The Late Show (film)
Encyclopedia
The Late Show is a 1977
comedy
, neo-noir
, romance
, mystery
film
written and directed by Robert Benton
and produced by Robert Altman
. It stars Art Carney
, Lily Tomlin
, Bill Macy
, Eugene Roche
, and Joanna Cassidy
. The film follows an aging detective trying to solve the case of his partner’s murder while dealing with a flamboyant new client.
Benton was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1977
.
The trail leads Ira to a small-time fence named Birdwell, whose young bodyguard Lamar is only too happy to rough up the old man when Ira pays a call. But they make a mistake in intimidating and underestimating Ira, who ends up paying Lamar back in kind as well as tracking down Birdwell's missing wife.
Meanwhile, a would-be client named Margo Sperling is introduced to Ira by a mutual acquaintance, Charlie Hatter, a tipster. Margo is a quirky individual who acts as an agent for a singer, sells marijuana on the side and wants to hire Ira to find not a murderer but just her missing cat.
As they get to know each other after a rocky start, Ira and Margo hit it off to the point that she offers to become his new partner. But first they need to deal with a dangerous confrontation in Margo's apartment.
, Robert Benton brought his script to Robert Altman
who, after reading it, decided to produce the film. Production began in spring of 1976
and wrapped in November.
based on 13 reviews. Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
said "And most of all, it's a movie that dares a lot, pulls off most of it, and entertains us without insulting our intelligence" giving the film a four-star rating.
's performance won him the Best Actor Award at the National Society of Film Critics
award ceremony. Tomlin's performance was nominated for Best Actress at the BAFTA awards, and the Golden Globe Award
s and she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress
at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival
. Robert Benton was nominated for several awards including the Golden Berlin Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, the WGA Award at the WGA
's annual ceremony, and he was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Benton won the award for Best Motion Picture at the Edgar Award
s.
1977 in film
The year 1977 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network....
comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
, neo-noir
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
, romance
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
, mystery
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
written and directed by Robert Benton
Robert Benton
Robert Douglas Benton is an American screenwriter and film director.Benton was born in Waxahachie, Texas, the son of Dorothy and Ellery Douglass Benton, a telephone company employee. He attended the University of Texas and Columbia University. Benton has won numerous awards for both writing and...
and produced by Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
. It stars Art Carney
Art Carney
Arthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners....
, Lily Tomlin
Lily Tomlin
Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960's when she began a career as a stand up comedian and became a featured performer on television's Laugh-in...
, Bill Macy
Bill Macy
Bill Macy is an American television and stage actor.Macy was born in Revere, Massachusetts, to Mollie and Michael Garber, a manufacturer...
, Eugene Roche
Eugene Roche
Eugene Harrison Roche was an American actor . He was the original "Ajax Man" in 1970s television commercials.-Personal life:...
, and Joanna Cassidy
Joanna Cassidy
Joanna Cassidy is an American film and television actress. She is known for her role as the replicant Zhora in the Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner...
. The film follows an aging detective trying to solve the case of his partner’s murder while dealing with a flamboyant new client.
Benton was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1977
1977 in film
The year 1977 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network....
.
Plot
A financially strained, aging private detective named Ira Wells isn't a well man and is barely active in the business. He is a loner who doesn't much care for company or small talk. When his ex-partner Harry Regan, however, shows up at Ira's boarding house one night mortally wounded while on a case, Ira feels it's up to him to get to the bottom of it.The trail leads Ira to a small-time fence named Birdwell, whose young bodyguard Lamar is only too happy to rough up the old man when Ira pays a call. But they make a mistake in intimidating and underestimating Ira, who ends up paying Lamar back in kind as well as tracking down Birdwell's missing wife.
Meanwhile, a would-be client named Margo Sperling is introduced to Ira by a mutual acquaintance, Charlie Hatter, a tipster. Margo is a quirky individual who acts as an agent for a singer, sells marijuana on the side and wants to hire Ira to find not a murderer but just her missing cat.
As they get to know each other after a rocky start, Ira and Margo hit it off to the point that she offers to become his new partner. But first they need to deal with a dangerous confrontation in Margo's apartment.
Cast
- Art CarneyArt CarneyArthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners....
as Ira Wells - Lily TomlinLily TomlinMary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960's when she began a career as a stand up comedian and became a featured performer on television's Laugh-in...
as Margo Sperling - Bill MacyBill MacyBill Macy is an American television and stage actor.Macy was born in Revere, Massachusetts, to Mollie and Michael Garber, a manufacturer...
as Charlie Hatter - Eugene RocheEugene RocheEugene Harrison Roche was an American actor . He was the original "Ajax Man" in 1970s television commercials.-Personal life:...
as Ronnie Birdwell - Joanna CassidyJoanna CassidyJoanna Cassidy is an American film and television actress. She is known for her role as the replicant Zhora in the Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner...
as Laura Birdwell - John ConsidineJohn ConsidineThis article is about the writer and actor. For his grandfather, the vaudeville pioneer, see John Considine . For the former Florida state representative, see John J...
as Lamar - Ruth Nelson as Mrs. Schmidt
- John DaveyJohn DaveyJohn Philip Davey , is a former British Olympic swimmer. At the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, he won bronze medals in both the 400 m freestyle and 400 m individual medley....
as Sergeant Dayton - Howard DuffHoward DuffHoward Green Duff was an American actor of film, television, stage, and radio.Duff was born in Charleston, Washington, now a part of Bremerton. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle in 1932 where he began acting in school plays only after he was cut from the basketball team...
as Harry Regan
Production
In early 19761976 in film
The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
, Robert Benton brought his script to Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
who, after reading it, decided to produce the film. Production began in spring of 1976
1976 in film
The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
and wrapped in November.
Critical reception
The Late Show got extremely positive reviews when it was initially released in 1977. The Late Show has a 100% rating at Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 13 reviews. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
said "And most of all, it's a movie that dares a lot, pulls off most of it, and entertains us without insulting our intelligence" giving the film a four-star rating.
Awards and nominations
The film received several award nominations many for Benton's screenplay. CarneyArt Carney
Arthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners....
's performance won him the Best Actor Award at the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
award ceremony. Tomlin's performance was nominated for Best Actress at the BAFTA awards, and the Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
s and she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress
Silver Bear for Best Actress
The Silver Bear for Best Actress is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actress.-Awards:- External links :*...
at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival
27th Berlin International Film Festival
The 27th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 24 to July 5, 1977.-Jury:* Senta Berger * Ellen Burstyn* Helène Vager* Rainer Werner Fassbinder* Derek Malcolm* Andrej Michaolkow-Kontschalowski* Ousmane Sembène...
. Robert Benton was nominated for several awards including the Golden Berlin Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, the WGA Award at the WGA
WGA
WGA is a three-letter abbreviation for:* Writers Guild of America, an American union** Writers Guild of America, East** Writers Guild of America, West* Web Gallery of Art* Western Golf Association...
's annual ceremony, and he was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Benton won the award for Best Motion Picture at the Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
s.