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Pretty Good

Just what I expected

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Art Carney is wonderful as an ageing private eye named Ira Wells. He's visited one night by his old ex-partner, Harry Regan (Howard Duff, in a regrettably brief cameo), who has already received a fatal gunshot wound. It turns out that Harry had recently taken the case of a stolen cat (really) owned by flaky hippie-type Margo Sterling (Lily Tomlin). Ira inherits the case, but finds out (naturally) that there's much more going on than just a purloined feline. Margo is no innocent and HAD gotten mixed up with some shady types."The Late Show" is writer / director Robert Bentons' ("Kramer vs. Kramer", "Places in the Heart") witty, appealing modern-noir ode to vintage crime fiction, in the tradition of Hammett and Chandler. His tale is definitely a twisty, complex one, but this can only be a good thing. It keeps viewers on their toes and eager to see how things will develop. Key to its success is its hero character. Ira may be over the hill, but he still has his wits about him. He does take some physical punishment at one point, but is able to give it right back when he gets an opportunity.The main hook in this case is the odd couple pairing of Carney and Tomlin. Her character & performance may affect how some people feel about the film, but there is no denying that she and Carney have some interesting chemistry. Margo is something of a chatterbox, and some people could find her annoying, but Tomlin remains fairly charming in the role. Carney and Tomlin receive excellent support from an entertainingly sleazy Bill Macy, the amusingly intimidating Eugene Roche and John Considine, and a strikingly sexy Joanna Cassidy whose character is nothing but trouble.Very nice L.A. location shooting, and pleasant music by Kenneth Wannberg also help to make this agreeable entertainment that is still somewhat overlooked 41 years later.Eight out of 10.

Ira Wells (Art Carney) is a broke aging private detective in L.A. His friend Harry Regan shows up at his door mortally wounded. Charlie Hatter introduces him to quirky Margo Sperling (Lily Tomlin) who is looking for her stolen cat. Harry was working for Margo before his demise. Ira decides to take on the case and track down Harry's killer. It's a lot of twists and turns with a good amount of danger.This is a weird hybrid of a movie. It's a little wacky due a lot to Lily Tomlin and her character but it's not exactly a comedy. It has roots in the hard-boiled detective stories. The movie keeps twisting and turning. It is a long winding road to follow. The plot gets a bit confused. It is definitely something different and unique.

Directed by Robert Benton, "The Late Show" (1977) stars Art Carney as Ira Wells, an elderly private detective. When he's hired to find the missing cat of the volatile Margo (Lily Tomlin), Wells is provided an opportunity to showcase his talents."Show" was produced by Robert Altman. It also bears some similarities to Altman's "The Long Goodbye" (1973), both films opening with a missing feline and both films transplanting a 1940s noir hero to the 1970s. Wells is caught out of time, is chastised for being "old", "out of touch" and "outdated", but nevertheless proceeds to prove his doubters wrong. The film climaxes with Margo and Welles unravelling a conspiracy that is wholly typical of the genre.Whilst Carney and Tomlin are endearing in their roles, "The Late Show" doesn't do enough to rise above similar films from the era ("Chandler", "Harper", "Marlowe", "Night Movies", "The Long Goodbye" etc). Benton would revisit similar material with 1998's "Twilight".7/10 – See "Cutter's Way".

As many who have left comments before me have observed, this film echos the detective stories of the 1930s and 1940s. I would go a little further and suggest that the premise of the movie is what would the case be like if Philip Marlowe were roped into a mystery when he was pushing 80? Howard Duff's scene early in the film and even his character's name evoke The Big Sleep while Chandler allusions continue through the film. Art Carney's superbly underplayed Ira Wells is unquestionably an avatar of Marlowe surviving into the late 1970s and into his late 70s. He's a bit deaf, a bit slow, a bit more crotchety but he's still that one moral man walking down "these mean streets" of L.A.Benton has done some extraordinary work, but this is his elevation to the sublime, a movie that one can watch again and again. It's a minor masterpiece. If producer Altman's own The Long Goodbye had been as good a Raymond Chandler film as this is, Goodbye would have risen to the level of the other two incomparable films of Chandler novels: the Howard Hawkes, Bogart and Bacall The Big Sleep and the Robert Mitchum Farewell, My Lovely.