The Private Eyes (1980)

Director
Lang Elliott

Main cast
Don Knotts; Tim Conway; Trisha Noble; Bernard Fox; Grace Zabriskie

Genres
Comedy, Thriller, Mystery

Description
Don Knotts and Tim Conway star in The Private Eyes, a 1980 comedy about two bumbling detectives solving a murder. It's an impressively incompetent affair. Every ancient joke falls with a muffled thud as Knotts and Conway ham their way through the pointless story: The lord and lady of a capacious manor are killed, and the lord's ghost seems to have returned to knock off the staff one by one. There'


Similar movies

Spoofing the entire 1940s detective genre, and his own performances as a bumbling private detective, Peter Falk plays Lou Pekinpaugh, a San Francisco private detective accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress, the partner's wife, Georgia Merkle.
A would be private eye gets mixed up in a smuggling case.
Ford "Mr. Rock n' Roll Detective" Fairlane is experiencing problems, and it's not with the opposite sex. One of them is that all the rock stars pay him with drum sticks, koala bears, food processors and bicycle shorts. Another one of them is that all his employers that want him to find a girl named Zuzu Petals get killed. Why didn't he become a fisherman's detective instead?
Director Paul Morrissey applies a hefty dose of humor to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic detective story in this interpretation of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Comedian Peter Cook takes on the role of brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes, who's not so gifted here as he relegates much of the investigation of demonic dogs to his bumbling sidekick, Watson (Dudley Moore), while he spends time with his mother and searches for an assistant.
Lionel Twain has invited the five greatest detectives to a "dinner and murder." How can they resist? Included are a blind butler, a deaf-mute maid, screams, spinning rooms, secret passages, false identities, and more plot turns and twists than are decently allowed.
The film revolves around the exploits of a detective agency in Hong Kong called Mannix Private Detective Agency. It is headed by private detective Wong Yeuk Sze (Michael Hui) with his emotionally drained assistant Puffy (Ricky Hui). Meanwhile, Lee Kwok Kit (Samuel Hui), a kung fu expert, who works at a Vitasoy plant factory and spends most of the time doing kung fu tricks to impress a girl, ultimately loses his job. Seeking to find another line of work, Lee attempts to joins Wong's detective agency. Despite Lee's impression with his kung fu talent which involves his snatching trick, Wong was not impressed. Then, as it appears that Lee would not get the job, Wong discovers that his wallet was missing and was presumed stolen by one bystander who bumped into them. Lee intercepts him and recovers the wallet, thus impressed Wong to hire him for the job.
Matt Helm (Dean Martin) is called out of retirement to stop the evil Big O organization who plan to explode an atomic bomb over Alamagordo, NM, and start WW III.
When a private eye, a jilted bride and a mysterious stranger join forces to track down an elusive mobster, there's more than trouble in the air in Tokyo Raiders, a martial arts adventure that really flies! Acclaimed Hong Kong action star Tony Leung plays Len, a smooth-talking detective whose trench coat carries an arsenal of tricks and provides a streetwise disguise for the kung fu master. While on the trail of a gangland boss, Len meets up with brokenhearted Macy (international pop star Kelly Chen) and John (actor/singer Ekin Cheng), an interior designer with ulterior motives. As they close in on their quarry, the dramatic Tokyo streets are filled with close calls, triple-crosses, gravity-defying fight scenes and a band of chicks that totally kicks!
The peaceful order of the Sisters of No Mercy are forced to avenge the murder of one of their own when an evil priest and his co-hort 'Saint' Theresa use the order as a cover for drugs and prostitution. Sisters of No Mercy spoofs nunsploitation movies while melding movie making techniques with modern socio-political overtones and Internet found footage to create a viewing experience of meta-awareness. Sisters of No Mercy chronicles our madcap adventures as we try and nurture and develop the community needed to sustain our independent theatres and video stores here in Chicago. It's also an introduction to a little-known sub-genre of exploitation cinema called Nunsploitation. Sex! Violence! Nuns!
The grandchild of Professor James Moriarty had promised the world that it has only five days left to live. Moriarty is a master of disguise, a crack shot, and is very patient. Several government figures are shot to death, and it seems that it truly is the end of civilization as we know it - until the President learns that the grandson of Sherlock Holmes is living at 221B Baker Street, and sends the Police Commissioner of Scotland Yard to employ him.
