Harper

"Harper takes a case - and the payoff is murder."

1966 2h 1m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 203

MysteryCrimeThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Harper is a cynical private eye in the best tradition of Bogart. He even has Bogie's Baby hiring him to find her missing husband, getting involved along the way with an assortment of unsavory characters and an illegal-alien smuggling ring.

“Harper takes a case - and the payoff is murder.”

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Cast

Paul Newman
Lew Harper
Lauren Bacall
Elaine Sampson
Julie Harris
Betty Fraley
Arthur Hill
Albert Graves
Janet Leigh
Susan Harper
Pamela Tiffin
Miranda Sampson
Robert Wagner
Allan Taggert
Robert Webber
Dwight Troy

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jack Smight
Writers: William Goldman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

60 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Lew Harper Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jack Smight, shot by Conrad Hall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Johnny Mandel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Stefan Arnsten shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Paul Newman and Lauren Bacall and Julie Harris carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jack Smight directs. Conrad Hall behind the camera. Johnny Mandel scores. Stefan Arnsten cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.
360 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Part of the "Lew Harper Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Jack Smight, shot by Conrad Hall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Johnny Mandel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Stefan Arnsten shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Paul Newman and Lauren Bacall and Julie Harris carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Harper takes a case - and the payoff is murder.".
10IMDB entry: tt0060490 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 16 themes, including "adultery", "husband wife relationship", "based on novel or book", "kidnapping".

The technical file

Cinematography: Conrad Hall
Original score: Johnny Mandel
Editing: Stefan Arnsten
Makeup / hair: Jean Burt Reilly
Stunt coordinator: Paul Baxley
Runtime: 121 min · 2h 1m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,500,000
Box office: $12,000,000
Return: 343% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Harper (1966)

Part of

Lew Harper Collection

Harper (released in the UK as The Moving Target) is a 1966 American mystery film based on Ross Macdonald's 1949 novel The Moving Target and adapted for the screen by novelist William Goldman, who admired MacDonald's writings. The film stars Paul Newman as Lew Harper (Lew Archer in the novel). It is directed by Jack Smight, with an ensemble cast that includes Robert Wagner, Julie Harris, Janet Leigh, Shelley Winters and Arthur Hill. The film pays homage to Humphrey Bogart's portrayals of Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe by featuring Bogart's widow, Lauren Bacall, who plays a wounded wife searching for her missing husband, a role similar to General Sternwood in the 1946 Bogart-and-Bacall film, The Big Sleep. In 1975, Newman reprised the role in The Drowning Pool.