Harper (VHS)

How on Earth this 1966 classic detective mystery with twists of comedy by Paul Newman didn't register with the public as well as a Bogie 'Marlowe' film is beyond my understanding.

41yo Newman is Lew Harper; around 40yo, handsome, easily loaded with sex appeal & a slick shamus of a private detective. His wife, Susan (Janet Leigh) has had all of him that she can take. So, he lives in his office while their divorce is being finalized. "Lew" should ring a bell to readers of Ross MacDonald's 'Lew Archer' novels, because "Harper" is based upon MacDonald's Archer. Various studio & MacDonald estate affairs prevented Harper from being called Archer, instead. That is the only difference.

"Harper" begins when the private eye arrives at the mansion of a wealthy Californian convalescent, Elaine Sampson (41yo Lauren Bacall). Since Sampson's husband's been missing for a day, one of their attorneys, Albert Graves (Arthur Hill), advises her to hire his buddy to try to locate the millionaire.

Elaine explains to Harper that she's concerned more about what Mr. Sampson does when he's drunk, than she is about his 'disappearance'. While on drinking binges, Elaine explains, her husband has flings with upstart actresses & he becomes extremely generous with them.

The last person to see Elaine's husband is their private pilot, Alan Taggert (Robert Wagner). Elaine's meddlesome manservant, Felix (Eugene Ingelsias), hasn't seen her husband. Neither has his daughter, Miranda ( Pamela Tiffin), who lives in the same home.

As Harper searches for Sampson throughout Southern California, he comes across Faye Estabrook (Shelly Winters), an over-weight, over-drunk, over-aged actress-wanna-be, who's been Sampson's astrologist. Her husband is a cruel sadistic criminal, Dwight Troy (Robert Webber). A cabaret singing lush, Betty Fraley (Julie Harris) is another of the sordid playmates Sampson's been known to binge with. Claude (Strother Martin), turns out to be a guy Sampson gave an entire mountain to so he could make it into a spiritual sanctuary. Like Bogie's Marlowe, Harper is also a fast talking, short sentenced, smart aleck who keeps company with slow & clueless cops he can run circles around. Thus, through Harper's gum shoe detective work, a quirky supporting cast is revealed.

Because Harper's always a step ahead of everyone else, it doesn't take him long to figure out that Sampson's been abuducted by people who are supposed to be close to him, instead. During his process of discovering where Sampson is,
Harper discovers how certain rivalries & illegal activities are at the heart of Sampson's disappearance.

It's interesting that Bacall plays in a similar type of film that she became famous for with Bogie, when he was the detective. Newman carries the film with such prowess that it's a wonder why "Harper" isn't his signature film~