An heiress who's been shut inside her apartment building for nearly two decades is forced to confront her fears after one of her neighbors is killed and a detective arrives to begin the investigation.
Harper is brought to Louisiana to investigate an attempted blackmail scheme. He soon finds out that it involves an old flame of his and her daughter. He eventually finds himself caught in a power struggle between the matriarch of the family and a greedy oil baron, who wants their property. Poor Harper! Things are not as straight-forward as they initially appeared.
A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town PI.
A group of eight college friends gather together at an island mansion belonging to heiress Muffy St. John to celebrate their final year of school. They soon discover that each has a hidden secret from their past which is revealed, and soon after, they turn up dead. Yet, are they really dead? Or is it just part of some very real and cruel April Fool's jokes?
San Francisco heiress Page Forrester is brutally murdered in her remote beach house. Her husband Jack is devastated by the crime but soon finds himself accused of her murder. He hires lawyer Teddy Barnes to defend him, despite the fact she hasn't handled a criminal case for many years. There's a certain chemistry between them and Teddy soon finds herself defending the man she loves.
Nobody believes teenager Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) when he discovers that his suave new neighbor, Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon), is a vampire. So when the bloodsucker starts stalking Charley, he turns to has-been actor Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), famed for portraying a ghoul hunter. Unfortunately for the would-be vampire slayers, Dandridge has set his sights on Charlie's girlfriend in this clever spoof of the horror genre.
Director Mickey Rose's zany send-up of teen slasher flicks features a maniacal psycho known as the Breather (played by Richard Belzer), who stalks –and murders– promiscuous students at a suburban high school. The fanatical killer's unusual weapons include paper clips, blackboard erasers and eggplants. Kristen Riter, Matthew Goldsby, Joe Flood, Kevin Mannis and Sara Eckhardt head the cast.
A wacky 60s spy spoof.
Two bumbling hustlers in the 1920s attempt to gain the fortune of an heiress. Nothing will stop them . Not even murder.
An "Airplane!"-style spoof of hospital soap operas: a brilliant young trainee can't stand the sight of blood; a doctor romances the head nurse in order to get the key to the drugs cabinet; there's a mafioso on the loose disguised as a woman - in other words all the usual ingredients present and correct, though in this case the laughs are intentional.
Sonny and Cher spoof many Hollywood classic movie scenes.
Primarily a spoof of the Friday the 13th series, but also takes shots at several other horror films. After his family moves to a new house, a young boy discovers a mysterious book describing the curse hanging over the date of Saturday the 14th. Opening the book releases a band of monsters into the house, and the family must join together to save themselves and their neighborhood
Sympathetic look loosely based on the relationship between tobacco heiress, Doris Duke (1912-1993) - think Duke University - and her shy butler, Bernard Lafferty. The icy and mercurial Duke fires her butler for serving a chilled cantaloupe; the agency sends Lafferty, formerly household staff to Liz Taylor and to Peggy Lee. He's an alcoholic, fresh out of rehab. He gradually becomes Duke's gay alter ego as she romps through life sleeping with young men, making shrewd decisions quickly, managing her fortune and orchids as Lafferty manages her New Jersey estate. With a wine cellar to die for, Bernard falls off the wagon. Can he pull himself together when Doris needs him?
Chevy Chase makes his film debut in this riotous collection of live skits. Directed by Ken Shapiro and featuring Chase, Richard Belzer and others, The Groove Tube mocks TV Land and its trappings by spoofing kids' shows -- from a marijuana-smoking Koko the Clown who resides in Make Believe Land, to Safety Sam, the penis with a plan who gleefully informs the audience of the perils of casual sex.
Gilbert Wooley is a second-rate magician who is sent to entertain the troops in the pacific. During his time in Japan he becomes attached to a little orphan boy.
Two con men try to settle their rivalry by betting on who can swindle a young American heiress out of $50,000 first.
