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Harper
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Paul Newman as Private Detective Lew Harper crouches between two cars, holding a gun, in a scene from the 1966 film Harper.
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Paul Newman as Private Detective Lew Harper crouches between two cars, holding a gun, in a scene from the 1966 film Harper.
Harper Paul Newman in Harper (1966), directed by Jack Smight.

Harper

film by Smight [1966]
Written by
Lee Pfeiffer
Author/co-author of numerous books about the cinema and is regarded as one of the foremost James Bond scholars. His book The Essential Bond: An Authorized Guide to the World of 007 (written with...
Lee Pfeiffer
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

Harper, American detective-mystery film, released in 1966, that starred Paul Newman in one of his most popular antihero roles. The film was based on the novel The Moving Target (1949) by Ross Macdonald, and the screenplay was written by William Goldman. (Read Martin Scorseseā€™s Britannica essay on film preservation.) Lew Harper (played by Newman) is a hip, hard-drinking, down-and-out private detective who takes more beatings than he dishes out. He is a loner in a...

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