THEY ALL LAUGHED (1981)

A shoestring outfit called Odyssey Detective Agency (“We Never Sleep”) specializes in philandering wife cases, and the three gumshoes in its employ are about as different from one another as men can be: a middle-aged divorced father and babe magnet (Ben Gazarra); a young, sweet-natured bumbler (John Ritter); and a roller-skating hipster whose shades come off and long curly locks come out from under his hat at night (Blaine Novak). But what they do have in common is a warm camaraderie, plus a not-overly-professional propensity for falling in love with the women they’ve been paid by wealthy husbands to shadow. Gazarra falls quick and hard and for an elegant, unhappy trophy wife (Audrey Hepburn), while Ritter sets his horn-rimmed sights on a sweet young thing in the last throes of divorce (Dorothy Stratten, in her final film). Charmer Novak hits on everybody in a skirt. One detective wins then loses his lady, while another wins then marries his. And along the way, they cross and crisscross paths and plotlines with a variety of lively characters, including a kooky C&W singer (Colleen Camp), a hack-driving free spirit (model Patty Hansen), and a young English-impaired Latin lover (Sean Ferrer, Audrey's real-life son). Skillfully directed - nay, choreographed - by Peter Bogdanovich, THEY ALL LAUGHED is rapid-fire romantic romp that mixes screwball comedy and old-fashioned sentiment. Watch for an early scene when John Ritter, gloriously high on pot, roller skates in a public rink, trying to keep up with Stratten, to the pounding drums of Gene Krupa in Benny Goodman's "Swing, Swing, Swing." I think this film is the best thing Ritter ever did.