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The Cheap Detective

Play trailer Poster for The Cheap Detective PG 1978 1h 32m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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53% Tomatometer 17 Reviews 57% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
In this satire of film noir, Lou Peckinpaugh (Peter Falk) is a San Francisco detective in the boozy, wise-cracking tradition of Humphrey Bogart in "The Maltese Falcon." A suspect in the murder of his own partner, Lou hopes to solve the crime and exonerate himself before the cops haul him in. Meanwhile, he takes a case involving stolen diamonds, and gets reacquainted with his old flame, Marlene DuChard (Louise Fletcher), who's on the run from the Gestapo.
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The Cheap Detective

Critics Reviews

View All (17) Critics Reviews
Bob Thomas Associated Press There are some moments of forced silliness, but the average of hilarity is impressive. Jul 17, 2019 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times If you loved The Maltese Falcon and can recite all the best lines from Casablanca by heart, you'll hate The Cheap Detective, which is basically just the year's classiest and most expensive rip-off. Rated: 2/4 Jun 16, 2018 Full Review Nell Minow Movie Mom Rated: 2/5 Nov 1, 2003 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy The hit-to-miss ratio is acceptable enough to give this a hearty recommendation. Rated: 3/4 Feb 17, 2023 Full Review Kathey Clarey Fresno Bee Neil Simon has done it again. Written a film that is funny, entertaining, and a treat for old movie buffs. Aug 5, 2021 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Disappointing thin comedy. Rated: C+ May 30, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (82) audience reviews
Mike S Silly but hilarious spoof. Similar in humor to Airplane and Naked Gun, but with a more historic reference. It was a great diversion from the absurdity that is today's world. So many great performers and a good reminder of how talented Madelyn Khan was. The ending was a great twist. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/07/24 Full Review Audience Member The 1940s wartime setting and wardrobe were the best things in this movie. The storyline and script were not good. Not Neil Simon's best. Maybe the 1978 audience was not as sophisticated as today. This film seemed to be solely built on star power alone and has not aged well. It looked like everything was filmed in a studio. I can't be sure there were any authentic outside shots. It was what it was. Cheers. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/27/24 Full Review Clint E It's a Bogie spoof, it's Neil Simon plus Peter Falk leading an all-star 70s cast. While Bogart remains the greatest movie star ever and his best known films, The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca, set the standard for memorable lines, The Cheap Detective hiariously succeeds as an inside-joke type spoof. The 1970s was an era teeming with muder mysteries with all-star casts, setting the stage for this total mash-up of fun. I'd love to see the outtakes. Neil Simon's dialogue is upraoaious, but with the addition of stars such as Falk doing Bogart and Fernando Llamas doing Paul Henreid, the Nazi major in Casablanca, the result is too funny for words. I didn't expect the dead-pan hunor from Louise Fletcher, but she pulls it off flawlessly as does every otherv actor. For the record I liked this slightly more than the similar Murder By Death or even Clue, made almost a decade later. Kudos to Eileen Brennan, who's in all three! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/24 Full Review David W A personal favourite comedy of my wife and I. A wonderful cast with too many great turns and cameos to mention, revel in Neil Simon's wonderful script. Falk, Khan and Brennan are magnificent as always and really show their comedy chops. So many great lines. An old fashioned, witty and effortlessly charming send up of the Maltese Falcon, film noir and the detective genre of the golden age. A hugely underrated comedy classic. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/02/23 Full Review Michael H Rapid humor with a large cast of well known comedic actors that develop over the top characters who keep you chuckling. Peter Faulk and Madeline Khan's funniest roles. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/01/23 Full Review Tony S Amusing like the Airplane movie. Different genre, same kind of jokes. Written by Neil Simon, if you think it seems more like Mel Brooks, you're not wrong. A great cast. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this satire of film noir, Lou Peckinpaugh (Peter Falk) is a San Francisco detective in the boozy, wise-cracking tradition of Humphrey Bogart in "The Maltese Falcon." A suspect in the murder of his own partner, Lou hopes to solve the crime and exonerate himself before the cops haul him in. Meanwhile, he takes a case involving stolen diamonds, and gets reacquainted with his old flame, Marlene DuChard (Louise Fletcher), who's on the run from the Gestapo.
Director
Robert Moore
Producer
Ray Stark
Production Co
Columbia Pictures Corporation, EMI Films Ltd., Rastar Pictures
Rating
PG
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
May 1, 2013
Runtime
1h 32m
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