Harper

Plot synopsis:
Private investigator Lew Harper's (Paul Newman) marriage to Susan (Janet Leigh) is on the rocks and he doesn't have many friends, but one of them, mild-mannered attorney Albert Graves (Arthur Hill), brings him a case in Santa Theresa, 90 miles up the coast from Los Angeles. Ralph Sampson, the millionaire husband of hard-boiled Elaine Sampson (Lauren Bacall), has disappeared after flying from Las Vegas to L.A. Ralph, worth $20 million, is described as money-driven, crazy, alcoholic and egotistical. Elaine, physically disabled from a horseback riding accident, doesn't even seem to like her husband and believes he is off with another woman. She just wants to know where he is.
Harper first interviews Elaine's spoiled, seductive step-daughter, Miranda (Pamela Tiffin), and her amiable boyfriend Allan Taggert (Robert Wagner), the missing man's private pilot. He is told Sampson disappeared from the airport after calling a hotel to send a limousine for him. The hotel staff says Sampson cancelled his request shortly after making it. A photo of a glamorous starlet in a bungalow Sampson keeps at the hotel leads to Fay Estabrook (Shelley Winters), now an overweight alcoholic. Harper gets her drunk to see if there is any evidence linking her to Sampson's disappearance. While she is passed out, he answers her phone and pretends to be the "Mr. Troy" that the caller, "Betty" (Julie Harris), initially assumes him to be. Betty says that Fay was seen with a stranger – that being Harper – and that they need to be careful "when the truck goes through." As soon as Harper mentions Ralph Sampson, Betty realizes that she is not speaking to Troy. After Harper hangs up, Troy comes out of the woodwork. He is Fay's husband, Dwight Troy (Robert Webber), and the house is his. He kicks out Harper at gunpoint.
Harper tracks down Betty Fraley, a lounge singer with a nasty drug habit. When he asks about Ralph, she recognizes his voice from the phone call. Harper, noticing the fresh track marks on her arm, threatens to turn her over to the narcotics squad, and Betty admits she knows Sampson, but only casually as a drunk who comes into the bar. Harper becomes more insistent and Betty has the bouncer, Puddler (Roy Jenson), throw him out. Puddler works over Harper in the back alley until Taggert comes out of nowhere and knocks Puddler unconscious. Taggert had apparently been following leads himself which led him to the lounge. They head back to Troy's house to check on the truck, thinking Sampson may be in it. While Harper is inside the house, he hears gunshots. Taggert, standing watch outside, spotted the truck and tried to shoot the tires. Harper tries to run the truck down on foot, but the truck with distinctive tire tracks attempts to run Harper over before it speeds away.
Elaine receives a message from Ralph asking her to cash in $500,000 worth of bonds. She verifies that the handwriting is Ralph's and Harper deduces that he's actually been kidnapped. After Graves cashes the bonds for her and puts the money in the estate's safe as a contingency, Harper advises him to call in the cops to guard it while he goes up to a remote mountaintop property that Sampson gave away to Claude (Strother Martin), a bogus holy man, for his cult's Temple in the Clouds. Despite Claude's attempts to distract him, Harper looks around. He finds a huge kettle of beans cooking and a tire print identical to the truck's.
Back at Sampson's estate, Harper finds a ransom note with instructions to drop the cash that night at an oilfield outside of town. Since the note assumes they already have the cash, Harper suspects the kidnapper has an inside source, which someone eavesdropping on his call to Graves confirms. They decide that Taggert and Graves will make the ransom drop with Harper nearby to observe the pickup. The man picking up the money is shot dead and the cash taken, however, by someone following in a white convertible. A matchbook on the body leads Harper to The Corner, a seedy bar in Castle Beach, a beachfront community. Harper cons the barmaid into revealing the dead man was "Eddie", a regular customer who had made a long distance call to Las Vegas from the bar three nights before. Outside, Harper spots the truck that earlier tried to run him over, driven by Puddler, which he follows back to the mountaintop temple. There, he uncovers a smuggling operation of illegal immigrant labor run by Troy, who use Claude's temple as a front, with Eddie as the smuggler. Harper is caught by Troy, who knows nothing of the kidnapping or Eddie's part in it but recognizes the white convertible as Betty Fraley's. Puddler takes Harper to another location and beats him, but Harper manages to kill him and escape.
