Paul Newman stars in a private-eye thriller that's Hollywood's own tribute to those superb Bogart thrillers of the Forties. Newman plays the seedy, tough detective Lew Harper who is, as William Goldman's screenplay succinctly puts it, 'hired by a bitch to find scum'. The 'scum' is a missing millionaire, although his wife (played by Bogart's widow, Lauren Bacall) doesn't seem too upset when warned that he may already be dead. So who's the kidnapper? The flashy playboy (Robert Webber), the chauffeur who seems to live above his means (Robert Wagner), the drug-addicted pianist (Julie Harris) or a film star who 'got fat' (Shelley Winters)? Or is it all of them? Not above suspicion are Harper's own estranged wife (Janet Leigh) and his lawyer friend (Arthur Hill). As might be expected from such a cast list, this is rather a thing of bits and pieces. But Newman and Bacall really strike sparks off each other in their too-few scenes together.

©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes