The Cheap Detective (1978)

Director:

Robert Moore

Writer:

Neil Simon (written by)

Release Date:

23 June 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Who dunnit? This time it's Neil Simon who's really dunnit.

Plot:

San Francisco, 1940, detectives, dames, documents, Nazis, and a treasure.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | San Francisco California | Second Part | Beautiful Woman | Sequel

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Peter Falk	...	Lou Peckinpaugh
Ann-Margret	...	Jezebel Dezire
Eileen Brennan	...	Betty DeBoop
Sid Caesar	...	Ezra Dezire
Stockard Channing	...	Bess
James Coco	...	Marcel
Dom DeLuise	...	Pepe Damascus
Louise Fletcher	...	Marlene DuChard
John Houseman	...	Jasper Blubber
Madeline Kahn	...	Mrs. Montenegro
Fernando Lamas	...	Paul DuChard
Marsha Mason	...	Georgia Merkle
Phil Silvers	...	Hoppy
Abe Vigoda	...	Sergeant Rizzuto
Paul Williams	...	Boy

Also Known As:

Neil Simon's The Cheap Detective (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Netherlands:AL | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

'Madeline Kahn' 'qv' 's character uses 16 names: Denise Manderley, Wanda Coleman, Gilda Dabney, Chloe LaMarr, Alma Chalmers, Alma Palmers, Vivian Purcell, Carmen Montenegro, Diane Glucksman, Mrs. Danvers, Natasha Ublenskaya, Sophie DeVega, Mary Jones, Lady Edwina Morgan St. Paul, Norma Shearer, and Barbara Stanwyck. The name used most is Mrs. Montenegro.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The movie takes place in 1939, yet the song sung in the nightclub is 'La Vie En Rose' which was not written until 1946.

Quotes:

Jasper Blubber: We should leave separately. Makes more sense if I go first.
Lou Peckinpaugh: Why is that?
Jasper Blubber: Then I don't get stuck with the check.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Soundtrack:

Mimi

Smart humor. Almost too smart.

"The Cheap Detective," as others have observed, is a sendup of two of Bogart's most famous films. The film's opening sequence sets the stage of the humor styleings which acts as both a setup and warning for the casual viewer.

The humor is smart, but almost too clever for its own good. It's funny, but you almost have to be a Neil Simon fan (or at least in tune with his writing style) to really get the gags. Not entirely true, because if you keep an open mind, and understand all or most of the references, you should have a good time :-)

Otherwise the film might go over your head, or rather you'll understand that there's supposed to be a joke at a certain moment, but won't get the entire gist because you might be unfamiliar with the material being referenced. Hence the reason why I called the film almost too clever for its own good.

It helps to be familiar with both "Casablanca" and "The Maltese Falcon" to really get all of the "in-stuff" within Simon's film. Even so there's a good amount of regular humor that should help boost the appeal to those already in the know, and at the same time salvage a film for those not.

And yeah, Anne Margaret never looked better :-)

A fairly good watch, but not for everyone.