At the estate, Graves tells Harper that the dead man was Eddie Rossiter, a small-time car thief and junkie who has a sister, Betty, also a junkie. Harper concludes that because Taggert was the only person who knew Sampson was in L.A. and could have cancelled the request for a limo, that Taggert, Betty, and Eddie conspired to kidnap him. Taggert was at The Piano to rescue Harper because he was a fan who fell in love with Betty, he shot at the truck not to stop it but to warn Eddie, and Taggert was the person Eddie called in Las Vegas, to arrange the kidnapping. He confronts Taggert, who pulls a gun on him. Harper vows to let Taggert escape with the money if Harper is allowed to finish the job of finding Sampson. Taggert tries to kill Harper but is shot when Graves bursts into the room. After Harper tells Miranda that Taggert is dead, Miranda admits she hated her father out of self-loathing. Graves, who has long been in love with Miranda, attempts to console her.
Harper goes looking for Betty and the money in Castle Beach, where she and Taggert had their love nest, and locates the cottage by finding her white convertible parked outside. He hears Betty being tortured inside by Troy, Claude and Fay. She tells them the money is hidden in a deep freeze storage locker. Harper bursts in, shoots Troy, slugs Claude, locks Fay in a closet and, after he retrieves the key to the locker, helps Betty to escape. After he says that he knows she double-crossed and killed her brother, she reveals that Sampson is being held in an abandoned oil tanker. Harper calls Graves to tell him to meet them there. Harper is hit over the head from behind while searching the ship, knocking him unconscious. Some time later Graves revives Harper. They find Sampson dead, presumably murdered by whoever hit Harper over the head. They also discover that Harper's car is gone, driven off by Betty. When she sees them looking for the car, she flees at high speed along a narrow winding hillside road and is killed when the car swerves off the road.
Harper and Graves retrieve the money. Harper says that he knows that Graves is the one who hit him from behind and killed Sampson, because if it had been Betty or another kidnapper, Harper would have been searched for the key to the locker. Graves admits he killed Sampson when the opportunity arose because Sampson was cruel to everyone including him, prodding Graves to pursue Miranda's affections just for his own cruel amusement. Harper tells him that he has no choice but to turn him in. Harper tells Graves he'll need to shoot him to stop him. Graves cannot bring himself to shoot Harper. Neither man is sure what to do next; each pauses uncertainly, saying to himself, "Aw, hell."

Tags: neo noir, murder, sadist

Review:
"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.
I first saw this film when it came out, at age 12, and chewed my gum like Paul Newman for the next 20 years.What's remarkable about that is, I "got" the film at that time, recognized its depth (as well as its superficialities), loved it; and having seen the film several times over many years, the basic experience hasn't changed.This is probably the most accessible "hardboiled" detective film ever made, yet it never panders - it depicts a rough world straight on, and doesn't particularly like - or condemn - any of its characters.
No, because its world is smaller than that of Chandler/Faulkner/Hawks, even though it glitters more; and Smight is a solidly competent director but not an 'auteur' - which works in the film's favor: Smight just gets on with the job and tells his story, he doesn't stop for extra flourishes.But, although all the acting in the film is top-quality, it is Newman's performance that carries the film over the top: witty, cynical, detached, yet with glimpses of passion and commitment, Newman uses Harper to define pre-hippie cool once and for all.Historical note: although this is not "The-Maltese-Falcon" classic noir film, the detective film was believed to be a genre of the past (at best fodder for bad TV) when this came out.
It has an outstanding supporting cast and, except for Pamela Tiffin, the acting is good, with high marks especially for Paul Newman and, in my opinion, Arthur Hill.
Newman gets more than he bargained for as he runs into one flaky character after another: Shelley Winters as a bloated former child star, Julie Harris as a junkie, Pamela Tiffen as Bacall's extremely bitchy stepdaughter, Robert Wagner as a private-eye wannabe, and, best of all, Strother Martin as nasty, new-age guru.
Who could resist seeing Pamela Tiffen on that springboard in that bikini if you watched it for no other reason that would not be bad start.The look on Newmans face when he sees the pool for the first time and the laconic looping wave of the arm as he departs the pool after the first encounter with Tiffen & Wagner.The supporting cast should not be forgotten with sterling efforts from the adorable Lauren Bacall & Strother Martin to name a couple.Like many 60s movies which were quickly seen & forgotten this one is worthy of a place in the top shelf as Newman says in the film theres something all bright & shiny.
This includes Julie Harris, Lauren Bacall, Pamela Tiffin, Strother Martin, Arthur Hill, Robert Webber, Janet Leigh, and Shelley Winters.
