A case for Harper
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A case for Harper |
| Original title | Harper |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1966 |
| length | 121 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jack Smight |
| script | William Goldman |
| production |
Jerry Gershwin Elliott Kastner |
| music | Johnny Almond |
| camera | Conrad L. Hall |
| cut | Stefan Arnsten |
| occupation | |
| |
A case for Harper (Original title: Harper ) is an American thriller from 1966 with Paul Newman in the lead role. The film is based on the novel The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald . Screenwriter William Goldman received the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1967.
action
The private detective Lew Harper is on behalf of the rich Mrs. Sampson to clear up the mysterious disappearance of her husband Ralph. Nobody has seen him since returning from Las Vegas on a business trip. Harper starts the investigation with Allan Taggert, Sampson's private pilot. He soon realizes that the missing millionaire was not very popular with his acquaintances and his wife either.
The first lead leads Harper to former actress Fay Estabrook. Fay worked for Sampson as an astrological consultant. While meeting Fay, Harper meets her seedy husband, Dwight Troy.
When a ransom note arrives demanding a half a million dollar ransom, it is clear that there is more to Sampson's disappearance. It is actually a kidnapping.
Harper finds out that Troy, together with the sect leader Claude, leads a gang of smugglers that smuggle Mexican foreign workers into the States.
The drug addict bar singer Betty Fraley turns out to be Taggert's secret lover, but she is also informed about Troy's illicit business.
There is a shooting at the ransom delivery. The money is gone and Sampson is gone too. Harper finds out that Fay, Betty, Taggert and the driver Eddie were behind the kidnapping. Troy finds out and tortures Betty until she reveals the hiding place. Harper arrives and shoots Troy.
Then Betty reveals where Sampson is hidden and he informs his acquaintance, the lawyer who helped him get this job. When he arrives at the hiding place, he is knocked down and finds Sampson murdered. Later he drives away with his friend, who admits to having killed Sampson. Harper can't cover him. His friend points the pistol at him, but lets his hand drop again.
Reviews
“The action is fast and the case is well clarified in this carefully made color film. But at some point it seems a little too obvious, imitative, old-fashioned and, worst of all, stale. "
“Despite the great expense of equipment, it is not very convincing because it is illogical and implausibly constructed American crime film. Exaggerated brutality. Also superfluous for adults. "
“A private detective is looking for a kidnapped multimillionaire. Psychologically poorly motivated, sometimes tough crime fighter according to Ross MacDonald. "
Web links
- A case for Harper in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ The New York Times
- ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 395/1966
- ↑ A case for Harper. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 26, 2019 .