Gumshoe

Stephen Frears’ debut film is a satire of film noir starring Albert Finney as a vaudeville performer who decides to emulate his movie heroes by becoming a private eye., Albert Finney excels as a bingo caller whose dreams of becoming a hard bitten detective land him in the middle of a mysterious smuggling ring. Stephen Frears’ directorial debut., A hard-boiled detective fan fancies himself a would-be Sam Spade and gets himself mixed up with femme fatales and tough guys in Liverpool., Albert Finney plays an old music hall performer who becomes a rather unorthodox private-eye when he finds a dead body in his apartment in this mystery drama. Not having anything much better to do, he decides to investigate, soon finding himself the target of all manner of people who want him dead, including members of his own family., Eddie Ginley, sometime nightclub comic, full-time dreamer, puts an add in the Liverpool paper offering his services as a private detective. He is summoned to a hotel and in a pitch-dark room, is handed a package. He discovers it contains a photo of a young girl and a $1,000 bill. He is able to identify the girl as young Alison Wyatt, but is then visited by a man who warns him to stay away from her.