A reasonable spoof of 'The Maltese Falcon' and 'Casablanca' performed by a very competent cast with some jokes hitting the mark and others just not. The film itself looks excellent, set and costumes adding to the pre-War atmosphere of San Francisco (and not England as one character wrongly assumes!) There is a central mystery as Lou Peckinpaugh investigates the murder of his private eye partner Merkle but the plot wanders about to other matters too, including women's improbable attraction to Lou. Of the characters I liked best faithful secretary Bess (Stockard Channing), the overly perfumed Pepe Damascus (Dom DeLuise), Tinker the pianist (Scatman Crothers) and of course the aptly named Jezebel Dezire played wonderfully by Ann-Margret who sadly wasn't in it much. Not a classic but pleasant enough.
Review of The Cheap Detective
