Gumshoe (1971)

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writer:

Neville Smith (written by)

Release Date:

December 1971 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Ginley's a gumshoe. Ginley's got guts. Ginley's got a gun.

Plot:

Ginley (Albert Finney) is a nightclub bingo caller eager for a career change. On his thirty-first birthday...

Plot Keywords:

Bingo | Smuggler | Liverpool | Bookstore | Library

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win

Cast

Albert Finney	...	Eddie Ginley
Billie Whitelaw	...	Ellen
Frank Finlay	...	William
Janice Rule	...	Mrs. Blankerscoon
Carolyn Seymour	...	Alison
Fulton Mackay	...	Straker
George Innes	...	Bookshop Proprietor
George Silver	...	De Fries
Bill Dean	...	Tommy (as Billy Dean)
Wendy Richard	...	Anne Scott
Maureen Lipman	...	Naomi
Neville Smith	...	Arthur
Oscar James	...	Azinge
Joe Kenyon	...	Joey (as Joey Kenyon)
Bert King	...	Mal
Christopher Cunningham	...	Clifford (as Chris Cunningham)
Ken Jones	...	Labour Exchange Clerk
Tom Kempinski	...	Psychiatrist
Harry Hutchinson	...	Kleptomaniac
Ernie Mack and The Saturated Seven	...	Artist in Club (as Ernie Mack and the Saturated Seven)
Jayson Kane	...	Artist in Club (as Jason Kane)
The Jacksons	...	Artist in Club
Vicki Day	...	Artist in Club
Scott Christian	...	Artist in Club

Directed by
Stephen Frears

Writing credits
Neville Smith		(written by)

Produced by
David Barber	....	associate producer
Michael Medwin	....	producer
Albert Finney	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Andrew Lloyd Webber

Cinematography by
Chris Menges		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Charles Rees

Casting by
Miriam Brickman

Production Design by
Michael Seymour

Set Decoration by
Harry Cordwell

Makeup Department
Susie Hill	....	hairdresser
Bob Lawrance	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Basil Keys	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ted Sturgis	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jack Carter	....	construction manager
Richard Rambaut	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Rodney Holland	....	sound editor
Doug E. Turner	....	dubbing mixer (as Doug Turner)
Christian Wangler	....	sound recordist
Peter Maxwell	....	assistant dubbing mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Les Bowie	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ray Orton	....	camera operator
Ron Pearce	....	electrical supervisor: Lee Electric Lighting
Jack Roche	....	grip
Sophie Baker	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Daphne Dare	....	costumes
Barbara Gillett	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Jonathan Gili	....	assistant supervising editor
Fergus McDonell	....	supervising editor
Nicholas Napier-Bell	....	assistant supervising editor (as N.J. Napier-Bell)

Music Department
Marcus Dods	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Brian Brockwell	....	production accountant
Pamela Davies	....	continuity (as Pam Davies)
John Southwood	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents) (as Columbia Pictures)
• Memorial Enterprises (as A Memorial Enterprises Film)

Distributors

• Columbia-Warner Distributors (1971) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1976) (USA) (TV)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Video Ltd. (1988) (UK) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Bowie Films (special effects) (as Bowie Films Ltd)

Other Companies

• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | USA:PG | UK:AA (original rating) | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | UK:12 (video re-rating + 4 trailers) (2007) | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2010) | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Lee International Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The movie's producer Michael Medwin once said of this film: "Take a girl, a 'grand', and a gag. The gag being this character Eddie Ginley, who calls himself a 'gumshoe'. More or less as a lark, he puts an ad in an evening paper: 'Ginley's the name, Gumshoe's the game. Private investigations. No divorce work'. When someone takes him at his word, fantasy turns into reality, precipitating him into adventures he sometimes wishes he never started".

Quotes:

Tommy:[Eddie has gone to Botha Export Co Ltd for further investigations] We're closed!
Anne Scott:Got your coat?
Tommy:Yeah!
Anne Scott:Put it on.
Tommy:Who are you?
Anne Scott:Board of Trade.
Tommy:Well, what do you want?
Anne Scott:We have Powers Of Search.
Tommy:You don't look like the Board Of Trade to me.
Anne Scott:We're changing the image. Would you sit down please. Oh, wait. You've got something on your eye. No, don't touch it, don't touch it. Leave it to me. Relax.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Red Dwarf: Gunmen of the Apocalypse (#6.3)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Baby, You're Good For Me

Finney as Bogie

Produced early in Stephen Frears's nearly forty-year career, "Gumshoe" is an affectionate take on the Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler film adaptations that were popular in the 1940's. The movie is great fun, and Bogie aficionados will be especially pleased, if they can decipher the often-impenetrable British accents. Like "The Big Sleep" and other films of the private-eye genre, the plot is a series of seemingly unconnected events that, in this case, almost literally come together at the denouement. The smart banter between Bogart and Bacall echoes in the breathless quips that Albert Finney and Billie Whitelaw trade in some of the film's best moments. A Sydney Greenstreet wannabe is known simply as the fat man, and a dangerous beauty in the persona of Janice Rule is the requisite duplicitous fatale.

As handsome as he was in "Two for the Road" a few years earlier, Finney appears to be having fun as Eddie Ginley, an English Sam Spade. He has the appropriately rumpled demeanor and looks good in a trench coat. His deadpan film-noir-style narration enhances the 1940's feel, although, despite the gritty color, the film cries out for the velvety light and shadows of black-and-white photography. Short, entertaining, and well made on all counts, "Gumshoe" is a minor gem that merits more attention. The film predates "Prick Up Your Ears" and "My Beautiful Laundrette," the director's two breakout films from the mid-1980s, and, after the success of "The Queen" in 2006, viewers owe themselves the pleasure of discovering the talent on display in Stephen Frears's early efforts.