THE BEST FORGOTTEN DETECTIVE FILMS OF THE 1970s Part One

                                     THE LATE SHOW (1977: Dir. Robert Benton)
                                             

The poster for this film features a classic Richard Amsel illustration that perfectly conveys the old fashioned whimsy of this superb murder-mystery. Written and directed by Robert Benton ( Bonnie & Clyde, Kramer Vs. Kramer), and produced by Robert Altman ( M.A.S.H., Nashville), this cheeky Seventies homage to the traditional detective genre of the Forties, is one of the most enjoyable cult films of its era. A poignant, suspenseful, funny and humane genre spoof starring broken-down relic Art Carney, and kooky new-age Lily Tomlin, as the most entertainingly mis-matched team of sleuths in cinema history. Benton would return to these same autumnal themes in Twilight (1998), a sort of geriatric Chinatown with Paul Newman as another jaded old private investigator, up to his cynical eyeballs in murder and corruption. Both films are equally rewarding for the inquisitive viewer. DVD REGION 1