Yellow Pages (1988)

Director:

James Kenelm Clarke

Writer:

James Kenelm Clarke (writer)

Release Date:

17 June 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Thriller

Tagline:

A top-notch detective never stops until every single clue is uncovered.

Plot:

Forever bungling private investigator Henry Brilliant (Chris Lemmon) has been hired by Maxine de la...

Plot Keywords:

Private Investigator | Detective | Dinner | Undressing | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Chris Lemmon	...	Henry Brilliant
Jean Simmons	...	Maxine de la Hunt
Lea Thompson	...	Marigold de la Hunt
Viveca Lindfors	...	Mrs. Bellinger
Mills Watson	...	Billy O'Shea
Jewel Shepard	...	Peaches
Nancy Cartwright	...	Stephanie
Joe Michael Terry	...	Gary
Elizabeth Spriggs	...	Mrs. Van Der Reuter
John Bird	...	Professor Borg
Michael Gothard	...	Strett
Joyce O'Neal	...	Mrs. Van Eik
Lindy Nisbet	...	Waitress
Tracy Shakespeare	...	Pia
Jeffrey Orman	...	Handsome Young Man

Also Known As:

Going Undercover (USA)

Runtime:

USA:89 min

Country:

UK | Norway

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13

Company:

Miramax Films

Soundtrack:

Trace

A SORRY ATTEMPT AT SATIRE.

Completed in 1984 but not released until four years after, this English production offers little of value. Apparently designed to be a pastiche of the hard boiled detective category of cinema, the work features Chris Lemmon as Henry Brilliant, ineffective private investigator who finds difficulty in obtaining employment other than locating lost pets. His luck appears to improve when wealthy Maxine de la Hunt (Jean Simmons) allegedly selects him directly from his advertisement in telephone yellow pages and offers Henry $2000 per week plus expenses to serve as bodyguard for her stepdaughter Marigold (Lea Thompson) during a European travel junket for coeds. Marigold takes an immediate dislike to her chaperone while Henry's attempts to gain her approval meet with expected rebuffs. The arrangement becomes increasingly complex as a number of subplots appear, silly for the most part. Opening segments are laden with hopelessly unfunny slapstick following which elements of suspense are awakened from the scenario albeit with scant success. Dangerous adventures lack meaning to a viewer when a production fails to provide a sense of purpose, as in this instance. A motif of scientific espionage involving Marigold's father appears but its connection to the remainder of the storyline is put to bed by heavy cutting. Originally titled YELLOW PAGES, released with that name in the United Kingdom and upon the Continent, this weak effort is known as GOING UNDERCOVER in the United States, where it ostensibly has acquired a minor cult following, although one wonders why, as there is minimal wit or imagination to be found in it. Simmons, billed first, is as polished as ever, but Lemmon and Thompson are given the greatest amount of screen time with Lemmon rather charismatic when he is able to avoid the mugging that tarnished his father Jack's performances. Direction is largely pedestrian with no apparent point of view. The majority of the film's drawbacks follow from the director's own script that bounces about in a generally fatuous manner amid themes of comedy, suspense, satire, et alia. However, contributions that are all one might wish are made by cinematographer John Coquillon and also by Moss Mabry for his tasteful costumes, notably those created for Simmons. Opening action is shot in Burbank, the west San Fernando Valley and Bel Air, all in southern California, with most scenes filmed in Copenhagen with a climax in that city's Tivoli Gardens, a wide transmission of locales for a movie that suffers from choppy editing that creates a perception that the director/screenwriter has no firm idea as to what sort of picture he is after making.