Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Dalbert Pringle 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.... (Sheesh! Give me a break, already!)(I won't even get into the tiresome bickering that Harper and his estranged wife regularly got into.... Ho-hum!)Anyway - If you're like me - You're gonna absolutely hate the note that this film's story ends on, big-time. You really are.

JohnHowardReid Perfectly capturing the flavor and atmosphere of Ross McDonald's novel, "The Moving Target", this movie marks a great improvement on television director Jack Smight's first two movie efforts, namely "I'd Rather Be Rich" (1964) and "The Third Day" (1965). 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. The other acting credits are also top hat with Julie Harris, Janet Leigh, Pamela Tiffin and Shelley Winters vying for our attention.Incidentally, IMDb, Ross McDonald spells his name with a capital "D" – or at least he does just that in the British editions of his books!

romanorum1 Paul Newman, who was very popular in the 1960s, had a series run of successful "H" movies: "The Hustler" (1961), "Hud" (1963), "Harper" (1966), and "Hombre" (1967). "Harper" is based upon a Ross MacDonald book ("The Moving Target") about fictional private investigator Lew Archer of southern California. 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. It was said that the last name of Lew Archer was changed to Harper to satisfy Newman's insistence on another "H" movie. Lew Harper is a quite unorthodox private eye. Acerbically witty with one-liners, cynical, laid back, and friendless (except for the acquiescent Albert Graves = Arthur Hill) we find comedy as Harper struggles arising in the morning and going through the motions to get his body cranked up. Harper is estranged from wife Susan (Janet Leigh). Through lawyer Graves he is hired by jaded and invalid Elaine Samson (Lauren Bacall) to find her millionaire husband who has been missing for one day. But is the unlikeable (as we will learn) Ralph Samson worth the effort? Harper takes the job as he can use the cash. 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). There are also illegal aliens and just about the most clueless state police force ever seen on the silver screen. Now Harper has to discover just what each of these characters knows and to piece the puzzle together. The plot, though, is ultimately rather thin. The most interesting scene occurs when Elaine Harper spears the sunny-side eggs.Newman plays the cocky character well. And he has many funny lines, like the following scenarios: At a bar he tells the bartender, "Keep the change." The bartender replies that there isn't any. Harper retorts, "Keep it anyway." Another line, to his lawyer: "The bottom is loaded with nice people, Albert. Only cream and bastards rise." And at the end: "Aw, hell!" Newman would reprise the Harper role nine years later in "The Drowning Pool."

athomed I'll size up the plot quickly. 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. Harper embarks on a 1960's California to find his man. Mr. Sampson's pilot Allan Taggert (Robert Wagner) and Sampson's lawyer, Albert Graves (Arthur Hill), aid in the search at various times.This is one Newman's "H" movies, like Hud and Hombre. "H" must have been Newman's lucky letter, because he had some of his biggest hits at this time. The movie really is Newman's. His magnetism as a leading man keeps us invested in the plot, but not burdened by it.The supporting cast here is excellent, from top to bottom. Bacall, as a bit of a homage to Bogie, is cast as the worried--as if--wife. Her "frigid" remarks and sass help us to understand the character of Mr. Sampson better. Hill plays the lawyer and an old friend of Harper's. He's a great addition to the cast as the square of the group. Wagner holds his own and gives Newman someone to sarcastically call "beauty." Pamela Tiffin as Mr. Sampson's daughter, Miranda, is gorgeous, and that's what she's there for. Then you've got Janet Leigh as the wife who wants to divorce Harper. We've even got Shelley Winters as the former starlet who's put on a few pounds.This movie isn't very well-known these days. I think it's a great private eye flick with Newman on the screen and director Jack Smight at the helm. People go back and forth about the ending, but I think it fits perfectly.