Harper (1966)

Director:

Jack Smight

Writers:

William Goldman (screenplay)
Ross Macdonald (novel)

Release Date:

23 February 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Drama

Tagline:

This is a different kind of cat named Harper... and excitement clings to him like a dame!

Plot:

Lew Harper, a cool private investigator, is hired by a wealthy California matron to locate her kidnapped husband.

Plot Keywords:

Los Angeles California | Kidnapping | Scam | Neo Noir | Cynic

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Lew Harper
Lauren Bacall	...	Mrs. Sampson
Julie Harris	...	Betty Fraley
Arthur Hill	...	Albert Graves
Janet Leigh	...	Susan Harper
Pamela Tiffin	...	Miranda Sampson
Robert Wagner	...	Allan Taggert
Robert Webber	...	Dwight Troy
Shelley Winters	...	Fay Estabrook
Harold Gould	...	Sheriff
Roy Jenson	...	Puddler
Strother Martin	...	Claude
Martin West	...	Deputy
Jacqueline deWit	...	Mrs. Kronberg (as Jacqueline de Wit)
Eugene Iglesias	...	Felix

Also Known As:

The Moving Target (UK)

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #21071) | Canada:PG (video rating) | UK:12 (tv rating) | UK:A (original rating) (passed with cuts) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Beverly House - N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The character Lew Harper is based on novelist Ross Macdonald's character Lew Archer. The name was changed for the film supposedly because Paul Newman had recently enjoyed success with Hud (1963) and the producers wanted the movie's title to begin with "H". Also, the Macdonald estate did not want the name "Archer" used in the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: The front license plate on Harper's Porsche changes locations from above the bumper to below in the middle of the opening scene.

Quotes:

Lew Harper: The bottom is loaded with nice people, Albert. Only cream and bastards rise.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Drive-in Movie Memories (2001)

Soundtrack:

Livin' Alone

A Good 'Noir' For The '60s

This is very much like a late 1940s film noir, except it's filmed in the mid 1960s. It has that same edgy dialog and feel to it as private eye "Lew Harper" goes looking for a missing man. His character is based on Ross McDonald's best-selling P.I. "Lew Archer."

In "Harper," all the characters are suspicious and they vary from suave "Allan Taggart" (Robert Wagner) to the coquettish late teen "Miranda Sampson" (Pamela Tiffin) to a lawyer "Albert Graves" (Arthur Hill) who's infatuated with the hot teen and also carries a gun. Then there's the overweight has-been entertainer "Fay Esterbrook" (Shelly Winters), the druggie jazz singer "Betty Fraley" (Julie Harris), the New Age scam artist "Claude" (Strother Martin) and a bunch of gangsters and thugs who are the obvious targets. Of them all, I though Winters was the biggest hoot.

Along the way, Newman wins all the verbal bouts but loses the physical contests. He zings everyone with some great put-downs, but takes a physical beating a few times, too. He sports a nice shiner in the last half of the film.

This film will put you smack into the time period, when people danced "The Frug" and referred to cops as "the fuzz." People were starting to wear Beatle-type haircuts, although you'd never find Newman giving in to that counterculture fad. In here, at least, he's old school, tough, relentless and suspicious of everyone......which, at it turns out, is as it should be.

The DVD is now part of the Paul Newman Collection and it's shown with a very sharp 2.35:1 ratio transfer, very much showing off Conrad Hall's cinematography. Johnny Mandel's music score adds to the "coolness" of this film, too.