The Gumshoe Kid

My review was written in June 1990 after watching the movie on Academy video cassette.

"The Gumshoe Kid", alternately titled "The Detective Kid", is a charming little comedy that pays homage to the private eye genre. Currently available at video stores, the film had a brief theatrical run in Albuquerque in February.

Jay Underwood, performing with the self-assurance of a younger Tom Hanks, carries the picture as a guy obsessed with Bogart who gets a job in Vince Edwards' agency through the efforts of his mom Arlene Golonka. Finally assigned to a field case in surveillance, he's thrown together with femme fatale Tracy Scoggins.

The two of them are on the lam for the rest of the film after Scoggins' boyfriend is nabbed by persons unknown. Helmer Joe Manduke maintains a lighthearted mood, giving both principal players a chance to let their hair down engagingly en route to a friendly finish.

This is breezy, light entertainment that seems out of step in today's cinema but enjoyable nonetheless. Solid supporting turns, notably by Gino Conforti as an uppity sign painter and cute Pamela Springsteen as Edwards' ditzy secretary, make for a winning package.