"Who's Harry Crumb?" is one of those movies that critics panned, but as a fan of John Candy I actually think it is a great comedy.
The cast is totally 80's.. John Candy, Annie Potts, Tim Thomerson, Barry Corbin, Shawnee Smith, and Jeffrey Jones.
To answer the movie title's question.. basically.. John Candy is Harry Crumb a private eye who is mostly inept, but usually finds a way to eventually appear genius. He is definitely not a master of the stealth approach, but is often in some outrageous disguise throughout the movie that really made me laugh at times.
The plot is totally zaney - Tycoon's oldest daughter is kidnapped.. Tycoon hires P.I. Crumb to find her.. Tycoon's wife appears shady.. younger daughter of tycoon Nikki helps Crumb.. Crumb's boss might actually be shady too..
If you are a fan of John Candy, Annie Potts, or Shawnee Smith.. I say check it out!
"Well, I wouldn't say perfect. I mean, look at the size of her head. She must be enormous... But easy to find."
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
Yes indeed, this one should be held in higher esteem than it seems to be; it is defintely one of his ten best films. Even though the character is essentially an American Clouseau, he still rises to the occasion and delivers numerous great gags one after the other. From getting his tie stuck in the paper shredder to his wild ride on the ceiling fan to his equally wild ride through the air vents to his many disguises (the Hungarian massage specialist being the best; love his "improvosation" with his fake chest hair after it comes off), its true comedy at its best (and it looks like the scenes that didn't make the final cut may well be just as good; one that made a TV cut I once saw had him destroying Annie Potts's wine cellar while interrogating her). The running gag with Jeffrey Jones's pterodactyl egg (in hindsight you really couldn't have asked for more realistic casting here, making one of Hollywood rare saints the hero and one of its contemporary real life monsters the villain) is classic, building and building till he finally destroys it ("...the only thing I don't understand is, what this lever does." "I don't know; maybe it's a brake." "Come on, what stationary bike has a brake, Elliott?" (throws the lever, bike slams through the wall with him, careens into Jones's office and destroys everything, the egg included). A must-see for any here who haven't yet.
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
I used to love this movie a long while ago....I haven't seen it in forever...........might need to get on that. The picture you posted of Candy above reminds me of the spa scene and the mud.......I really remember Potts being in it but didn't remember Shawnee til you posted this....I'll hunt it down soon Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Muffy.. this is a John Candy movie that I didn't really appreciate when it was first released. Mainly because Candy was putting out so many other great films in the 80's that I enjoyed even more. But in reflection, this was a hilarious movie.
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
This is a good and funny comedy. Candy doing the Fletch thing.
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