Forever famous for his role as Ed Norton on televisions The Honeymooners, Art Carney found success on the big screen, winning a Best Actor Oscar for his role as Harry Coombes in Harry and Tonto. In 1978, he joined Lilly Tomlin in The Late Show, an homage to the noir films of the 1940’s.
Written and directed by Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer) and produced by Robert Altman, Carney plays cranky, aging private detective Ira Wells. Semi-retired, Ira slickster friend Charlie Hatter (Bill Macy) introduces him to Margo Spelling (Lily Tomlin) a motor mouthed pothead to solve the murder of Ira’s former partner Harry Regan, who had been trying to find Margo’s missing cat, Winston.
Old, tired, and hampered by a bad leg, Harry is determined to solve the case. The case has several twists and turns, involving a mystery man named Brian Hemphill (who kidnapped Margo’s cat because she stole money from him while smuggling weed), facing off with a hood named Ronnie Birdwell (Eugene Roche), and his violence loving henchmen Lamar (John Considine), a stolen stamp collection, a late-night car chase, a body in a refrigerator, and more, this case turns out to be much more than Ira thought.
There’s a lot to unpack, but the story unfolds at an enjoyable pace and doesn’t require full understanding to get some laughs. Benton’s Oscar nominated script is full of snappy dialogue but also has some surprisingly dark moments. Art Carney does a wonderful job as Ira. A man who used to be tops in his profession is dealing with the difficulties of aging. His body doesn’t always do what he wants—along with a bump leg, he’s dealing with a bleeding ulcer and wears a hearing aid. Lily Tomlin is great too. Her motormouth dialogue works well for her character. The chemistry between Art Carney and Lily Tomlin is obvious and both take the murder and mayhem going on around them in stride. Bill Macy as Ira’s buddy Charlie, makes for a perfect sleaze ball. Eugene Roche is low key amusing as a gangster who deals in stolen property. While Joanna Cassidy doesn’t have a lot to do as the terribly unhappy wife of a mobster, I always enjoy seeing her. Ruth Nelson has a couple of fun moments, seemingly unaware of everything going on around her.
Sourced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, Warner Archive has delivered another excellent transfer. Presented in the film’s original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the films’ dark hues and amber color palette is wonderfully vibrant. Blacks are inky throughout. While there are a few moments of brief softness, delineation is strong. Grain structure is pleasing, giving the proceedings a filmic appearance. The image is clean, with no apparent scratches or other anomalies.
The DTS-HD MA mono soundtrack serves the film well, providing clean, clear. Snd concise dialogue throughout. Ambient effects and Kenneth Wannberg’s score is mixed well, never interfering with vocals. There are no cracks, pops, etc., in evidence.
English SDH subtitles are available.
The following extras are included:
- Dinah! (SD, 4:53) Lily Tomlin introduces a clip from the film.
- Trailer (SD, 1:55)
