The Cheap Detective

Starring:Peter Falk, Ann-Margret, Eileen Brennan, Sid Caesar, Stockard Channing, James Coco, Dom DeLuise, Louise Fletcher, John Houseman, Madeline Kahn, Fernando Lamas, Marsha Mason, Phil Silvers, Abe Vigoda, Paul Williams (III), Nicol Williamson, Emory Bass, Carmine Caridi, James Cromwell, Scatman Crothers
Director: Robert Moore
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Most fans of everything-but-the-kitchen-sink comedies like The Naked Gun and Hot Shots probably think the genre started with Airplane!, but Neil Simon's The Cheap Detective came two years earlier. It's a camp parody of Humphrey Bogart's 1940s detective flicks (particularly The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep), with a big dose of Casablanca thrown in for good measure. There's no point in describing the plot--it's little more than a series of cameos by just about every actor working in the 1970s, including Ann-Margaret, Eileen Brennan, Stockard Channing, James Coco, Scatman Crothers, Dom DeLuise, John Houseman, Marsha Mason, and Nicol Williamson. Peter Falk plays the detective and does a fine Bogey impression. Unfortunately, it's not Neil Simon's best work--he's better at character comedy such as The Odd Couple and The Goodbye Girl than this kind of slapstick--but there are a few good lines and the cast gives it their best. Louise Fletcher, not usually known for comedy, does a sharp satire of Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, and Madeline Kahn never fails to entertain in a variety of disguises. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

"Why do they tell me these things?".......2007-05-04

I loved Peter Falk in this movie. I picked up the DVD some time back and only just now had an opportunity to watch it. FUNNY! Of course, you really have to know Casablanca to appreciate just how funny it really is.

Funny , Funny, Funny.......2007-01-10

One of the most hilarious movies ever made -- Peter Falk is magnificent.

5 if in widescreen.......2006-12-23

This is a wonderful tribute to the films of Bogart. True, it's a spoof, but humor is a wonderful tribute. Peter Falk as Lou Peckinpah is outstanding, and the rest of the cast matches him. Neil Simon, who cut his teeth writing for Sid Caesar, does some of his best work here. The humor starts off with the prologue, and never quits. If you enjoy a good spoof, this is one of the best. Watch it with MURDER BY DEATH.

4 for movie, 2 for presentation. . .......2006-11-15

Neil Simon's THE CHEAP DETECTIVE, the followup to the wildly successful MURDER BY DEATH, is presented here in Fullscreen, rather than the original 1:85. Not as bad as Pan and Scan of a Widescreen 2:35 film, but annoying. Fortunately, the film doesn't suffer much, except when one character is talking to a nose (I hate that. . .). But, since this came out at the same time as the DVD of MURDER BY DEATH, both with quick Neil Simon interviews, why the Fullscreen? Has CBS lost their original film elements? Let's hope THE CHEAP DETECTIVE is reissued in its proper format, just to set the record straight, shweetheart.

Funny.......2006-11-10

This was a thoroughly enjoyable, thoroughly ridiculous story with wonderful comic acting. Have fun!

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