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Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786300269330 Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC ISBN: 6300269337 Label: Warner Home Video Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Warner Home Video Release Date: March 28, 1995 Running Time: 94 minutes Sales Rank: 39657 Studio: Warner Home Video Theatrical Release Date: 1977
Amazon.com essential video: Writer-director Robert Benton, who examined a similar story in 1998's "Twilight," first explored the territory of the geriatric private eye in this sadly underrated 1977 delight. Art Carney stars as a nearly retired detective who suddenly finds himself caught up in two seemingly separate cases. One involves the murder of his former partner (Howard Duff); the other entangles him with a flaky post-hippie (Lily Tomlin), who wants him to find her missing cat. The two cases eventually dovetail, but the plot--which leads them to a Hollywood crime bigwig played by the affable Eugene Roche--is of less interest than the almost magical chemistry between the crotchety Carney and the wonderfully off-the-wall Tomlin. The perfect film for anyone who likes their mysteries in the Dashiell Hammett/Raymond Chandler mode. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Fine Pairing of Art Carney and Lily Tomlin
"The Late Show" remains my favorite comedy/mystery film with wonderful leads, a fine supporting cast and excellent writing. Being somewhat in the Thin Man vein, there are moments of genuine suspense as well as some real laughs. Tomlin, a rather ditsy and less than successful show-biz agent, hires a reluctant Art Carney, a semi-retired private eye whose best days are clearly behind him. Her pet cat has been kidnapped (catnapped?) and she wants Carney to find it. The case is soon found to have connections to more serious and complex one. The chemistry between these two fine actors is perfect ... Read More
Rating: - Excellent Detective Homage
I'm sure the powers that be didn't know how to market this quirky gem then or now. If you go to the video store they usually file it in the comedy section which is the furthest thing from the truth. For sure, there are comic elements in "The Late Show" but if you blink you miss them. The film is a mystery, rather, a homage to the work of Chandler and Hammet. Like the best tributes "The Late Show" stands on it's own as a great film. The film has it all including a brilliantly woven mystery penned by writer-director Robert Benton and terrific acting. Art Carney ingeniously underplays detective ... Read More
Rating: - A failed film noir
I purchased this film because of the rave reviews, on Amazon and elsewhere, and because of the two highly talented stars. What a jolt to discover that the film is a flop, a failed attempt to remake a film noir featuring someone like Humphrey Bogart or Peter Falk as the tough detective. Toss in an airhead junkie as the sidekick and you have magic, right? Wrong. The script is the primary problem. It's unintelligible and without an ounce of wit. There is the grisly murder and the car chase for the teenagers. And the sloppy ending, so that everyone will go home satisfied. But it all adds up to ... Read More
Rating: - An Endearing, First-Rate Murder Mystery
An endearing murder mystery, with great chemistry between Art Carney and Lily Tomlin. Carney is an aging, gruff private eye with a bad leg, a bleeding ulcer and a hearing aid. Tomlim is an off-kilter woman who believes in reincarnation and occasionally sells a little dope. She wants to hire Carney to find her cat. From there we have belly shots, beatings and blackmail. It's a nice, complicated mystery. Tomlin has a great scene with a refrigerator. And the ending is satisfying.
If people ever thought Tomlin wasn't a skilled actress, they should watch this film and Nashville. Shame she hasn't ... Read More
Rating: - BETTER A "LATE SHOW" THAN A NO-SHOW
"The Late Show" (1977), Robert Benton's valentine to the 1940's detective film genre has it all: the structure, the language, the grit and noir, plus something more--humor and heart. Long overlooked and drastically under rated by 1970's reviewers, the film and especially its title seemed to dredge up images of some old B&W flick that belonged on late night TV and perhaps didn't fit the mold of being "with it" or of being retro-slick in a then-generation of the Think Young, Drink Pepsi (not Alka Seltzer) society it reflected. Yet what most critics seem to have missed about the title alone is its play on ... Read More
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