The Private Eyes (1980)

This spoof of the Sherlock Holmes stories finds Inspector Winship and Dr. Tart investigating a strange death in a possibly haunted mansion, while dealing with the beautiful heiress and the ... See full summary »

Director:

Lang Elliott

Writers:

Tim Conway, John Myhers

Stars:

Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Trisha Noble

Cast

Cast overview:
Tim Conway	...	Dr. Tart
Don Knotts	...	Inspector Winship
Trisha Noble	...	Mistress Phyllis Morley
Bernard Fox	...	Justin
Grace Zabriskie	...	Nanny
John Fujioka	...	Mr. Uwatsum
Stan Ross	...	Tibet
Irwin Keyes	...	Jock
Suzy Mandel	...	Hilda
Fred Stuthman	...	Lord Morley
Mary Nell Santacroce	...	Lady Morley
Robert V. Barron	...	Gas Station Attendant
Patrick Cranshaw	...	Roy
Russi Taylor	...	Doll Voice (voice)

Storyline

This spoof of the Sherlock Holmes stories finds Inspector Winship and Dr. Tart investigating a strange death in a possibly haunted mansion, while dealing with the beautiful heiress and the crazed staff which live therein.

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Plot Keywords:

sherlock holmes spoof | inspector | mansion | heiress | spoof | 

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Taglines:

Who better to solve England's most puzzling mystery than these two international crime busters?

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Genres:

Comedy | Mystery

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 April 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Detectives casi privados

Filming Locations:

Biltmore Estate - 1 Approach Road, Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$18,014,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 97 min (Laserdisc) 100 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The characters of Inspector Winship (Don Knotts) and Dr. Tart (Tim Conway) were a parody of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson respectively. Winship wears the trademark Sherlock deerstalker hat but smokes a cigar instead of a pipe. Both however are detectives for an official law enforcement body whereas Holmes and Watson were both in the private sector. The Tart character is also a doctor like Watson.

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Goofs

As Phyllis leads Winship and Tart up the staircase.

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Quotes

Nanny: [about Lord Morly] He claimed to have the power to return from the dead.
Dr. Tart: They say the wookalars have the power to return from the dead, too, and they only have a brain the size of a pea.
Inspector Winship: In that case, you'd have a hard time getting into the group.

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Crazy Credits

In the opening animated credits, as Dr. Tart walks by he changes the Director's name painted on the fence from "Long Elliott" to "Lang Elliott"

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Alternate Versions

The television version which first aired in the early '80s included an extra scene, set in the dining room of Morley Manor. Inspector Winship and Dr. Tart switch identities trying to fool Mistress Phyllis and her staff.

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997)

User Reviews

sad to see people not seeing a goofy classic

Growing up it was Andy and Three's company and so on that had campy humor. It was the same case that was "funny" for the slap stick type of humor of what was considered funny "in the 70's and 80's" and so on for other TV shows for their time. In my opinion watching this movie reflecting back to the time it was and remembering it as kid to now was just great. The humor that made me smile was nice and made me think back to the days when i watched those shows, as i often do on nick at night, to laugh as I did then and still do even on reruns. Tim Conway and Don Knotts do a great job of muddling thru trying to solve a mystery with a great supporting cast.