

Harper is a cynical private eye in the best tradition of Bogart. He even has Bogie's Baby hiring him to find her missing husband, getting involved along the way with an assortment of unsavory characters and an illegal-alien smuggling ring.
Acting
Newman's Harper smirks through pain like it's a hobby
Cinematography
LA mansions shot like they're hiding corpses in the grout

Director
Jack Smight
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The role was originally written for Frank Sinatra, who dropped out—Newman stepped in and made Harper his own franchise starter, though only one sequel followed.
Bacall playing a wealthy ice queen hiring Newman mirrors her own Bogart legacy; the film winks at noir history while the sun-bleached California setting deliberately rejects shadowy black-and-white tradition.