Harper

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Harper

1966,

2h 1m,

Mystery & Thriller

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Watchlist

95%

19 Reviews

Tomatometer

73%

1,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

95%

Tomatometer

19 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Struggling private eye Lew Harper (Paul Newman) takes a simple missing-person case that quickly spirals into something much more complex. Elaine Sampson (Lauren Bacall), recently paralyzed in a horse-riding accident, wants Harper to find her missing oil baron husband, but her tempestuous teenage stepdaughter Miranda (Pamela Tiffin) thinks Mrs. Sampson knows more than she's letting on. The film is based on Ross Macdonald's 1949 mystery "The Moving Target," featuring private eye Lew Archer.

Variety Staff

Variety

Sep 30, 2008

Director Jack Smight has inserted countless touches which illuminate each character to the highest degree.

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Derek Adams

Time Out

Feb 9, 2006

Enjoyable performances throughout. Just the same, a very minor Big Sleep.

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Bosley Crowther

New York Times

May 9, 2005

[Newman] is too fresh, too ruggedly good looking to be consistent as the sort of beat-up slob that his shady detective is intended to be and as Mr. Bogart used to be.

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Pauline Kael

McCall's

Sep 20, 2023

Harper sounded promising -- Paul Newman in an attempt to recapture the Bogart private-eye world of The Big Sleep, with its spoiled people and overripe Southern California civilization. But it’s a despicably incompetent attempt.

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Judith Crist

New York Herald Tribune

Aug 15, 2022

Harper can be dismissed as just another private-eye story... But we'd rather hold on to it as a return to a classic -- a triumphant return to something that's been missing from the screen, something for grown-ups by grown-ups.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Aug 31, 2021

3.5/4

Wildly enjoyable.

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Harry S

Feb 3, 2019

Newman plays a character who's intellectually challenged and seems to enjoy getting beaten up and knocked out. He should have spent some money on self defence lessons.

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Luke W

Feb 2, 2019

An average overlong film noir from the 60's. When 'Chinatown' came out several years later it set a really high bar for neo-noirs and films like 'Harper' suffered a bit in fame. But nevertheless even an average noir is still a good treat, especially if it has Paul Newman for its lead.

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Luke G

Jul 7, 2018

Solid private eye flick.

Finn P

May 17, 2018

One groovy dance scene is more than enough. More of its' time than a classic, Harper is a very good film because of Paul Newman and William Goldman's script.

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Jack Smight

Director

Paul Newman

Lew Harper

Lauren Bacall

Mrs. Sampson

Shelley Winters

Fay Estabrook

Julie Harris

Betty Fraley

Robert Wagner

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Synopsis

Struggling private eye Lew Harper (Paul Newman) takes a simple missing-person case that quickly spirals into something much more complex. Elaine Sampson (Lauren Bacall), recently paralyzed in a horse-riding accident, wants Harper to find her missing oil baron husband, but her tempestuous teenage stepdaughter Miranda (Pamela Tiffin) thinks Mrs. Sampson knows more than she's letting on. The film is based on Ross Macdonald's 1949 mystery "The Moving Target," featuring private eye Lew Archer.

Director: Jack Smight
Producer: Jerry Gershwin, Elliott Kastner
Screenwriter: William Goldman
Production Co: Warner Brothers/Seven Arts, Gershwin-Kastner Productions
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2012
Runtime: 2h 1m

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