Alyas Batman en Robin is a 1991 Filipino Batman comedy film produced by Viva Films spoofing the 1960s Batman television series. It later become popular on the Australian market and became used as a training film for The Birds are Coming Enterprises. The movie was initially an unauthorized production, set to capitalize on the then in-production 1989 Batman film starring Michael Keaton. Warner Brothers threatened legal action and the release of the film was delayed until legal entanglements could be sorted out. The film was released in 1991, two years later than the intended 1989 release.
An heiress takes a job as a department store clerk.
The Best Movie 2 is a 2009 Russian comedy film from Monumental Pictures (Sony Pictures Entertainment) and Comedy Club Production, continuation of 2008 The Best Movie film, spoofing such famous Russian films as Zhara, The Irony of Fate 2 and TV-programs: Malakhov+, King of Ring and Taxi.
A financially-strapped charter pilot hires himself to an oil tycoon to kidnap his madcap daughter and prevent her from marrying a vapid band leader.
The Ultimate Western Spoof. A town where everyone seems to be named Johnson is in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, Hedley Lemar, a politically connected nasty person, sends in his henchmen to make the town unlivable. After the sheriff is killed, the town demands a new sheriff from the Governor. Hedley convinces him to send the town the first Black sheriff in the west.
When a crafty reporter uses false pretenses to get a story out of heiress Tony Gateson, she turns the tables on him, telling the press that they are engaged. Suddenly he's front page news, every salesman is at his doorstep, and he loses his job. A series of misadventures ensues with him alternately back on his job and fired and her ex-fiance showing up. Can an heiress be a human being, and can a reporter get a scoop?
A private eye who's over his head in debt takes on a job snapping photos of his client's rich husband in bed with another woman. But when the husband winds up with three bullet holes that seem to have come from the private eye's own gun, he's got to prove he's not the murderer meanwhile getting tangled deeper in a web of deceit, lies, and steamy night club dancers!
A spoof of all the "found-footage/documentary style" films released in recent years.
A woman in London unexpectedly inherits a Texas ranching fortune, and takes a transatlantic voyage to collect her fortune, not suspecting two men aboard both plan on winning her hand before she reaches America. One is a gambler interested in her money, and the other, a rich man looking for a wife. The rich man's friend, meanwhile, believes the heiress is actually a gold-digger.
The hero of an unlikely airplane disaster must overcome his own inadequacies, improbable accidents and his former girlfriend in order to save a space shuttle from destruction in this spoof sequel of the disaster parody Airplane!
A fake heiress marries a common reporter to thwart the advances of gold-digging playboys.
In Hong Kong 1969, private investigation agency boss Man is investigating an extra marital case. With his two employees, the smart looking idiot Kit and the Hong Kong Columbia Radio Night School graduate Pufferfish, he follows the target Lascar Row. The trio stumbles into an antique shop and breaks many antiques in the store. The cheap Man force Kit and Pufferfish to take responsibility. Kit wisely makes Pufferfish take sole responsibility. The dumb Pufferfish helpless buys the pile of shattered antiques with his own money. In the pieces he finds a broken magic lamp...
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a 1978 comedy film directed by John De Bello and starring David Miller. The film is a spoof of B-movies. Made on a budget of less than USD $100,000, the story involves tomatoes becoming sentient by unknown means and revolting against humanity.
The manager of Kay Kyser's band books them for a birthday party bash for an heiress at a spooky mansion, where sinister forces try to kill her.
A spoof of the late 80s and early 90s suspense thrillers and murder mysteries, including Basic Instinct, Sleeping With The Enemy, Cape Fear and others. A cop/attorney (yes he's both) is seduced by a woman while his wife is having an affair with a mechanic. Lots of other sublots and visual gags in the style of Naked Gun.
An estranged family of former child prodigies reunites when their father announces he has a terminal illness.
Rowan plays the eponymous lead character in a spoof spy thriller. During the course of the story we follow our hero as he attempts to single-handedly save the country from falling into the hands of a despot.
A missing person, a beautiful dame, and a hard-boiled detective.
