Harper (film)

Harper
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jack Smight
Screenplay by	William Goldman
Based on	The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald
Produced by	Jerry Gershwin Elliott Kastner
Starring	Paul Newman Lauren Bacall Julie Harris Arthur Hill Janet Leigh Pamela Tiffin Robert Wagner Shelley Winters
Cinematography	Conrad Hall
Edited by	Stefan Arnsten
Music by	Johnny Mandel
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	February 23, 1966 (1966-02-23)
Running time	121 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3.5 million
Box office	$12 million[1]

Harper (released in the United Kingdom as The Moving Target) is a 1966 American mystery thriller film directed by Jack Smight from a screenplay by William Goldman, based on the 1949 novel The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald.^[2] The film stars Paul Newman as Lew Harper (Lew Archer in the novel), with a cast that includes Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Arthur Hill, Janet Leigh, Pamela Tiffin, Robert Wagner, and Shelley Winters.

The film pays homage to Humphrey Bogart's portrayals of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe by featuring Lauren Bacall, Bogart's widow, who plays a wounded wife searching for her missing husband, a role similar to General Sternwood in the 1946 Bogart-and-Bacall film The Big Sleep.

Goldman received a 1967 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. In 1975, Newman reprised his role in The Drowning Pool.