The film opens with Harper (Newman), unshaven and gradually awakening from a hangover He puts his head under a faucet, attempts to make coffee but finds none left, and dispiritedly takes yesterday's grounds from the garbage and makes a perfect1y terrible cup of coffee At once we get Harper's image as an antihero detective without any illusions As he is commissioned by Lauren Bacall to trace her wealthy husband who has been kidnapped, the details are filled in: he's tough, ironic, cool, unpleasant and repugnant Although occasionally given to a moment of sensitivity or remorse, he's most1y sadistic and exploitative Harper is a loner, with an air of detachment and an ability to dispatch opponents with a fist and a flippant remark He swings into action only mechanically He chews gum constantly, looks around in an uninteresting manner, makes little disapproving gestures, laughs in total disregards, and smiles mischievously Harper's dealings with women are based exclusively on coldness, deception and sexual exploitation He is estranged from his wife and would like to renew his marriage.
But "Harper" tries too hard to be cool, falling short both as story and character study.Lew Harper (Newman) is down to recycling used coffee filters and waiting for his wife's divorce to come through when he gets a plum assignment: Find a rich drunk named Sampson with a talent for making enemies.
Harper calls him "Beauty", a heckuva thing for Newman to call anyone, but their chemistry works, at least until the film turns dark and weird and even Strother Martin as a kooky New Age preacher man can't force a smile.
Newman cast in the title role of HARPER is a 40ish 'Private Eye' living out of his small agency office pending divorce from his 'had it up to here' wife Susan played by Janet Leigh.The movie starts out on an early California morning with LEW HARPER going to visit the extremely wealthy convalescent Elaine Sampson (Lauren Bacall) at her palatial mansion.
HARPER goes on a whirlwind through southern California running into a variety of interesting supporting characters from fat boozy former starlet Faye Estabrook (Shelly Winters) who had been doing Mr. Sampson's astrology charts for the past several years, Faye's sadistic criminal husband Dwight Troy (Robert Webber), cabaret singer Betty Fraley (Julie Harris), and Claude (Strother Martin), a man to whom Mr. Sampson gave away a whole mountain that he has turned into a 'religious sanctuary'.
Paul Newman is "Harper," a detective called upon to find a missing husband in this 1966 film based on the book "The Moving Target" by Ross MacDonald.
It also stars Lauren Bacall, Arthur Hill, Pamela Tiffin, Robert Wagner, Shelley Winters, Robert Webber, Janet Leigh and Julie Harris.
Now this does NOT mean that the story made no sense--the writers did a good job of piecing it all together and making it watchable.Harper (Paul Newman) is the basically honest, a bit sad and a tiny bit macho private detective.
And fortunately, in addition to Newman's fine acting, he's supported by a very nice cast--including Robert Webber, Strother Martin, Lauren Bacall (who, incidentally was in "The Big Sleep"), Arthur Hill (an underrated actor whose face you'll probably recognize) and Julie Harris (in a very atypical sort of role).Together, the snappy script and characters work very well together to create a well-crafted film--one that stands above the many, many, many other detective films of the era.
The roll call consists of a gun-toting attorney (Arthur Hill), a poolside gigolo (Robert Wagner), an alcoholic ex-starlet who has let herself go (Shelley Winters), the missing man's horny daughter (Pamela Tiffin), a jazz loving junkie (Julie Harris), Harper's estranged wife (Janet Leigh) and the leader of nutty religious order "Temple Of The Clouds" (Strother Martin).
Along the way, Harper meets an obvious assortment of characters, which includes the dispassionate widow, Elaine Sampson (Lauren Bacall), the beautiful but self-absorbed, daughter Miranda (Pamela Tiffin), the loyal but lecherous attorney (Arthur Hill), the trusted friend Troy, (Robert Webber) the faithful but ambitious driver Allan Taggart (Robert Wagner) and finally the vicious thug Puddler (Roy Jenson).
His laconic screen persona always seemed so right for the role of private gumshoe.Lauren Bacall hires Newman through the offices of mutual friend, lawyer Arthur Hill, to locate her missing husband.
But that's a review for that film.Of the supporting cast I particularly liked Julie Harris as the junkie jazz singer and Strother Martin as leader of a wacko religious cult that has some criminal interests.By the way, the ending is left very much up in the air in terms of what knowledge Newman will divulge to the authorities.
The movie cast is impressive enough, with old pros like Lauren Bacall, Janet Leigh, Julie Harris, Shelley Winters, Strother Martin, and others working with Paul Newman's Lew Harper.
