Harper (1966)

best movie i've ever seen.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

When this movie came out in 1966, it was 10 years since Paul Newman's hit role in "Somebody Up There Likes Me." He was now a major Hollywood star. Newman was a versatile actor who could play well in any number of genres. In this action-crime thriller, he plays Lew Harper, a private eye. "Harper" is a complex mystery drama with a huge cast of prominent screen and stage names. Lauren Bacall plays Mrs. Sampson, Julie Harris is Betty Fraley, Janet Leigh is Susan Harper, Pamela Tiffin is Miranda Sampson and Shelley Winters if Fay Estabrook. On the male side, along with Newman, are Arthur Hill as Albert Graves, Robert Wagner as Allan Taggert, Robert Webber as Dwight Troy, Harold Gould as the sheriff and Strother Martin as Claude. All do very well in their roles.The movie is based on a 1949 novel by Kenneth Millar under his pen name, Ross Macdonald. The book title, "The Moving Target," is a good description of the film and the character of Harper. Macdonald's Harper is similar to the hard-boiled Sam Spade of Dashiell Hammett's "Maltese Falcon." But, Macdonald introduces a psychological twist in this story. And the script is peppered with short witticisms and sardonic comments by Harper.Here are some samples, beginning with my favorite exchange in the film. Miranda, "What do you do this kind of crummy work for anyway?" Harper, "What, are you trying to be funny? I do it because I believe in the United Nations, and Southeast Asia, and think it's funny if your life depends on what goes through the Panama Canal. What about the English pound? Tell you something, baby, so long as there's a Siberia, you'll find Lew Harper on the job." Miranda, "Are you putting me on?" Harper, "Geez, I didn't think so." (He looks away to hide his smile and keep from laughing.)Harper, "I used to be a sheriff until I passed my literacy test." Sheriff, "If I wanted to be ugly …" Harper, You are ugly." This is a first-rate detective mystery with plenty of action and intrigue. It's all the better because it isn't loaded down with gratuitous sex scenes that detract from the engaging story.

Released in 1966, "Harper" attempts to replicate the tone and style of early gum-shoe noirs. Predating the first wave of coloured neo-noirs ("Chandler", "Marlowe", "Chinatown" and "The Long Goodbye"), the film stars Paul Newman as a down-on-his-luck private detective. Lauren Bacall co-stars, her presence recalling the classic Bogart/Bacall pairings of the 1940s and 50s.Filled with the genre's usual assortment of villains, millionaires, femme fatales, lost lovers, kidnappings and ransoms, "Harper's" plot is entirely conventional. Its attempts to capture the tempo of the 1960s are also unintentionally funny, the film more camp than cool. Compared to the more radical noirs of the 1960s and early 70s ("The Spy Who Came In From The Cold", "Blow Up", late Hitchcock, early Pakula etc), "Harper's" positively archaic.6/10 – Worth one viewing. See "Cutter's Way", "Out of the Past" , "To Have and Have Not" and "Young Man With a Horn".

Paul Newman gives us the greatest private eye ever in this highly underrated Neo-noir that includes acting greats Shelly Winters , Lauren Becall and Julie Harris. The film has got a great story and Newman's performance is one of his best if not the best performance of his career , Harper is a well developed character who is cheeky , cynical , funny , down and out but tough as nails and it is so much fun to watch the character interact with all the suspects and villains in LA , really good film and The Drowning Pool ( Harper's sequel ) is well worth a watch as well since it has all the great qualities that this film has, check it out !

In this tough guy detective movie, Paul Newman plays Lew Harper, an annoying Los Angeles cop investigating the case of a missing person, at the request of wealthy invalid, Mrs. Sampson (Lauren Bacall).The film tries to be an updated 1940s noir film. Most of the various characters lie to Harper. People die. The detective gets beat up a little, but plods along, all determined. And through the slow-moving, muddled plot, somehow all the loose ends get wrapped up. But there's zero suspense and very little mystery. Production design is unappealing. And the background score is irritatingly hip and flighty. Funky, then-current dance fads render the film dated.Harper is not an appealing character. Smug, jaded, and pleased with himself, the character comes across as a cool dude, one who drives a snazzy, but quite ugly, sports car. He's in almost every scene. None of the other characters are interesting. Some of the dialogue is too clever to be believed. And you can see the end coming a mile away, the result mainly of poor acting.Indoor scenes are dark and drab. Outdoor driving scenes use antiquated rear-screen projection technique. The most interesting sequence, visually, is the one wherein Harper drives fast along a narrow dirt road on the crest of a mountain.My impression is that the film, mostly a cinematic vehicle for Newman, gets high marks from viewers who are attracted to all the big-name movie stars, and from people who drool over the lead actor. But the story is boring, cliché-ridden, and totally not interesting.