Harper (1966)

Director: Jack Smight
Starring: Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris

Synopsis:
A wealthy woman hires a private detective to find her missing husband.

Impressions:
I'm a pretty big fan of private eye stories, but I had never heard of this one before and decided to give it a shot. I liked it quite a bit. Lew Harper is a pretty cool character, using a lot of social engineering to get the information he needs and is delightfully sardonic about almost everything. At times the movie can be a little too 60s for my tastes, but that's just my extreme anti-60s bias talking. Although she doesn't get much screentime, Lauren Bacall is really something special as the ice queen Mrs. Sampson. There are some good twists along the way and film ends on an amusingly cynical note. This one's definitely worth a watch.

Rating:
Watch It