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Harper

Harper

Mystery · Crime · Thriller · 1966

Harper is a cynical private eye in the best tradition of Bogart. He even has Bogie's Baby hiring him to find her missing husband, getting involved along the way with an assortment of unsavory characters and an illegal-alien smuggling ring.

Movie details

Harper

“Harper takes a case - and the payoff is murder.”

1966 Mystery · Crime · Thriller 2h 1m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

Harper is a cynical private eye in the best tradition of Bogart. He even has Bogie's Baby hiring him to find her missing husband, getting involved along the way with an assortment of unsavory characters and an illegal-alien smuggling ring.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Harper?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Presumed Innocent

Presumed Innocent

Mystery · 1990

Rusty Sabich is a deputy prosecutor engaged in an obsessive affair with a coworker who is murdered. Soon after, he's accused of the crime. And his fight to clear his name becomes a whirlpool of lies and hidden passions.

Kiss the Girls

Kiss the Girls

Thriller · 1997

Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.

The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep

Mystery · 1946

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

China Moon

China Moon

Mystery · 1994

Detective Kyle Bodine falls for Rachel Munro who is trapped in a violent marriage. After she shoots her husband, Kyle relucantly agrees to help hide the body, but his partner is showing an unusual flair for finding clues.

The Drowning Pool

The Drowning Pool

Thriller · 1975

Harper is brought to Louisiana to investigate an attempted blackmail scheme. He soon finds out that it involves an old flame of his and her daughter. He eventually finds himself caught in a power struggle between the matriarch of the family and a greedy oil baron, who wants their property. Poor Harper! Things are not as straight-forward as they initially appeared.

Palmetto

Palmetto

Crime · 1998

After being released from prison on a bum charge, Harry Barber is out for payback to regain his lost two years. He's hired by Mrs. Malroux to fake the kidnapping of her stepdaughter (the daughter of a dying millionaire). He discovers that he is being set up on multiple levels and will soon face a longer sentence if he doesn't prove the truth.

Unlawful Entry

Unlawful Entry

Thriller · 1992

When Michael and Karen Carr’s home is robbed, the couple strike up a friendship with duty officer Pete Davis. But the disturbed cop develops an intense fixation on Karen, and his idea of friendship soon turns into a dangerous obsession, making him the Carrs’ worst nightmare.

The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train

Crime · 2016

Rachel Watson, devastated by her recent divorce, spends her daily commute fantasizing about the seemingly perfect couple who live in a house that her train passes every day, until one morning she sees something shocking happen there and becomes entangled in the mystery that unfolds.

A Walk Among the Tombstones

A Walk Among the Tombstones

Crime · 2014

Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.

Devil in a Blue Dress

Devil in a Blue Dress

Thriller · 1995

In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jack Smight

Written by

William Goldman

Paul Newman

Paul Newman

Lew Harper

Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall

Elaine Sampson

Julie Harris

Julie Harris

Betty Fraley

Arthur Hill

Arthur Hill

Albert Graves

Janet Leigh

Janet Leigh

Susan Harper

Pamela Tiffin

Pamela Tiffin

Miranda Sampson

Robert Wagner

Robert Wagner

Allan Taggert

Court is in session

Put Harper on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.