The Late Show

2/10/19771h 33m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ The nicest movie you'll ever see about murder and blackmail. ~

Overview:

Over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who was involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.

Director:

Robert Benton

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

los angeles, california
private detective
neo-noir

Cast

Art Carney

~ as ~

Ira Wells

Lily Tomlin

~ as ~

Margo

Bill Macy

~ as ~

Charlie Hatter

Eugene Roche

~ as ~

Ron Birdwell

Joanna Cassidy

~ as ~

Laura Birdwell

John Considine

~ as ~

Lamar

Ruth Nelson

~ as ~

Mrs. Schmidt

John Davey

~ as ~

Sergeant Dayton

Howard Duff

~ as ~

Harry Regan

Ray Pourchot

~ as ~

Theatre Patron (uncredited)

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 2 week(s) ago
7
When “Charlie” (Bill Macy) turns up to talk to his old PI pal “Ira” (Art Carney) about helping “Margo” (Lily Tomlin) to track down her kidnapped cat, then he gets short shrift. He is far more concerned with finding the people who recently murdered his partner and thinks she ought to just pay the “ransom”. She’s not got two cents to rub together, however, and so uses her wits to intrigue the man into following up her complaint against “Birdwell” (Eugene Roche) and his cashmere-clad henchman “Lamar” (John Considine). The first meeting doesn’t go so well - even if he does get a free Van Heusen shirt - but it does start a ball rolling for this curmudgeonly old grump who realises that his search for the killer and for her kitty are in some way connected. Tomlin’s on good form here but it’s Carney who steals this as his out-of-shape and cynical “Ira” sweats, huffs and puffs his way through a cheery detective yarn with an agreeable pace, some pithy dialogue and daft scenarios that reminded me of a sort of “Rockford Files” meets “McQ” enterprise. It does reset itself a little too often, but it’s still an enjoyable parody of many things from this genre that have gone before and I did enjoy it.