Harper (1966) [Blu-ray]

Mainly this was a vehicle for Paul Newman. The title character's name was changed from Lew Archer to Lew Harper because H movies seemed to fit Newman better. His little acting quirks are given full view. His real-life ice-cube facial starts the movie. Nobody else in the film has much to do, and it's seldom clear what he's looking for (theoretically, Bacall's husband), or whether there's supposed to be a comprehensible plot. Clearly the filmmaking principals intended a convoluted LA private-dick movie like The Big Sleep, and they certainly succeed. What gets lost is the joyous, rolling rhythm of Ross Macdonald's narrative.

One of Paul Newman's excellent "H" movies (Hud, Harper, Hombre...). Character is based on author Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer. Newman makes the character his own as an unhappily divorced private investigator working a case and navigating various lifestyles of the rich, famous, seedy and gritty. Joined by an amazing cast including Lauren Bacall, Robert Wagner, Shelly Winters, Janet Leigh, Arthur Hill, and Julie Harris. Great viewing for fans of classic Paul Newman, the genre and movies of the 60's. Highly recommend!

Lauren Bacall hires Paul Newman to try to find her missing husband. Most of the movie is Newman slumming around with the wealthy of Los Angeles as Robert Wagner flies him from one part of the county to another to the has beens when he goes clubbing with Shelley Winters to the spoiled with Bacall’s step daughter Pamela Tiffin throwing herself at Newman every time she sees him. It’s also a glaring example of how out of touch Hollywood was with the 1960s youth culture as there are two scenes of people dancing crazily to Lounge Jazz tunes. It’s so bad it’s laughable. In the end it even touches on cults and smuggling in Mexican workers. You have to applaud it for trying to cover so much turf. Newman as usual delivers a solid job as a beatdown detective who won’t give up no matter how many lies he’s told or roughed up.

This movie is Paul Newman at his cynical best in this character role. It's a great movie based on a Ross McDonald novel. It's got all sort of characters who keep you guessing just who's up to what and why. It's extremely well directed and acted, and there are all sorts of great actors in this flick: Lauren Bacall, Arthur Hill, Robert Webber, Shelley Winters, Julie Harris, Pamela Tiffin, Strother Martin, as well as a young Robert Wagner who plays a quietly pivotal role. The story line is excellent, having been well adapted from the book. And what can I say about Paul Newman here? I've seen a number of his pictures, but I love the way he plays the character of Lew Harper, a very much down and out Private-eye. He is killingly cynical in this flick which adds a great deal of humor to a fairly seedy and realistically done crime mystery. This is an older picture nicely transferred to DVD. The picture and sound quality is excellent. If you want a mystery which is also totally entertaining, you will not be disappointed with Harper.

Harper is a detective in Los Angeles who lives in a ratty apartment in Los Angeles. He digs yesterday's coffee grounds out of the trash can to make a cup to help drive off his hangover and is off to work. The story is along the lines of that you would find in a Film Noir, but the direction, cinematography and music are all 1960s. If you are looking for "The Maltese Falcon", this ain't it. Instead you are going to get a bit of a fun look at a detective story set in that era. There is a much better movie that Paul Newman made called "The Drowning Pool" if you like the character.There are some great actors having a lot of fun in this movie, but don't take it too seriously. This is just a fun movie if you enjoy Paul Newman and Janet Leigh and seeing Los Angeles as a setting for for a murder-mystery. I think if you are a baby boomer, you might get a kick out of the actors that show up. If you want a serious movie in Film Noir style stick with Chinatown and Jack Nicholson.

Harper was made at a time when the hard-boiled private eye film had gone out of fashion. So this film works on two levels. It looks back to the golden age of Bogart with a lovely role reversal for Bacall and also serves as a nostalgia piece all it's own of Paul Newman before big time stardom. It's stylish and breezy. It deserved more sequels than the one disappointing outing it got many years later. It's a great watch.

Where did all of these 4 and 5 star reviews emanate from?This movie is very, very dated. A rock band in a bar? A girl in a bikini dancing to jazz on a diving board? A really feeble attempt to cater to the youngsters of 1966.A strong cast wasted on an incomprehensible plot, which simply doesn't move forward much of the time.Paul Newman works his way through multiple murders and endless chewing gum, trying to look cool and above it all. He succeeds in irritating this viewer, who hoped for something a little more realistic.Curious how "The Big Sleep" remains vibrant, despite a similar convoluted plot. "Harper" fails miserably due to: 1. Newman's attempt at "cool" in situations that would be taken seriously by anyone in their right mind; 2. the dated attempt to make a swinging movie; and 3. a plot that meanders every which way. The only way to tell that the movie was nearing its end was that virtually all the characters had been murdered. The final "twist" at the conclusion was easily predicted, and the last moments of the movie simply left a bad taste in my mouth...far too cool posturing on Newman's part coupled with a completely unrealistic, downright stupid ending.I try to find redeeming value in every movie. Here, it was nice to see familiar actors...an all star cast. Could have been a very good movie with a tighter script, better plot, less music, and far less pandering to youngsters with silly attempts at "hip" scenes and situations.Newman is the attraction here; he's made far better movies than this.If you did enjoy this plot, you might investigate "Fast One" written by Cain. A fun read with a similar plot featuring countless murders, suspects, and double crosses.

Paul Newman is Harper (based on Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer) a LA based private detective with an attitude , on a case. With Lauren Bacall, Shelley Winters, Janet Leigh, Pamela Tiffin, and Robert Wagner.

幼少の頃、テレビ映画で父と一緒に”動く標的”を観てて、「ほら、３５６が出てるよ」と教えてもらった３５６の映画です。最初のシーン、ハーパーが起きて、キャスター付きのテレビをどかし、ドリップする粉コーヒーが無いので屑入れから取り出し、再利用するシーン。とても細かい描写ですが、なぜかワクワクしてしまいます。我が国の名作ドラマ、傷だらけの天使を脚本された方は参考にされたのかもしれませんね。ストーリーはサクサクすすみ、いや画像が綺麗で楽しめました。実際に３５６も複数台使ったのでしょうが、左側のボディ修復跡がセクシーで、粋で鯔背な乗り方だと感じました。１９６０年代前半の制作時期でしたでしょうが、その３５６の存在感がしびれました。ポールさんが見事に適役でしたが、マックイーンさんでもいけるか？と感じます。おふたりとも、ポルシェの達人ですものね！素晴らしい作品です。

A little dated. Harper is a bit too much wise-ass; cops aren't really that stupid. But maybe that's just me. A bit too much Tony Rome for my tastes - and originally Sinatra was supposed to play the role. Regardless, there's enough of a story that I'll be watching it again for sure, several times. Definitely worth buying. Widescreen and the video quality is excellent.

One of the Paul Newman "H" series of movies. A classic private detective tale in the spirit of Raymond Chandler's great novels (actually based on a novel by Ross Macdonald, a Chandler acolyte). Beautifully filmed in color with a number of cameos by other stars of the era.

原作を読んだのもあって懐かしくなってDVDを買おうと思って見たら結構値が張るので購入断念。輸入盤であるが安価且つブルーレイのこれを見つけて即購入。古い割には画質が綺麗。音声は英語のみで、字幕は英語字幕が出せる。ただ何故か全部大文字なので非常に読みにくい。映画としては肝心のミステリーの部分が弱いので、可もなく不可もなしというところ。主人公のハーパーは、原作「動く標的」のリュー・アーチャーよりもうらぶれた感じだが、これはこれで悪くない。ポールニューマンの飄々とした演技は見もの。