The Late Show │ Warner Archive Collection
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment
by CHAD KENNERK
Nearly 50 years after its premiere, The Late Show arrives on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection with a new 2026 1080p HD master sourced from a fresh 4K scan of the original camera negative. Shot on location in Los Angeles during a real-life heat wave, the 1977 film follows ageing private investigator and professional curmudgeon Ira Wells (Academy Award winner Art Carney) on one last great case, tracking down a missing cat for the eccentric Margo (Lily Tomlin). Produced by Robert Altman, The Late Show is a first-rate homage to classic noir, blending hard-boiled tropes with a helping of humour. Carney and Tomlin find a winning odd-couple dynamic as the gumshoe and redeeming woman.
The Late Show marked writer-director Robert Benton's second feature behind the camera, following the Jeff Bridges western Bad Company. By then, Benton had already established himself as one of Hollywood's best screenwriters, co-writing classics like Bonnie and Clyde and the Streisand screwball What's Up, Doc? He would later become a three-time Oscar winner for Kramer vs. Kramer (Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay) and Places in the Heart (Best Original Screenplay). Speaking to The New York Times, Carney said of Benton, “Working with him on The Late Show was marvellous. He's very good as a director, very patient and thorough. I like direction. I look for it and want it. I don't do too much of the analysing.” Reflecting on the role, Carney added with self-deprecation, “I really brought the paunch to the part.”
In Janet Sonenberg’s The Actor Speaks: Twenty-Four Actors Talk About Process and Technique, Tomlin recalled the bar scene, noting, “I wanted to convey the fact that it was hot out and that I was bothered. Bill Macy played the bartender, and my character thought he was a lowlife. I wanted to do two things, which I ad-libbed. I came into the bar and I said, ‘Let me have a Coke.’ I watched as he went to put ice in the glass, and I stopped him from using his hands with, ‘and use a scoop’ because I had contempt for him. Then, I drank this big, tall glass of soda down without stopping, looked him in the eye, and said, ‘This is Pepsi.’” Carney went on to win the 1977 National Society of Film Critics Best Actor Award for his work, while Tomlin took home the Silver Bear for Best Actress at Berlinale.
The Late Show looks terrific in high definition. You can even read the lipstick on Margo's apartment mirror, “Great. Fabulous. Terrific. Nobody likes a pushy woman – keep pushing.” Whether it was a production design flourish or one of Tomlin's own ideas, it's a great touch. Landlady Mrs Schmidt is played by Ruth Nelson, a founding member of the legendary Group Theatre, who appears onscreen for the first time since 1948's Arch of Triumph. The special features are admittedly slim, but they include a welcome vintage appearance by Tomlin on Dinah! (Dinah Shore’s talk show), where she discusses the film and reveals that she performed some of her own stunt driving, steering a van across a succession of neighbourhood lawns.
The Late Show is available on Blu-ray 26 May from Warner Archive Collection.
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