The Late Show

Name: The Late Show
Genre: Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
Released: 1977-07-04
Duration: 1 h 33 min
Rating: 6.9
Cast: Art Carney, Lily Tomlin, Bill Macy

19771977
PGPG
1h 33m

Comedy Mystery Thriller

A grumpy semi-retired private investigator partners with a quirky female client to catch the people who murdered his partner.A grumpy semi-retired private investigator partners with a quirky female client to catch the people who murdered his partner.A grumpy semi-retired private investigator partners with a quirky female client to catch the people who murdered his partner.

6.9/10

2.7K

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 4 wins & 7 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 1:54

The Late Show

John Considine, Bill Macy, and Eugene Roche in The Late Show (1977)

Lily Tomlin, Art Carney, and Bill Macy in The Late Show (1977)

Ira Wells is an aged retired Los Angeles, California based private investigator who comes out of retirement when his former partner, Harry Regan, shows up on his doorstep with a bullet wound to the gut and dies. Ira wants to find out who killed Harry. Ira is contacted by another long-time acquaintance, Charlie Hatter, a self-proclaimed loser and Hollywood hack, about Harry's last case. Harry's client was Margo Sterling, a former client of Charlie's who is a flaky, penniless new-age actress, agent, and dress maker. She hired Harry to retrieve her missing cat, Winston, who is being held ransom by an acquaintance named Brian Hemphill, who stole Winston because Margo "borrowed" money. With all this, Ira has to figure out what would be the reason for someone to kill Harry. —Huggo

murder gun cat gumshoe los angeles california 4 more

Taglines
- The nicest movie you'll ever see about murder and blackmail. [Lobby Card]
Genres
Certificate
- PG
Parents guide

Trivia
Art Carney won the National Society of Film Critics (U.S.) Best Actor Award for his role in this movie.

Goofs
The first close-up of Charlie's white shoes with blood on them also shows Ira's black shoes right next to him, but Ira doesn't walk up to help Charlie until the following shot.

Quotes
[Ira's talking to Margo]
Ira: Back in the Forties, this town was crawlin' with dollies like you. Good-lookin' coquettes tryin' their damnedest to act tough as hell. I got news for you: they did it better back then. This town doesn't change - they just push the names around. Same dames... screwin' up their lives just the same way.

Crazy credits
The movie opens with the early 1940's Warner Brothers logo.

Connections
Featured in Sneak Previews: Take 2: Overlooked Classics: Great Movies of the 70's That Nearly Everybody Missed (1980)

Soundtracks
What Was
Lyrics by Stephen Lehner
Music by Kenneth Wannberg (as Ken Wannberg)
Sung by Bev Kelly

Top review

Kooky valentine to noir flicks; great comic chemistry between Art & Lily

THE LATE SHOW (1977) ***1/2 Art Carney, Lily Tomlin, Bill Macy, Eugene Roche, Joanna Cassidy, Howard Duff. Hommage to pulp fiction/film noir gumshoe flicks ala "The Big Sleep" with comedy instead of menace with Carney as over-the-hill private dick hired by loony New Age Tomlin wanting her kidnapped kitty back only to find herself neck deep in murder and adultery in the underbelly of sunny LA. Kooky pairing of the two leads is the films' appeal as well as for its affinity for the genre thanks to writer/director Robert Benton's right on the money approach.

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