"The Cheap Detective" is a sometimes clever send up of private eye films of the 40's. Writer Neil Simon borrows heavily from the Bogart/Sam Spade films but comes up with a sometimes confusing mystery wrapped in a sometimes fun spoof. Peter Falk stars as the title character and some of the best lines come from his being very cheap. He never tips a cab driver. Ever. Some of his good lines to the cabbies include:
"Sorry no tip. Death in the family". "Sorry no tip. War veteran".
My favorite is when Falk gives the cabbie money. The cabbie says "Shall I keep the change?" to which Falk replies "No. I'll keep it". Good stuff. Unfortunately there is a mystery to solve and it gets in the way frankly. It is confusing and so many characters (played by a plethora of famous faces) come and go it's hard to keep track of them. Falk also has a knack for attracting women and another fun scene involves all of these women coming to his house one right after the other while Falk tries to maintain his cool.
None of the guest appearances are terribly special though Ann Margret does look incredibly sexy in her one scene with Sid Caesar. Like the rest of the movie, this scene starts well and screeches to a halt. On the whole it is watchable but not one of Simon's best.
"Sorry no tip. Death in the family". "Sorry no tip. War veteran".
My favorite is when Falk gives the cabbie money. The cabbie says "Shall I keep the change?" to which Falk replies "No. I'll keep it". Good stuff. Unfortunately there is a mystery to solve and it gets in the way frankly. It is confusing and so many characters (played by a plethora of famous faces) come and go it's hard to keep track of them. Falk also has a knack for attracting women and another fun scene involves all of these women coming to his house one right after the other while Falk tries to maintain his cool.
None of the guest appearances are terribly special though Ann Margret does look incredibly sexy in her one scene with Sid Caesar. Like the rest of the movie, this scene starts well and screeches to a halt. On the whole it is watchable but not one of Simon's best.