Harper (1966)

Coming a few years before the better-known Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Paul Newman takes on the role of Lew Harper, a private eye hired to find the whereabouts of Elaine Sampson's (Lauren Bacall) husband, who has disappeared. Along the way to the films' admittedly telegraphed ending, he comes across numerous nefarious characters, most notably Sampson's stepdaughter Miranda (think Bibi Doll from For Your Eyes Only [1981] but a lot more knowing) Robert Wagner's Allan Taggart, and former actress Betty (Julie Harris), any of which could be friend or foe.

You'd be forgiven for thinking Harper is a Raymond Chandler or Elmore Leonard adaptation; there are hints of The Big Sleep (1946) as well as The Maltese Falcon (1941), ostensibly you could place Humphrey Bogart in the title role and things would be just dandy.

However, Newman's ability to appear effortlessly cool throughout the picture is almost to be expected, but what is impressive is how unquestionably you buy his love for his wife, and how desperate he is to change her mind at their seemingly impending divorce.

Jack Smight's film has been accused of being particularly ponderous; I didn't find that at all; Harper is constantly engaging, frequently funny, and despite the fact that you can guess how it all ends fairly early on, the film holds your attention in its characters and locations during a tremendously enjoyable couple of hours. 7.7/10