bright idea to take some of the money first, hiding it in his own safe deposit box and letting the robber take full blame. But the robber finds out.


Elliott Gould plays the teller, Miles. He is enamored of a fellow employee (Susannah York), and doesn't even give the busty new blonde a second look. He finds a stickup note in the bank in the mall where he works and worries about it. Later, he sees a mall Santa (Christopher Plummer) with a sign written in the same handwriting, and puts two and two together.

The next day he hides some cash while keeping his eye on the Santa, who's also keeping an eye on him. The Santa enters, takes some money and runs. Both characters get away with their respective robberies. When the bank announces how much was stolen, Santa realizes it doesn't match the amount he stole so HE starts putting two and two together.

Miles seems to have eluded Santa so far, but later he meets meets an attractive woman (Celine Lomez) who appears to want to steal the cash too. Whose side is she on? The cat and mouse games gets more dangerous when Santa shows up. Can Miles outsmart him?

Lots of little twists keep the pace going. Miles goes from nerdy to confident and crafty. Gould wouldn't have been my first choice for a role like this, but he does a good job. John Candy has a small part as an employee who ends up marrying the busty blonde.