Andie MacDowell and Bruce Willis in Hudson Hawk
Credit: Alamy
“Smug Hudson Hawk looks like a turkey,” said the Chicago Tribune on May 24, 1991 – the day that Hudson Hawk opened in the US. Bruce Willis’s comedy caper had been in the firing line since long before it hit cinemas. The accusation of turkey-faced smuggery was fuelled by months’ worth of damning set reports: constant rewrites as the film was shot; the leading lady being mysterious recast; Bruce Willis and producer Joel Silver – pumped up from the Die Hard 2 box office – ganging up on the director Michael Lehmann; and a budget which ballooned to a hefty $65 million – or up to $75 million according to some reports.