The Late Show

The Late Show is one of the most underrated films of all time. It's somewhat convoluted detective plot has raised comparisons to Chinatown, which is both unfair and unfortunate. This is a film that stands out on its own.

The acting is generally very good, and the performances by the leads are particularly strong. Dialogue which might have seemed forced or corny with less assured actors is believable and often funny here. Art Carney and Lily Tomlin are fun to watch as a bickering detective duo brought together as much by mutual loneliness as by anything the plot throws at them. Both are able to keep their characters interesting without overdoing it. It would have been especially easy for Ms. Tomlin to go over the top with her depiction of the rather flighty Margo, but she manages to balance her character's peculiarities and make it look effortless.

Robert Benton received an academy award nomination for his screenplay, but he really deserved more recognition for directing a film in which he gets the mood just right, and trusts his cast to do their jobs well. This was no mean feat for a work that needs to be film noir with some comic timing.

I saw this film when it first came out nearly 30 years ago, and then watched it again recently. At a time when so many films rely on computer generated images, and plots that seem dreamed up by marketing departments, it was refreshing to rediscover a film that relies on strong direction, and outstanding acting.

This is a great movie. It's such a remarkable throwback to 40s noir and detective films. Art Carney's Ira Wells adds a kind of post modern twist to the genre as he is an aging detective, not as hard boiled as he used to be. One thing that's neat about this film is the way that Ira and his contacts talk to each other. Benton resurrects the distinctive lingo of The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon within this interesting group of underworld entangled characters. I've seen a lot of other flicks that try to do the same thing, but this one makes it much more believable and doesn't play it for comic effect. Similar to the way Miller's Crossing draws you into its world with dialogue (among other things), so too does this film. Lily Tomlin also teams up well with Carney as his flighty new partner in private investigation. This film is a genuine treat for fans of Spade or Marlowe movies.

In The Late Show Art Carney may have created the most broken down action hero ever on the big screen. In fact his role here is in keeping with the Oscar he won playing irascible old codgers in Harry And Tonto and whom he would continue to play for the rest of his big screen career. The man truly reinvented himself after being so identified as Ed Norton of sewer repair on The Honeymooners.

Probably at the height of the noir era in film post World War II Carney could have done private eye roles like Humphrey Bogart and Alan Ladd. But now he's retired from the business has a bad leg, wears a hearing aid and rents a room from an indulgent landlady Ruth Nelson.

Until his old partner still in the game comes to him with a fatal bullet in his chest. An inside joke if you will because the partner is played by Howard Duff who was Sam Spade for years on radio. And at Duff's funeral he meets quirky former actress Lily Tomlin who was Duff's last client. She hired Duff to find her missing cat.

The cat however is key and before the film ends several of the cast wind up dead. It's a well assembled ensemble who support Carney and Tomlin. Joanna Cassidy as the femme fatale, Eugene Roche as a fence, Bill Macy as a bartender/tipster who tries to play both ends, and John Considine are all at the top of their game.

But Carney is a wonder, he's got great chemistry with Tomlin and he's got great moves as well. Wish I had some of them.

Inventive blend of humor and gumshoe. Carney's an over-the-hill keyhole peeper, while new-age Tomlin can't settle on any identity. All in all, it's a great send-up of all those tough-guy private dicks of the 1940's. But don't try to follow the murder plot, which has more little twists than a mountain road. Actually, more than a whodunit, the story's about two lonely people managing to overcome personality and generational differences. There's that, plus hints that old Ira's (Carney) ulcers may have failed, but the glands are still working.

As the odd couple, Carney and Tomlin shine in low-key fashion, which is as engaging as it is offbeat. There were a lot of these Chandler-Hammett spoofs at the time, (e.g. The Black Bird {1975}), but none are more imaginative than this-- after all, how many tough guys ride buses to work, or are hired to find a missing cat. Then too how many other send-ups can stand on their own apart from the spoofing format. Cleverly, this one can—as a poignant character study that somehow works. Kudoes Robert Benton for coming up with a truly novel approach to familiar subject matter. The result is both amusing and touching.

I really like this sweet semi-comic homage to the great detective films. Art Carney is simply wonderful as a gumshoe now in his 60s, gaining weight and losing foot-speed, but with wits as sharp as ever, and wisdom gained by time. This is what one of Bogie's great detective characters probably would be like 30 years later.

He's drawn into an absurdly complex crime situation, when a slightly wacko aging hippie wanna-be actress (played by Lily Tomlin) hires him to help find her lost cat. '

Some of the humor is a bit broad for the more serious themes underneath, and as much as I always love Tomlin, there were times she seemed to be flirting with caricature.

But the almost-romantic chemistry between this supremely miss-matched pair is terrific and fun to watch. It doesn't add up to anything huge, but it's intelligent, fun well-executed entertainment for grown ups – something that's far too rare in the current cinema.