Harper (1966)

In the sun-drenched haze of Los Angeles, Lew Harper, a seasoned private eye with a cynical edge, finds himself navigating the labyrinth of his crumbling marriage to Susan. Despite his undying love for her, his relentless devotion to his work frequently pulls him away at the most inconvenient moments, straining their bond to the point of imminent separation. Harper is thrust into his latest investigation by Elaine Sampson, a wealthy, tough-as-nails woman confined to a wheelchair. Her husband, Ralph Sampson, has mysteriously vanished after his recent return from Vegas. Ralph, a man who is as wealthy as he is disliked, even by his own wife, is believed to be tangled up with another woman—a suspicion that Elaine regards more as a fact than a problem. Harper is tipped off about the case by Albert Graves, the Sampsons' lawyer and a close friend of Harper's. Graves, a timid soul, harbors an unrequited love for the Sampsons' seductive and free-spirited daughter, Miranda. As Harper delves deeper into the case, he finds himself in the company of Miranda and Allan Taggert, Sampson's handsome private pilot and the last person to lay eyes on him before his disappearance. Allan, casually dating Miranda and residing on the Sampson estate, is ironically dubbed "Beauty" by Harper. As they unravel the mystery, they uncover a ransom note confirming Sampson's kidnapping. Harper's relentless pursuit propels him into the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, where he crosses paths with an array of unsavory characters. These include Betty Fraley, a lounge singer with a heroin addiction, Fay Estabrook, a once-famous actress now struggling with alcoholism and weight issues, and Claude, the enigmatic leader of a religious cult. Each encounter invites danger, with Harper facing threats ranging from beatings to attempted murder. In Harper's world, where duplicity is the norm and danger lurks around every corner, the case takes an unexpected twist after they decide to pay the half-a-million-dollar ransom. Harper's journey to uncover the truth behind Ralph Sampson's disappearance promises a suspense-filled ride through a gritty world filled with intrigue, danger, and unexpected twists.

Harper is a crime movie featuring Paul Newman.

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