Main Cast: Peter Falk, Ann-Margret, Eileen Brennan, Sid Caesar, Stockard Channing, Dom DeLuise, Louise Fletcher, John Houseman, Madeline Kahn, Scatman Crothers
Release Year: 1978
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Spoofing the entire 1940s detective genre, and his own performances as a bumbling private detective, Peter Falk plays Lou Pekinpaugh, a San Francisco private detective accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress, the partner's wife, Georgia Merkle (Marsha Mason). Police Lieutenant DiMaggio (Vic Tayback) has his eye on Lou and blunders around in a way which complicates Lou's efforts to clear his name. Lou gets a new client when Mrs. Montenegro (Madeline Kahn) and her cronies (John Housman, Paul Williams and Dom DeLuise) hire him to search out a dozen diamond eggs. Marlene DuChard (Louise Fletcher) also comes to him for help of a complicated nature. In this madcap comedy written by Neil Simon, obstacles and complications appear every few minutes, and a great many famous actors show up in hilarious cameos. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Review
Most of Neil Simon's work is in what might be termed traditional comedy, but in the mid-'70s, he made a couple of detours into parody, as in The Cheap Detective. Though not a classic film, it's a nice change of pace for Simon, and played into the then-current trend toward spoofing film genres (e.g., Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, and Simon's own Murder By Death). The plot is extremely convoluted, as befits a spoof of the hard-boiled private eye picture. Simon can't quite maintain the rapid fire succession of gags (visual and verbal) and director Robert Moore can't quite maintain the necessary pace, but for the most part, the film is good fun. The cast helps matters greatly, with Peter Falk as a rather nutty Humphrey Bogart type and Madeline Kahn hilarious as a Mary Astor-like character who keeps changing her name (to, among other things, Norma Shearer). Eileen Brennan creates a very memorable saloon crooner, and Ann-Margret is wonderful as the most fatale of femme fatales. Special credit should also go to Charles R. Pierce for his careful rec-reation and slight exaggeration of film noir settings, and to Patrick Williams' score, a loving homage with a zing of its own. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
James Coco - Marcel; Fernando Lamas - Paul DuChard; Marsha Mason - Georgia Merkle; Phil Silvers - Hoppy; Abe Vigoda - Sgt. Rizzuto; Paul Williams - Boy; Nicol Williamson - Col. Schissel; Emory Bass - Butler; Carmine Caridi - Sgt. Crosseti; Vic Tayback - Lt. DiMaggio; Jonathan Banks - Cabbie; Charles Bastin - Croupier #2; Wally K. Berns - Floyd Merkle; Bella Bruck - Scrub Woman; John Calvin - Qvicker; James Cromwell - Schnell; Lew Gallo - Cop; Zale Kessler - Courier; Maurice Marks - Doorman; David Matthau - Military Man; Lee Mc Laughlin - Fat Man; Barry Michlin - Bandleader; Richard Narita; George Rondo - Cab Driver; Joe E. Ross - Michel; David Ogden Stiers - Captain; Carole Wells - Hat-Check Girl; Ronald L. Schwary - Cab Driver; Gary Alexander - Dancer; Armando Gonzales - Bartender; Henry Sutton - Desk Clerk; Dean Perry; George Simmons; Jerrold Ziman; Steve Fisher
Credit
Charles R. Pierce - Art Director, Phillip Bennett - Art Director, Theoni V. Aldredge - Costume Designer, John A. Anderson - Costume Designer, Agnes G. Henry - Costume Designer, Robert Moore - Director, Sid Levin - Editor, Michael A. Stevenson - Editor, Patrick Williams - Composer (Music Score), Charles Schram - Makeup, Robert Luthardt - Production Designer, John A. Alonzo - Cinematographer, Ronald L. Schwary - Production Manager, Margaret Booth - Producer, Raymond Stark - Producer, Charles R. Pierce - Set Designer, Augie Lohman - Special Effects, Wiliam L. McCaughey - Sound/Sound Designer, Lyle J. Burbridge - Sound/Sound Designer, Al Overton, Jr. - Sound/Sound Designer, Neil Simon - Screenwriter
