The Private Eyes (1980)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Don Knotts and Tim Conway are THE Private Eyes in this silly film about murder. In the beginning, we see an elderly rich couple in their Rolls-Royce, just before going out to dinner for the evening, as the husband goes in the mansion of a house to retrieve his gloves or something or other, when an unknown assailant (oh no) from the back seat strangles the poor wife. The husband comes back and gets bopped on the head from behind, and the culprit drives them and their car into a nearby lake. So enters Scotland Yard's best! detectives on the job to investigate the murders. But wait there's a shadow parading through the secret crevices and compartments throughout the mansion and killing all the help, while the detectives are trying to figure out their assignment. That is the plot in a nutshell. I admit that needs the right kind of easy-going mind-set going into this type of film, because if you don't have it, then all these shenanigans and one-liners will seem simple, childish, and downright dumb. But I found myself really getting into it with some really good laughs. Costarring Bernard Fox, "Dr. Bombay" from the hit TV show "Bewitched,"this is a silly but entertaining murder mystery that delivers.

OK, so maybe "The Private Eyes" is sort of a rehash of "Murder by Death", but it's still a laugh riot. It's essentially what would happen if Laurel & Hardy or Gilligan & the Skipper were detectives investigating a murder in an English mansion. In this case, Don Knotts is the irascible straight man and Tim Conway is his dimwitted assistant, looking into the killing of some aristocrats in a possibly haunted estate. The entire movie is basically an excuse for a series of gags, some clever and some cheap. It certainly made me laugh. As for the obvious plot holes...well, it's just a movie.Yes, there's nothing special about the movie, but I still liked it. Also starring Trisha Noble, Bernard Fox (Dr. Bombay on "Bewitched"), Grace Zabriskie, Irwin Keyes and Suzy Mandel.

If you haven't seen this flick, it is right up there with Young Frankenstein as the funniest of all time. Written by Tim Conway.Please note that the DVD is indeed edited. Some of the best gags with the pigeons were cut altogether in addition to some other dialouge scenes. These scenes are still available on the old Video Treasures VHS release that is available used.For those curious, the gag with the pigeon painted black/wings is cut, the pigeon catching fire is cut and the "Don't tell her they're canned peas!" scene was also cut. Unbelievable that Conway would let this happen to his only masterpiece....Perhaps maybe we'll get an uncut DVD someday - yeah right - it's amazing this is out on DVD now. Saw this in the theater when I was young and went back the very next day to see it again. After that I waited for 10 years before it came on TV and it still holds up today. RIP Don Knotts, thanks for all of the laughter...

I saw this as a kid and loved it. I watch it again and again with my kids now. No bad words (one is implied, but not spoken) totally clean for the whole family. One scary part for kids younger than 6 or so, if you want to censor it, have your kids leave the room when they go outside to dig up the body. You have plenty of warning, they are in the crypt for a while before the open the coffin.It is written by Tim Conway, and stars Tim Conway and Don Knotts. The plot isn't deep, but very light and funny. My favorite line is "for a short person, you have long sentences" so funny. They say I have to write 10 lines of text and I have nothing else to say, so now I am just filling space. Sorry, but all I really wanted to say was that it was a good movie. I don't really know how else to say that.