classicsoncall If you enjoy movie parody, this send-up of Bogart classics will be right up your alley. The nods to "Casablanca" and "The Maltese Falcon" are plainly obvious, with more than a passing reference in the latter part of the picture to "The Big Sleep". You could tell the principal players were having a hoot of a time filming this; just watch Louise Fletcher as she caresses Peter Falk's shoulder in that scene where he tells her he has a bottle of champagne he bought for the honeymoon that never was. When he mentions that the bread and cheese got hard as a rock, she starts to crack up before gaining composure again.With the usual gang of idiots like Madeline Kahn and Dom DeLuise on hand, one might think this was a Mel Brooks production, but this one comes courtesy of Neil Simon and director Robert Moore. It's almost impossible to pick out a favorite funny moment because there are so many quips and sight gags it's hard to keep up. Every time Lou Peckinpaugh (Peter Falk) opens a nightstand or desk drawer he's pulling out a ready made drink, doing so with the greatest equanimity. Each of the female leads was a blast and a half, pulling off their impersonations perfectly, with both Eileen Brennan and Ann-Margret sending up Bogey's main squeeze, Lauren Bacall.While it's fun to play the match game with the characters here with those in Bogart's actual films, I guess my favorite would have been Madeline Kahn doing the Mary Astor thing from "The Maltese Falcon" with all the phony aliases. Scatman Crothers is also in fine form as piano player Tinker, reprising the Dooley Wilson role as Sam in "Casablanca". I would never have guessed that 'Jeepers, Creepers' was on Lou's forbidden song list the same way 'As Time Goes By' was for Rick Blaine. Not enough romance in it I guess.A couple years after this film came out, Robert Sacchi did a similar turn in "The Man With Bogart's Face", another parody heavy on the Casablanca and Maltese Falcon references. The one thing he did that Peter Falk didn't even try was Bogey's familiar facial grimace in a tense situation, although by the time that picture was finished he might have overdone it. So if it comes to making a recommendation between the two flicks, I'd have to paraphrase Rick Blaine from "Casablanca" or Marlene DuChard (Louise Fletcher) in this one - "Of all the cheap gin joints and film noir knock-offs in this world, I pick this one".

poj-man I stumbled across this film just as it was starting. The discovery was quite a surprise to me. Although I know many films of the crime genre I had never heard of The Cheap Detective. I decided to give the movie a try.The film is a Neil Simon play adapted for the big screen. This means that one gets very little physical action. One gets characters moving from room to room spouting dialog at each other. This works OK to a point but it holds back the film from becoming more than a 2 to 3 star movie. Turner Classic movies has it as 2 star; I think 3 star is probably better but it probably settle between the 2 ratings.The set up section was a bit slow and had me wondering if I would stay through to the end. I know many of the films being parodied and I know how hard it is to pull in all the various elements to make a humorous parody so I can cut the production some slack there. So...while a send up of Casablanca's Ricks is necessary it doesn't mean that it came off that well.The film gets better once we get out of Rick's. The pacing and the dialog come together better once we get to what I think Simon had more in mind which is a Sam Spade\Philip Marlowe send up of the Cheap Detective's relationship with his women. But...the scenes have to be set up somehow.I read from some the reviews that they can't understand Peter Falk's dialog. I had no issues with his speech. In fact the film is carried by Falk's acting ability. He pulls off the Cheap Detective role well because it is not far from Columbo for him to play.It certainly helps to know the source material. The cameos and supporting roles add a charm 35 years later playing the game of "oh...that is so-and-so" as they appear on screen. But if one doesn't know that John Houseman is doing a send up of Sydney Greenstreet's Kasper Gutman then one completely misses out on what is actually going on.The problem is that there is no real purpose to the story. There is no point. It doesn't have that "edge" that Mel Brook's most successful films\stories had. If you didn't see where this was going you must be young.That said...I didn't mind watching The Cheap Detective. Will I buy it and add to the movie collection? Probably not. Do I consider it better, same or worse than Murder By Death? Well...it is different because The Cheap Detective only has one lead character to lampoon versus creating the MBD ensemble. I personally like CD over MBD but only because I am more over a ladies man for a movie and CD has more cheesecake in it. That's hardly saying one is better; I think they are basically the same product just done a little bit different.It certainly is a lot better...though....than the sophomoric material that passes for comedy in today's world.

cardinalcall Don't bother watching this movie: it's awful. I could have written a funnier screenplay than Neil Simon. Booo. My only regret is that the playwright was not the victim in this detective story.Sid Caesar was not funny; Peter Falk was not funny; Madeline Kahn was not funny; Louise Fletcher was not funny; the who-don-it is the playwright...he murdered this script! Booo.Although I thought "The Odd Couple" and "Max Dugan Returns" were great screenplays written by Simon, I think he wrote a number of not-too-clever and not-too-funny plays despite the casting of some notable actors and actresses.My only puzzlement is: why did these big name actors and actresses agree to do this script? Was it to pay their income taxes? Aren't actors and actresses supposed to have some standards for the quality of the scripts and the materials? As Alfred, the Macy janitor in "Miracle on 34th Street" said: 'Yeah, there's a lot of bad 'isms' floatin' around this world, but one of the worst is commercialism. Make a buck, make a buck. Even in Brooklyn it's the same ... just make a buck, make a buck.' Well, Alfred, even in Hollywood it appears to be the same - don't care what cinema and art stands for, just make a buck, make a buck.

dimplet If this is what some reviewers consider great writing and acting, my cat has a script you should read. A seventh grader with spell check coulda written this script. There wasn't a single funny line in it.Hey, I love Peter Falk, and when you put him together with Sid Caesar and the rest, it shoulda been a blockbuster. Maybe in 1968 this would have been considered funny, in 1958 it would have been considered daring, but by 1978 it seems hopelessly hackneyed.Yeah, I get it, I get it, it's a spoof of all those Bogey films, but with all the subtlety of a rubber sledgehammer. How about something clever, like vamping on Peter Lorre's walking stick, or getting caught in the rain, or what Bogey really wanted to do in that used book store with the clerk? If you insist on watching this, I suggest you put on a pot of strong, black coffee. You're going to need it.