The Late Show is a murder mystery, a comedy, and a sort of romantic relationship that is so entertaining and real that you don't even mind that you can't follow the plot. The film was directed by Robert Benton who received an Oscar nomination for best screenplay and stars Art Carney ("Harry and Tonto") and Lily Tomin, (nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress) in two terrific performances.
In the film, a takeoff on 40s film noir, Ira Wells (Carney) is a sixty-something washed up private eye with a bum leg and a perforated ulcer and his client Margo Stirling (Lily Tomlin) is a slightly wacky but charming woman (also irritating), fluent in seventies enlightenment lingo. Together they team up to look for the creep that killed Ira's best friend Harry Regan (Howard Duff). And not so quiet flows the blood as well as the laughs as they unravel a convoluted plot that requires a PhD minimum to understand. The blood is there to remind us that it is serious business. Otherwise, we would never know. It's such great fun.
In the film, a takeoff on 40s film noir, Ira Wells (Carney) is a sixty-something washed up private eye with a bum leg and a perforated ulcer and his client Margo Stirling (Lily Tomlin) is a slightly wacky but charming woman (also irritating), fluent in seventies enlightenment lingo. Together they team up to look for the creep that killed Ira's best friend Harry Regan (Howard Duff). And not so quiet flows the blood as well as the laughs as they unravel a convoluted plot that requires a PhD minimum to understand. The blood is there to remind us that it is serious business. Otherwise, we would never know. It's such great fun.