Harper

My spouse and I chose to watch a young Paul Newman and a young Robert Wagner in "Harper" (from 1966, I think)for our date night. We both thought we'd already seen this movie but, as we were viewing it, we realized we hadn't. It has a great cast of characters -- Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Arthur Hill, Janet Leigh, Pamela Tiffin, and Shelley Winters along with Newman and Wagner. Paul Newman plays Lew Harper, a private detective with standards that interfere with his relationships -- particularly with his wife. This was the first detective film that Newman starred in and it's based on "The Moving Target" by Ross MacDonald. Lauren Bacall plays Harper's wealthy client whose husband has been missing for a day and she wants Harper to find him. He was recommended to her by her family attorney (played by Arthur Hill) who is a friend of Harper's. Other players include her young adult stepdaughter and her husband's personal pilot along with a slew of other characters who are drawn into play as Harper investigates the husband's disappearance and eventually discovers that it's a kidnapping. During the investigation Harper is also trying to reconcile with his estranged wife (played by Janet Leigh). The plot is cleverly written with some twists and turns and a rather surprising ending. I highly recommend this movie but watch out for the late 60's-70's music and dancing. That wasn't particularly a trip down memory lane that I wanted to take!

pazt