Gumshoe (film)

Gumshoe
UK release poster
Directed by	Stephen Frears
Written by	Neville Smith
Produced by	Michael Medwin
Starring	Albert Finney Billie Whitelaw
Cinematography	Chris Menges
Edited by	Charles Rees
Music by	Andrew Lloyd Webber
Production company	Memorial Enterprises
Distributed by	Columbia-Warner Distributors
Release date	December 1971 (1971-12) (UK)
Running time	88 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Gumshoe is a 1971 British black comedy film that was the theatrical directorial debut of director Stephen Frears. Written by local author Neville Smith, who appears as Arthur, the film is set in Liverpool. Albert Finney plays the role of Eddie Ginley, a bingo-caller and occasional club comedian who dreams of being a private eye of the kind he knows from films and pulp novels. Having put an advertisement in a local newspaper (the Liverpool Echo) as a birthday present to himself, Ginley is suddenly contacted for what appears to be an actual piece of detective work.

Plot

Eddie Ginley works at a bingo hall in Liverpool, England, but dreams of becoming a stylish private investigator like those he has read about and seen in films. After finally placing an advertisement in a local newspaper announcing his detective services, he receives a mysterious offer. Even though Ginley is inexperienced and clueless at certain aspects of investigating, he comes to realize that he is entangled in a serious case involving drugs, murder and even his own family.

Production

The film has many comic moments as it switches between 'straight' detective novel and affectionate spoof. It has some shots of Liverpool buildings that have long since been demolished, including the employment exchange on Leece Street. Several scenes in the London part of the narrative take place in and around the occult Atlantis Bookshop.

Gumshoe was the first of two films with original music scores by Andrew Lloyd Webber (the other was The Odessa File, in 1974). Some of the music was re-used in Lloyd Webber's musical version of Sunset Boulevard (1993). Roy Young recorded the song "Baby, You're Good For Me", written by Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

A scene was significantly (and clumsily) shortened before release because of its detailed depiction of a heroin user preparing and taking his "fix". After years of unavailability, Gumshoe was released on DVD in 2009.

Cast

• Albert Finney as Eddie Ginley
• Billie Whitelaw as Ellen
• Frank Finlay as William
• Janice Rule as Mrs Blankerscoon
• Carolyn Seymour as Alison
• Fulton Mackay as Straker
• Billy Dean as Tommy
• George Silver as De Fries
• George Innes as the bookshop proprietor
• Neville Smith as Arthur
• Bert King as Mal
• Ken Jones as the Labour Exchange clerk
• Maureen Lipman as Naomi
• Wendy Richard as Anne Scott
• Oscar James as Azinge
• Tom Kempinski as the psychiatrist

External links

• Gumshoe at IMDb