A movie within a movie, created to spoof the martial arts genre. Writer/director Steve Oedekerk uses contemporary characters and splices them into a 1970s kung-fu film, weaving the new and old together. As the main character, The Chosen One, Oedekerk sets off to avenge the deaths of his parents at the hands of kung-fu legend Master Pain. Along the way, he encounters some strange characters
Four socialites unexpectedly clash: heiress Brooke Carter runs into gambler Johnny Spanish at the race track while playboy Michael O. Pritchard nearly runs into stage star Kitty O'Kelly with his car. Backstage at Kitty's show, it turns out she and Brooke are old friends who attended public school together. The foursome do the town, accompanied by Brooke's companion Elizabeth, who throws herself at Michael's butler and chauffeur Rodney James.
In this non- stop hilarious ride we follow a struggling Movie Studio that is willing to do anything to make a buck even if it means ruining its reputation, and running the Movie Industry into the ground. This film has everything that an audience wants from a LAUGH OUT LOUD COMEDY by taking a no-holds barred attack on the Spoof Genre from Blockbuster Action movies to Dramas and Documentaries to Popular Television shows.
Spoof of 1960's Beach Party/Gidget surfing movies mixed with slasher horror films. A not-so-innocent girl in 1960's Malibu becomes the first girl surfer at Malibu Beach, only she suffers from dissociative identity disorder and occasionally her alter ego, a sexually aggressive, foul-speaking girl, comes out. During her "episodes" several beach goers are found murdered.
Dudley Moore plays a composer who suspects his wife of cheating. He plots to kill her and frame it on her lover. The whole movie sort of compares his expectations of a perfect result to reality. In the end nothing turns out as planned.
Victorian melodrama gets a big send-up in this spoof production of the old play "The Drunkard; or, The Fallen Saved." The play within the movie is the old one where evil villain Cribbs schemes to get his lusty clutches on the heroine by driving her naive husband to alcoholic ruin. Luckily, a temperance lecturer is on hand to set things straight, as is the great Buster Keaton as the drunkard's brother.
Society heiress Joan Bradford rebels against her mother's choice of a future husband by masquerading as a working class girl and dating a window washer.
A committee investigating TV's first uncensored network examines a typical day's programming, which includes shows, commercials, news programs, you name it. What they discover will surely crack you up! This outrageous and irreverent spoof of television launched the careers of some of the greatest comedians of all time.
When spoiled young heiress Maggie Richards tries to charge some gasoline at an auto camp run by Bill Davis, he makes her work out her bill by making beds. Resolving to get even, she pretends to have forgiven him, and sends him to her father to get financing for a plan Bill has. What happens next was not part of her original revenge plan.
Hui, an owner (Michael Hui) of a Hong Kong tabloid magazine company hires martial artist Bill Lee (Sam Hui) to help him get a good headliner for a magazine story to, hopefully, save his failing business. In the process, Bill meets San-San (Catherine Hung Yan), the girlfriend of a jewelry business owner. After thinking that this would make a great headliner, Bill feels sorry for San-San because of her troubled life: her mother has cancer, her brother is mentally disabled and her boyfriend prefers his work over her, and thus is reluctant to publish her story, putting the tabloid company's fate in his hands.
Spoof of the "Taken" franchise. An ex-CIA agent who is now a mall security guard discovers that things are being taken from him. He must team up with his mom, also an ex-CIA agent, to defeat his rival and save his family.
Eli is a burglar who is caught in the act by Twinkle, an heiress who coerces him into a sexual relationship. Their violent break-up makes him a fugitive in search of a new identity. He lands in a trashy trailer park where he touches the lives of several dysfunctional residents.
Another Filipino ET spoof starring Estong Tutong AKA Chiquito.
a spoof TV documentary film (a "mockumentary") charting the life and career of the fictitious British actor Sir Norbert Smith.
Another spoof of the Scream/I Know What You Did Last Summer horror gene involving a group of popular high school students stalked by a bumbling masked killer while a dogged reporter named Hagitha Utslay covers the story and of the plight of the prime suspect and transfer student Dawson.
In this horror spoof, the girls from Cherry Mount Academy are on their way to a dance at a nearby all-boys school when the van they're riding in breaks down. With no other choice but to spend the night at their tow truck driver's junkyard, the girls soon find themselves at the mercy of a cold-blooded killer.

© Valossa 2015–2024