The Black Bird

I liked the movie...thought it was funny, especially the bantering between George Segal and all of the co-stars. I watched the original version of unfaithful and saw the same actress was in This movie and the french version of unfaithful. I thought she was hilarious in this movie.

I saw this movie in a movie theater in 1976 and laughed and still laugh via VHS. Thought the ending was a little drawn out...so thats why I gave it an 8.. In Leonard Maltins book he gave it BOMB rating which I can not understand. I can watch this movie anytime where as a movie like Porkys or Dodgeball I find unwatchable.

"The Black Bird" (1975) is neither an all-out private-eye spoof in the style of Inspector Clouseau (there are very few laughs), nor an engaging "straight" private-eye yarn (the plot - if you can call it a plot, it's mostly just people going around in circles - is tiresome, the McGuffin ineffectual). It is a half-hearted, strained comedy, though at least it is well-shot (in San Francisco). Stephane Audran looks great in two brief lingerie (one black, one white) scenes, but otherwise this is a big comedown from her work with Claude Chabrol. For a better George Segal film in a somewhat similar vein, try "Who Is Killing The Great Chefs Of Europe?". ** out of 4.

George segal is sam spade junior, in the black bird, a parody of the maltese falcon. Some fun faces in here. Ken swofford (police academy) and vic tayback (mel, for those old enough to remember) are police detectives. Lionel stander (max, for those old enough to remember). Effie and wilmer are played by the original actors from bogart's version! Although in this one, effie is a loud, ornery shrew, who hates her boss. It starts out strong, but loses steam about halfway through; the trivia section here tells us that the writers, producers, and directors were all fighting, which didn't help. I love the premise, but after a while, it just tries too hard. And the anna character just brings it to a halt every time she speaks. Where's madeline kahn when you need her? They really wasted vic tayback... he did this in between the film "alice doesn't live here" and the tv series alice. The first and last film directed by david giler. Segal did this one about ten years after "virginia woolf". Too bad. I really wanted to like this one.

In 1975 San Francisco, Sam Spade Jr. has taken over his father's private investigation business, but he does not like the work, or his father's obnoxious secretary. One of the father's big cases comes back to haunt the young Spade. A man offers a lot of money for a statue which may or may not be the Maltese Falcon. In fact, there are several large offers for the bird, and it might be worth millions if it is the genuine article. A European woman who has some trouble with English claims to want the bird to help a children's hospital. And Spade gets unwanted help from a crazy character (one of the movie's funniest) who he calls 'Andrew Jackson' after the man offers a $20 bill for Spade's time. Whatever the significance of the bird, someone must want it badly because people start dying.

The movie started out really funny and showed promise, but later it lost something. The second half proved much funnier than the first. The jokes were not always obvious, and sometimes you had to pay close attention to realize why something was funny. Sometimes the jokes came at a rapid-fire pace, but other times I felt unsatisfied. One running gag was a rental car with a mind of its own. The last gag involving the car was hilarious. Overall, the movie proved to be worthwhile, but not quite in a league with similar style comedies such as 'Airplane!'

People offended by political incorrectness should probably stay away, but to me politically incorrect humor was the best part. Such as the time Spade was in a room with black men and when his name was called, all the black men got up. The funniest character was a midget (Spade's word) in a Nazi uniform with a group of large Hawaiian guards protecting him, and the hilarious jokes about or from him were anything but sensitive. Spade also referred several time to the children in the hospital as 'cripples' or an even worse variation of the word.

This could have been great. The original script was for a serious Spade sequel and the central conceit of the plot is excellent. The cast are superb and George Segal is perfect as the world weary, cynical and laconic Sam Spade. Some of the humour works in a sort of Pink Panther way...the runaway car long gag is genuinely hilarious but this could so easily have been a great move a la The Long Goodbye. The support cast, especially Lionel Stander , are really talented and would have been perfect for the serious incarnation. Such a shame, but I did enjoy this snapshot of the 70s, and San Francisco as it once was. Worth a watch, definitely.