His California journeys take him across almost every eccentric personality that one can think of in a movie: a gigolo type (Robert Wagner), obese alcoholic actress well past her prime (Winters), spoiled teeny-bopper who likes to dance while standing on a pool diving board avec transistor radio – and with limited acting skills (Pam Tiffin), phony religious cult leader (Martin), drug addict lounge lizard (Harris), and enforcer/strong men (Robert Webber and Roy Jenson).
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.
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.
Paul Newman's detective is another matter; a smooth, slick player (and gum-chewer!) who uses funny voices on people to pump them for information, Harper (named Archer in the novel) is supposed to be the 1966 equivalent of Bogart's Marlowe from "The Big Sleep", and yet it's clear Newman isn't invested in the creation.
Robert Wagner, Shelley Winters, Janet Leigh and Arthur Hill manage to have some Fun with Their Characters, but Julie Harris, Strother Martin, and Lauren Bacall are Miscast and can't rise Above the Misstep.The Awful Generic Music is that what was quickly Found in Elevators Relegating some kind of Hipness to those who didn't have a Clue.
In the somewhat confusing "Harper", Paul Newman plays the title detective who gets hired to find a kidnapped man.
Also starring Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Arthur Hill, Janet Leigh, Pamela Tiffin, Robert Wagner, Shelley Winters, Harold Gould and Strother Martin.
Let me tell ya - If 1966's "Harper" was supposed to be a prime example of Hollywood "neo-noir" - IMO - It sure fell flat on its smug, little face.Old "blue eyes" himself, Paul Newman plays irksome, apathetic, L.A. gumshoe, Lewis Harper, who has about as much charm and charisma as does a slimy slug.Regardless of this film's "big star" cast - Its "Find-A-Missing-Millionaire" story got so complicated and convoluted that it had me repeatedly rolling my eyes to the ceiling and groaning out in total exasperation, over, and over again....
Handsome gum-chewing detective Paul Newman (as Lew Harper) looks around the Los Angeles area, for missing millionaire Ralph Sampson.
The film is conspicuously long, and its climactic sequence is unappealing.***** Harper (2/23/66) Jack Smight ~ Paul Newman, Arthur Hill, Shelley Winters, Robert Wagner.
Private investigator Lew Harper (Paul Newman) is hired by Mrs. Sampson (Lauren Bacall) to find her husband, or rather, find out which woman he's shacked up with.
Jack Smight directed this stylish mystery that stars Paul Newman as Lew Harper, a small-time but smart private detective about to get a big case when he is hired by a Mrs. Sampson(played by Lauren Bacall) to find her missing husband.
Entertaining film with an intriguing mystery and good cast that also includes Janet Leigh, Robert Webber, Julie Harris, Shelley Winters, and Strother Martin..
As he gets further and further into the case, he finds a whole viper's nest of loathsome types: the millionaire's jealous wife (the legendary Lauren Bacall); his daughter (Pamela Tiffin); a playboy pilot (Robert Wagner); a jazz-club junkie (Julie Harris); a fading actress (Shelley Winters); a ladies' man (Robert Webber) involved in illegal immigrant smuggling; and a religious fanatic (Strother Martin) whose "Temple In The Clouds" was bought and paid for with money from the missing millionaire.
Martin's appearance as Claude, the "Holy Man On The Mountain", is particularly good, and helped establish him as one of the greatest character actors in Hollywood history.All of this made HARPER not only a great addition to Newman's filmography, but also undoubtedly made for one of the greatest of all private-eye and crime films of all times..
Typical, yet interesting, detective movie, "Harper" gives full room to Paul Newman for an interpretation that has probably set a model for Elliot Gould in "The long good-bye".A ragged private eye gets involved in a complicated story where power, money and crime are tied one to each other.
While the plot is a rather clear homage to "The big sleep", the action takes place in the late sixties and pays a little tribute to the era's clichés with the characters of "yeye girl" (played by Pamela Tiffin) and of the Californian alternative guru.The wonderful and well exploited supporting cast makes this movie very interesting to see and a "must see" for all fans of Paul Newman and for all fans of the hard-boiled genre (with me belonging to both categories).
Paul Newman exudes much of his trademark cool in the role of private eye Lew Harper, in this adaptation (by screenwriter William Goldman and director Jack Smight) of the novel "The Moving Target" by Ross MacDonald.
The excellent collection of actors also includes Arthur Hill, as Harpers' gun-toting attorney friend, Janet Leigh as his estranged wife, Robert Webber as smooth criminal Dwight Troy, Harold Gould as a sheriff, Roy Jenson as a muscleman, and a memorable Strother Martin as a religious cult head.This film is a lot of fun to watch, and is an effective vehicle for Newman, whose Lew Harper is a very calm professional, a man who takes everything in stride.
