Lew Harper, a cool private investigator, is hired by a wealthy California matron to locate her kidnapped husband.

Director:

Writers:

(screenplay), (novel)
Reviews
1 win & 3 nominations. See more awards »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Action | Crime | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

A big-city private detective travels to the Deep South to help out an old girlfriend who is worried that her husband will find out that she is cheating on him.

Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa
The Prize (1963)
Crime | Drama | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

As the Nobel Prize winners come to Stockholm to receive their awards, their lives are overturned and perturbed in various ways.

Director: Mark Robson
Stars: Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer
Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

A member of British Intelligence assumes a fictitious criminal identity and allows himself to be caught, imprisoned, and freed in order to infiltrate a spy organization and expose a traitor.

Director: John Huston
Stars: Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda, James Mason
Comedy | War
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

When 5 allied generals are captured in Italy in WW II, it is a propaganda nightmare for the Allies. The generals are all 1 star and refuse to take orders from each other in order to plan an... See full summary »

Director: Jack Smight
Stars: Paul Newman, Sylva Koscina, Andrew Duggan
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

A no account outlaw establishes his own particular brand of law and order and builds a town on the edges of civilization in this farcical western. With the aid of an old law text and ... See full summary »

Director: John Huston
Stars: Paul Newman, Ava Gardner, Roy Jenson
Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

In New York, South Bronx's main police precinct is nicknamed Fort Apache by its employees who feel like troopers surrounded by hostiles in a wild west isolated outpost.

Director: Daniel Petrie
Stars: Paul Newman, Edward Asner, Ken Wahl
Western
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

After his employer is murdered by rival cattlemen, a troubled and uneducated young cowboy vows revenge on the murderers,

Director: Arthur Penn
Stars: Paul Newman, Lita Milan, John Dehner
Hud (1963)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

Honest and hard-working Texas rancher Homer Bannon has a conflict with his unscrupulous, selfish, arrogant and egotistical son Hud, who sank into alcoholism after accidentally killing his brother in a car crash.

Director: Martin Ritt
Stars: Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Accused barn burner and con man Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town and quickly ingratiates himself with its richest family, the Varners.

Director: Martin Ritt
Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Drifter Chance Wayne returns to his hometown after many years of trying to make it in the movies. Arriving with him is a faded film star he picked up along the way, Alexandra Del Lago. ... See full summary »

Director: Richard Brooks
Stars: Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight
Hombre (1967)
Western
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

John Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Indians, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.

Director: Martin Ritt
Stars: Paul Newman, Fredric March, Richard Boone
The Outrage (1964)
Drama | Western | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

Travelers in the 1870s Southwest discuss a recent murder trial in which all the principals told differing stories about the events.

Director: Martin Ritt
Stars: Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
Mrs. Sampson
...
Betty Fraley
...
...
...
...
...
Dwight Troy
...
Fay Estabrook
...
Sheriff
...
...
Claude
...
Deputy
Jacqueline deWit ...
Mrs. Kronberg (as Jacqueline de Wit)
Eugene Iglesias ...
Felix
Edit

Storyline

Lew Harper is a Los Angeles based private investigator whose marriage to Susan Harper, who he still loves, is ending in imminent divorce since she can't stand being second fiddle to his work, which is always taking him away at the most inopportune of times. His latest client is tough talking and physically disabled Elaine Sampson, who wants him to find her wealthy husband, Ralph Sampson, missing now for twenty-four hours, ever since he disappeared at Van Nuys Airport after having just arrived from Vegas. No one seems to like Ralph, Elaine included. She believes he is cavorting with some woman, which to her would be more a fact than a problem. Harper got the case on the recommendation of the Sampsons' lawyer and Harper's personal friend, milquetoast Albert Graves, who is unrequitedly in love with Sampson's seductive daughter, Miranda Sampson. Miranda, who Harper later states throws herself at anything "pretty in pants", also has a decidedly cold relationship with her stepmother, Elaine... Written by Huggo

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

This is a different kind of cat named Lew Harper... and excitement clings to him like a dame! [Theatrical] See more »


Certificate:

See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

9 April 1966 (Italy)  »

Also Known As:

El blanco móvil  »

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was the "first solo script credit" of screen-writer William Goldman according to Time Out. See more »

Goofs

When Harper is first talking to Mrs. Sampson, a paralytic, she obviously moves her legs under the towel that is over her. See more »

Quotes

Claude: I'm sorry. You may not come onto holy ground. You've not been purified. I was once a lost and evil man, blind-hearted and sinful. Miranda, here, can tell you that. But then the sword of the blessed sun slew the black beast of the flesh, and I was purified at last.
Lew Harper: Can't I just look around?
Claude: You'll be risking the wrath of the sun god.
Lew Harper: I'm lionhearted.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Drive-in Movie Memories (2001) See more »

Soundtracks

Livin' Alone
Words by Dory Previn
Music by André Previn
Sung by Julie Harris (uncredited)
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
Top-notch detective yarn
7 July 2001 | by (Staten Island, NY) – See all my reviews

Paul Newman makes an ideal Lew Harper (Lew Archer in Mcdonald's novels). And, he is in top form. The supporting cast is amazing. This includes Julie Harris, Lauren Bacall, Pamela Tiffin, Strother Martin, Arthur Hill, Robert Webber, Janet Leigh, and Shelley Winters. Leigh , in particular, makes a bit role one of the film's most memorable moments. The mystery has plenty of good plot twists and Smight direction is tight. All in all, a terrific picture.


57 of 88 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Horrible Music in the Clubs SweetHotAngel
Wacky 'ashram' site? manoli
Ross Macdonald grubstaker58
Quotable Newman quotes compsecure
Doesn't Shelley Winters look 'triffic' in this movie! hkjohn2001a
DVD release this year? thejackal54
Discuss Harper (1966) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?