The Cheap Detective

The Cheap Detective
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Robert Moore
Produced by	Ray Stark Margaret Booth
Written by	Neil Simon
Starring	Peter Falk Madeline Kahn Dom DeLuise Louise Fletcher Ann-Margret Eileen Brennan Stockard Channing Sid Caesar
Music by	Patrick Williams
Cinematography	John A. Alonzo
Editing by	Sidney Levin Michael A. Stevenson
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	June 23, 1978
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English German
Box office	$19,203,000 (Rentals)

The Cheap Detective is a 1978 American satirical comedy film written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore as a follow-up to their successful Murder by Death (Columbia, 1976).

It stars Peter Falk as Lou Peckinpaugh, a detective in the Humphrey Bogart mold, and is an affectionate parody of Bogart movies such as Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon.

An ensemble cast includes Madeline Kahn, Louise Fletcher, Ann-Margret, Eileen Brennan, Stockard Channing, Marsha Mason, Sid Caesar, John Houseman, Dom DeLuise, Abe Vigoda, James Coco, Phil Silvers, Fernando Lamas, Nicol Williamson, Scatman Crothers, and Paul Williams.

Plot

Lou Peckinpaugh (Peter Falk), the Humphrey Bogart-inspired Cheap Detective, has entered a world that is half Casablanca and half Maltese Falcon. A parody of Bogart's films in which Lou goes through a series of scenes from the two films trying to keep ahead of the police, who think he killed his partner, and find the black bird. The film also spoofs Chinatown, A Streetcar Named Desire and To Have and Have Not.

Cast

• Peter Falk as Lou Peckinpaugh
• Madeline Kahn as Mrs. Montenegro
• Dom DeLuise as Pepe Damascus
• Louise Fletcher as Marlene DuChard
• Ann-Margret as Jezebel Dezire
• Eileen Brennan as Betty DeBoop
• Stockard Channing as Bess
• Sid Caesar as Ezra Dezire
• Marsha Mason as Georgia Merkle
• John Houseman as Jasper Blubber
• Vic Tayback as Lieutenant DiMaggio
• Abe Vigoda as Sgt. Rizzuto
• James Coco as Marcel
• Phil Silvers as Hoppy
• Fernando Lamas as Paul DuChard
• Nicol Williamson as Col. Schlissel
• Scatman Crothers as Tinker
• Paul Williams as Boy
• David Ogden Stiers as Captain

External links

• The Cheap Detective at the Internet Movie Database
• The Cheap Detective at AllRovi
• The Cheap Detective at Box Office Mojo
• The Cheap Detective at Rotten Tomatoes