DVD: Hen’s Tooth Region Zero DVD
Director: Lang Elliot
Cast: Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Trisha Noble, Bernard Fox
The Private Eyes features the crime-fighting duo of Inspector Winship and Dr. Tart, two half-wits who bring up the bottom of Scotland Yard’s detective roster. Winship and Tart are called in to solve the mysterious murder of Lord and Lady Morley. The investigation leads the blundering duo through the annals of a mysterious mansion and face-to-face with curious characters, beautiful belles and…ghosts?
The Private Eyes is a vehicle of comic criminal justice; Sherlock Holmes without the wit. Winship (Knotts) is the straight-laced fact finder, though his every move is nearly endangered or undone by his counterpart, Tart (Conway). The film opens with Lord and Lady Morley entering their car, only to be attacked and left for dead. The mysterious, black-clad figure departs off screen, and soon, Winship and Tart arrive to determine the motive and modus operandi of the murderer.
The Morley’s only surviving relative is their niece, Phyllis (Noble). The staff includes the cook, katana-wielding Mr. Uwatsum, the groundskeeper, Tibet, and the humpbacked horse-handler, Jock. The interior staff consists of Nanny (Grace Zibriskie in a delightfully-thick German accent), Justin (Bernard Fox) and Hilda, who can’t be buried at sea. Each of these bizarre staff members has plenty of motive and each is a suspect…until they start dying off one by one.
The deaths are accompanied by riddles meant to identify the killer, but Winship and Tart can’t fumble their way to a conclusion. The riddles provide one repeating gag throughout the film, never ending as expected. (One example: “ In this house, it’s hard to survive. Some’ll be dead, who are now alive. Mr. Uwatsum is gone, ’cause he knew too much. Bye for now, but rest assured we’ll keep in constant contact with each other.”) Another repeating gag is Tart’s reliance on carrier pigeons for correspondence to Scotland Yard. The cavalcade of pigeon demise provides a number of laughs.
For all the quirkiness writers Conway and John Myhers put into the film, the comedic timing of Knotts and Conway together make every scene as funny as possible. Much like Aykroyd and Ramis wrote a quotable script and then delivered on screen, Conway and Knotts understand the right amount of push and pull to squeeze each joke out of the film. Peter Matz’ original score will be stuck in viewers’ heads for weeks.
Knotts and Conway are each famous for decades of devotion to their comedic craft. This film provides an opportunity for each to complement one another for an hour and a half of inept and inane investigation.
DVD Extras include the original trailer, a photo gallery and a commentary track with Conway and director Lang Elliot. The film runs 92 minutes.