I'm not sure when or why Moving Target changed its name to Harper, possibly after the later Drowning Pool, also starring Paul Newman and also based upon a great Ross Macdonald book.
Janet Leigh is his frustrated wife, and Shelley Winters plays an obese has-been film star who has a problem with alcohol.All in all, "Harper" is a tired repetition of not only "The Big Sleep" but some other classic film noires.
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.
That alone is good enough recommendation, in my opinion, for viewing this classic movie.Newman is supported by Janet Leigh as his soon-to-be ex-wife; Robert Wagner appears as a playboy, hotshot, and on the spot wannabe PI; Arthur Hill always seems vaguely uneasy as Mrs Sampson's lawyer, and as Harper's buddy; Shelly Winters steals scenes as an over-the-hill actress and lush – in lush surroundings; Robert Webber looks suitably nasty as her sleazy and oh-so-weird husband; Julie Harris well plays a deadbeat jazz pianist who's lost the beat; Pamela Tiffin shows her teeth and claws as the perfect brat-kid, daughter of the kidnapped man-you-never-see, and pathological enemy of her dragon stepmother, Lauren Bacall; and the ever-unctuous Strother Martin, has fun as the new-age guru from heaven – or hell, depending on your point of view.And all in lush Technicolor, in lush land that is Los Angeles that was; and perhaps still is.And for one of the best Hollywood-inside jokes I've heard, I think the script writer, William Goldman, made an oblique reference to one of the all-time great thrillers, The Third Man (1949) when, in relation to the gang of bad guys, Harper says to his lawyer buddy: 'There was no fourth man!'But, it is the ending that is most intriguing of all, then and even now.
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.
Harper (1966)*** (out of 4)Private Investigator Lew Harper (Paul Newman) is hired by a rich man's wife (Lauren Bacall) after he goes missing for a day.
HARPER certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's a fun movie to watch.The best thing going for the film is the terrific cast with Newman leading the way with another strong performance.
A number of connections (including Shelley Winters, Julie Harris, Robert Webber, and Strother Martin) are deceptively interviewed and a number of double-crosses are made along the way — but, as it turns out, the truth can be found in the areas one originally wasn't going to consider.I could tell you the guy behind Sampson's disappearance (an unexpected shock, certainly!), but I couldn't manage to explain the dot-to-dot intricacies of the relationships between all the other characters that pump intrigue into "Harper"'s plot.
The fashions and music reinforce the movie's 60s credentials and overall the blend of 40s and 60s influences work together remarkably well.Lew Harper (Paul Newman) is hired by the extremely wealthy but crippled Elaine Sampson (Lauren Bacall) to find her missing husband.
Predictably, Robert Wagner, Shelley Winters and Janet Leigh are also excellent in their roles and Arthur Hill makes a big impression as Harper's lawyer friend who has an enormous crush on Miranda Sampson and great faith in the benefits of isometric exercises."Harper" is a movie with a tremendous cast, an absorbing plot and a variety of very colourful characters.
He's an all-too-fallible small-time detective who investigates a kidnapping case involving a rich industrialist and lots of ransom money.The plot is very complex, and leads Harper into a seamy corner of society, interacting with a variety of characters: Dwight Troy (Robert Webber), a human smuggler; Fay Estabrook (Shelley Winters), a former glamour girl turned fat and alcoholic; Betty Frales (Julie Harris), a drug-addicted bar patron who's after the ransom money; Claude (Strother Martin), a phony preacher; Miranda Sampson (the luscious Pamela Tiffin), the kidnapped man's daughter; Susan Harper (Janet Leigh), Harper's frustrated and estranged wife; Allan Taggart (Robert Wagner) a playboy and member of the kidnap gang; and many others.
Basically Mrs. Sampson (Lauren Bacall) has hired private eye detective Lew Harper (Paul Newman) to find her missing husband.
Also starring Julie Harris as Betty Fraley, Arthur Hill as Albert Graves, Janet Leigh as Susan Harper, Pamela Tiffin as Miranda Sampson, Robert Wagner as Allan Taggert, Robert Webber as Dwight Troy, Shelley Winters as Fay Estabrook, Harold Gould as Sheriff, Strother Martin as Claude and Roy Jenson as Puddler.
Of course, Smight does have a great cast here, including top-of-the- bill Paul Newman who is a brilliant selection for Lew Harper, and Lauren Bacall, making a welcome re-appearance on the big screen as Mrs. Sampson.