Gumshoe (1971)
5/10
British detective
5 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The Atlantis Bookshop is an esoteric bookshop that's been the center of London's occult scene since it opened in 1921. It's where the "Father of Wicca" Gerald Gardner attended meetings of The Order of the Hidden Masters and the shop even published his first book. It continues to be a nexus point for magic users and is featured prominently in Gumshoe, a movie that has some magic of its own as Eddie Ginley (Albert Finney) dreams of escaping his bingo hall reality and becoming a detective like in the books he reads. When he places an ad for his detective services as a birthday joke, he discovers himself in the middle of an actual case that may involve his family.

Featuring the first music score for a film by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gumshoe's drug scenes kept it from being released on video until 2009. It was the debut film of director Stephen Frears (The Grifters, Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity) and was written by Neville Smith, who also plays Arthur in this movie.

There was a big revival of hard boiled detective films and film noir at the start of the 70s and this film does a great job of showing how one man can become lost in the dream of what it would be like to live in their world.
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