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The Private Eyes

The Private Eyes

Comedy · Mystery · Horror · 1980

The lord and lady of a capacious manor are killed, and the lord's ghost seems to have returned to knock off the staff one by one, causing Inspector Winship and Dr. Tart to investigate the wacky house and its inhabitants.

Movie details

The Private Eyes

“Who better to solve England's most puzzling mystery than these two international crime busters?”

1980 Comedy · Mystery · Horror 1h 31m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

The lord and lady of a capacious manor are killed, and the lord's ghost seems to have returned to knock off the staff one by one, causing Inspector Winship and Dr. Tart to investigate the wacky house and its inhabitants.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Private Eyes?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Lang Elliott

Written by

Tim Conway · John Myhers

Don Knotts

Don Knotts

Inspector Winship

Tim Conway

Tim Conway

Dr. Tart

Trisha Noble

Trisha Noble

Mistress Phyllis Morley

Bernard Fox

Bernard Fox

Justin

Grace Zabriskie

Grace Zabriskie

Nanny

John Fujioka

John Fujioka

Mr. Uwatsum

Irwin Keyes

Irwin Keyes

Jock

Court is in session

Put The Private Eyes on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.