Harper 1966 Movie Review
one the review will head back to the year 1966. The movie in question is a mystery thriller movie called Harper. The film stars legendary leading man Paul Newman. The same Paul Newman last talked about in the review of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
The late actor recognized this movie as one of his favorites. It’s understandable as this is a good film despite some problems with it. But those problems will get mentioned later. Right now, it’s time for the movie review.
Lew Harper, played by Newman, is a hard-boiled L.A. detective who’s a little down on his luck as of late. This gets emphasized at the beginning where his office also serves as his apartment. And he must drink coffee out of a broken mug. Ouch talk about having seen better days.
Harper gets a call from his old pal Attorney Albert Graves. He drives over to the home of multi-millionaire Ralph Sampson. There he meets the man’s estranged wife Eliane Sampson, played by Lauren Bacall. The handicapped woman wants to make sure her husband isn’t squandering his fortune. The reason being she hopes to inherit it.
Wow, she’s a real opportunist and a class act. But to be fair Ralph Sampson proves to be something of a player himself. So, neither are exactly saints.
Harper gets a picture of Sampson from his wife and proceeds to head out to the mansion pool. On his way out he stops to make a call to his own estranged wife. Janet Leigh took on the role of Susan Harper. It seems Lew Harper is in the middle of a divorce of his own. This will be a recurring theme through the picture.
All the characters while interesting…have some dark secrets. So yeah, despite the bright sunny skies of L.A. this is going to be a very dark film.
Harper heads out to the pool area where he meets Sampson’s personal pilot Allan Taggart. Robert Wagner took on the role of said pilot. According to him he flew Sampson to the airport. There Sampson got into a limo, took off, and disappeared. Very interesting indeed.
Harper also meets Miranda Sampson the millionaire’s daughter. Pamela Tiffin took on the role of the flirtatious daughter. And it’s evident she’ll flirt with any man she takes a fancy to. And from the get-go while she’s flirting round with Taggart, she’s taken an interest in Harper. Ho boy this girl is something else.
Harper then goes to see Albert Graves. And he learns Graves has it bad for Miranda Sampson. So much so he’s got a picture of her on a fashion magazine in a rather…revealing swimsuit. Graves asks if there’s a problem because he’s “old enough to be her father.”
Harper points out, “You’re old enough to be her grandfather.”
That said Harper takes the job. He, Taggert, and Miranda fly out to the bungalow where Ralph Sampson likes to stay. There Taggart takes some time out to relax. Meanwhile Harper checks out the bungalow. Miranda tries to flirt with the private investigator.
As attractive as Miranda is there’s two problems here. First, Harper is in the middle of a nasty divorce. Second, he’s on the job so he makes it clear to Miranda, yeah, he’s not interested in playing her games!
Harper manages to find a shot of a glorious Hollywood starlet from farther back in time. Taggart mentions that the starlet’s name is Fay Estabrook. She used to be quite the name in Hollywood. But now she’s an aging and fat alcoholic. Time catches up with everyone hence why it’s best to take care of oneself.
Harper finds Estabrook and gets her drunk all while pretending to be a fan of hers. Fay Estabrook got played by actress Shelly Winters. It’s a faint hunch but Harper believes she may know something about Sampson’s Disappearance. Getting Estabrook plastered isn’t the most ethical way to get her to talk. But the characters in this story are not saints by any stretch of the imagination.
So yeah, a gritty P.I. must do what they can to get what they need.
Soon Harper takes the woman home where she passes out on her couch. Too much alcohol will do that to anyone. Harper as soon as she’s out does a little digging around her place. He manages to intercept a call to Faye about Sampson’s disappearance. Houston, we’ve hit the jackpot!
But things get ugly when Estabrook’s husband Dwight Troy, played by Robert Webber, arrives. He falls for Harper’s story about him being a fan of Fay's work. And he manages to get away from the armed Troy by the skin of his teeth. Welcome to the life of a gritty L.A. detective. It’s not all fun and games.
Having intercepted the phone call to Fay, Harper heads to a local hotspot in Los Angeles. There he meets Betty Fraley played by actress Julie Harris. She’s a lounge singer at the night club. When Harper asks her about the missing Sampson she recognizes him as the voice from the phone. And it’s clear she’s hiding something important.
She calls up the club bouncer Puddler played by Roy Jenson. She has the club bouncer remove Harper. Said bouncer takes him to the back alley to beat the living tar out of him. But Harper gets saved at the last minute by Taggart. The pilot hits Puddler in the back of the head with the handle of a pistol.
Taggart joins the detective as they head back to Troy’s place. There Harper breaks in while Taggart watches for signs of anyone coming. On hearing gunshots outside Harper scrambles out the door. There he spots the truck mentioned in Fay’s phone call. Harper tries to get to it but fails.
But the trail isn’t cold yet. Harper uncovers a distinct set of tire tracks in the dust from the truck. This case keeps getting more and more interesting.
Eliane receives a message from Sampson saying that he needs $500,000. Gee that’s not suspicious at all is it? It confirms that Ralph Sampson got kidnapped. Way to add some complexity to the case.
But it gets crazier as Harper heads to the top of a local mountain. This piece of property Sampson gave to Claude, a bogus holy man, and leader of a religious cult. The part of Claude got played by Strather Martin. The leader attempts to distract Harper, but the detective is not fooled one bit. The P.I. manages to find a very familiar set of tire prints in the dust.
Back at the Sampson estate Harper finds a ransom note. The instructions explain to drop the money outside of town. Taggart and Greaves end up making the drop while Harper keeps a watch on things. During the pickup the man who does so gets shot and the money taken by someone else. And the plan goes sideways, surprise-surprise!
The person who took the cash takes off in a white convertible. But Harper manages to find a clue that leads him to a seedy bar. It turns up the man’s name was Eddie, and he was a regular customer there.
Outside the bar Harper sees Puddler drive by in an all too familiar truck. After that the mystery deepens. Harper uncovers Troy’s secret Illegal immigration smuggling operation. He also discovers the family, and others have some serious issues with Ralph Sampson.
Okay now this was an enjoyable film. But there were some issues with it. My biggest complaint was this. Without giving too much away, the ending was unclear. That is the ending didn’t quite wrap things up as it should’ve which was kind of a disappointment.
The movie was still very enjoyable. Paul Newman as Lew Harper puts in a great performance. Lauren Bacall as the scheming jaded wife Eliane Sampson also puts on a great performance. Arthur Hill is great as the kind-hearted yet gullible lawyer Albert Graves. Robert Wagner is great as Allen Taggart.
Pamela Tiffin is great in the role of the flirtatious yet ambitious Miranda Sampson.
Now to be fair this movie isn’t for kids. I would say by today’s standards this movie would be PG-13. Other than the disappointing ending this was a good movie. So, I give this movie a 7 and ½ stars out of 10 which brings it to the grade of B minus. It could’ve done more if it had had a better ending.
But Harper gets a recommendation for those who like good mystery thrillers or Paul Newman’s work. Check out Harper on DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K, or streaming.
Thanks for reading this movie review. I hope everyone enjoyed my review of Harper. Third and final movie review The Lady from Shanghai is coming soon. So, stay tuned good readers, because I also have something of a surprise coming later this year. If you enjoyed this movie review, please like and share this across social media.
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