You won't be disappointed!

Thanks for the memories!

Crappy film

Blistering performances.

I've never seen Art Carney in a bad movie. That might mean that he raises the bar of any film he's in, bringing out the best in his co-stars and supporting players. He's superb here as the aging private detective Ira Wells, called out on one last case involving a stolen cat before it turns into a noir styled murder mystery with body after body piling up.Actually, it's the murder of a former partner that opens the story a la "The Maltese Falcon", with a somber Wells determined to find out who the dirt bag was who offed his friend. I don't think I've ever seen a name actor like Duff dispatched so quickly after making his entrance in a picture; he was probably on screen for about two minutes. Nice work if you can get it, I guess.Had Harry Regan (Duff) survived, it would have been interesting to see how Wells would have dealt with him after discovering he was part of an extortion racket, trying to cut himself in on some big time action with that slimy creep Birdwell (Eugene Roche). The story gets more and more convoluted in the telling, with Birdwell's philandering wife (Joanna Cassidy), a hood named Escobar we only get to see by way of an open refrigerator door, and the whereabouts of a gun owned by Laura Birdwell used in the murder of her lover's wife. It occurred to me that the story could have been even more confusing if some of these characters actually showed up.As good as Art Carney was here, what really made the picture for me was all the understated humor running throughout with Lily Tomlin's neurotic take on her character Margo Sterling, and Eugene Roche's hilarious offers of ridiculous merchandise to whoever he was trying to bribe at the time. Working this movie with a straight face was probably a tough job for the actors involved, but they pulled it off admirably.A couple of minor observations - didn't it look like someone else on Ira Wells' California Private Detective ID card? And how about that long, slow focus shot on a photo of Lou Costello in the restaurant? I wonder what that was about. Oh yeah, and Winston the Cat was recovered without any fanfare, not even enough to merit a credit in the cast list.

In The Late Show Art Carney may have created the most broken down action hero ever on the big screen. In fact his role here is in keeping with the Oscar he won playing irascible old codgers in Harry And Tonto and whom he would continue to play for the rest of his big screen career. The man truly reinvented himself after being so identified as Ed Norton of sewer repair on The Honeymooners.Probably at the height of the noir era in film post World War II Carney could have done private eye roles like Humphrey Bogart and Alan Ladd. But now he's retired from the business has a bad leg, wears a hearing aid and rents a room from an indulgent landlady Ruth Nelson.Until his old partner still in the game comes to him with a fatal bullet in his chest. An inside joke if you will because the partner is played by Howard Duff who was Sam Spade for years on radio. And at Duff's funeral he meets quirky former actress Lily Tomlin who was Duff's last client. She hired Duff to find her missing cat.The cat however is key and before the film ends several of the cast wind up dead. It's a well assembled ensemble who support Carney and Tomlin. Joanna Cassidy as the femme fatale, Eugene Roche as a fence, Bill Macy as a bartender/tipster who tries to play both ends, and John Considine are all at the top of their game.But Carney is a wonder, he's got great chemistry with Tomlin and he's got great moves as well. Wish I had some of them.

Wonderfully melancholy and entertaining take on the noir style, with a spot-on odd couple casting of Art Carney as an aging gumshoe and Lily Tomlin as a ditsy New Age dame, both looking for something and someone to give their empty lives real meaning. The plot is appropriately convoluted, as befits a Chandleresque mystery story, but as with most noirs a tight plot is not really what matters. Forget about who killed who and what for. It's all about the characters, and they're all memorable and played pitch- perfect. This movie could have gone badly wrong in so many ways, but director Benton knew what he was aiming for: a both funny and touching portrait of two lonely people, who even welcome murder and violence if it can get them out of the stifling rut their lives have become. Blending genres can be tricky, but here the suspense and comedy are equally balanced. Carney is effortlessly convincing as a man who would rather be gunned down than waste away in a hospital bed; it's almost as if he hopes to die on the job. Tomlin's character is gratingly annoying at times, but then she's supposed to be, otherwise she would have been merely cute and kooky. The supporting cast is equally excellent, all hitting the right notes. Those looking for belly laughs or nail-biting suspense will find this too mild for their tastes. Anyone interested in a movie that is both touching, exciting and entertaining should seek out this little gem.

The Late Show is one of the most underrated films of all time. It's somewhat convoluted detective plot has raised comparisons to Chinatown, which is both unfair and unfortunate. This is a film that stands out on its own.The acting is generally very good, and the performances by the leads are particularly strong. Dialogue which might have seemed forced or corny with less assured actors is believable and often funny here. Art Carney and Lily Tomlin are fun to watch as a bickering detective duo brought together as much by mutual loneliness as by anything the plot throws at them. Both are able to keep their characters interesting without overdoing it. It would have been especially easy for Ms. Tomlin to go over the top with her depiction of the rather flighty Margo, but she manages to balance her character's peculiarities and make it look effortless.Robert Benton received an academy award nomination for his screenplay, but he really deserved more recognition for directing a film in which he gets the mood just right, and trusts his cast to do their jobs well. This was no mean feat for a work that needs to be film noir with some comic timing.I saw this film when it first came out nearly 30 years ago, and then watched it again recently. At a time when so many films rely on computer generated images, and plots that seem dreamed up by marketing departments, it was refreshing to rediscover a film that relies on strong direction, and outstanding acting.