Private Eyes Title Sequence

I remember going over to my grandparent's house with my family one day and they were just so excited to watch a movie. Now, for context, my grandma loves films but my grandfather views them more as an opportunity to catch some midday z's. So, their mutual excitement caught me off guard. The movie we were watching: The Private Eyes. From that day on, it has been one of my all-time favorite films. After experiencing the glorious comedic masterpiece, there was one thing that was stuck in my mind: its title sequence.

The title sequence for The Private Eyes is a great example of a pre-George Lucas Star Wars Hollywood. In other words, directors and producers still obeyed the law (at the time) to list the cast and crew before the film actually started. The sequence begins with the introduction of Tri-Star Poductions (the producing company), immediately followed by the first image of a cloaked figure holding a bomb. The bomb is placed in the center as a yellow cone appears replicating a flashlight. The flashlight disappears, then grows larger as the two main animated characters enter the frame. Then, the director made an incredibly artistic and brilliant choice on how to go about including the necessary information for a title sequence. The bomb that was placed in the center and being inspected by the detectives explodes on screen, leaving only the word "starring". After this, the hand-drawn characters of Tim Conway and Don Knotts appear on the ground and recovering from the bomb.

The remaining sequences add to the brilliance and creativity of this title sequence. Because everything is hand-drawn, the animation happens on a two-dimensional plane. This works similarly to the concept of a "minimalist"set in theatre - there usually is only one or two things in the scene in addition to the actors. The scene that follows shows the cloaked figure throwing a bomb into a door (there is nothing on screen aside from the figure, the bomb, and the door). The door then switches sides on the screen and the two inspectors walk through it. As they shut the door behind them, everything goes completely black until they light a match. Again, a brilliant action which separates the two minimalist scenes. Then, needing more light, one detective lights the bomb. This makes it very evident that the two main characters are "doofuses" and sets the town for the remainder of the film. Due to the explosion, all that is seen is something that resembles a firework, and their eyeballs. This shifts into the main title, The Private Eyes, with the eyeballs of the characters filling the gaps in the words. There is then the transition of the eyes in the words, to looking through a keyhole which exposes only the eye of the figure, then expands to show the full figure.

The rest of this title sequence follows the same pattern of creative transitions and hand-drawn animation. Looking back on it now, I appreciate the title sequence even more because of the seamlessness and artistic direction. All in all, the sequence shows a mastery of design elements which are able to come together and create a short film within the larger film. It reminds me of the old 1950s drive-in movie ads. Without a doubt, this sequence sets the tone for the hilarity and classic timlessness of The Private Eyes.