Murder, My Sweet Review

Murder, My Sweet   

Director/Studio/Author: Edward Dmytryk/RKO Radio Pictures/John Paxton

American release date: July 6, 2004 (original theatrical release 1944)

Format, Genre and length: DVD/Film Noir/95 minutes

Publisher/Industry Age Rating: NR

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

Philip Marlowe’s in a bit of a bind; his eyes are bandaged and he’s being grilled by the police, who insist they tell him what they want to know. When Randall comes in, Marlowe (Dick Powell) agrees to talk, and begins to spin his tale.

Synopsis:

It all begins when a big lunk named Moose Malloy (Mike Mazurki) drops into Marlowe’s office. He wants to find a gal he used to go with eight years ago—before he was sent away to prison—and he wants Marlowe’s help. Marlowe ends up accompanying him to a joint called Florian’s. But no one there knows or has heard of Velma, and Moose getting rough doesn’t help anything.

Marlowe agrees to help Moose. Although he’s big and prone to using his fists, he’s also naïve, and a bit slow. Marlowe traces the previous owner of the bar and finds his widow listed in the phone book, so he pays her a visit and plies her with booze. For a drink, she’s ready to tell what she knows. She acts cagey about Velma, and he catches her in a lie, taking a photo of the missing Velma with him.

Back at his office, he has another visitor—a well-dressed foppish gentleman who desires to avail himself of Marlowe’s services, but he isn’t as forthcoming about details as Marlowe would like. He finally gets the man, Lindsey Marriott (Douglas Walton), to admit that there’s a jade necklace involved that he’s paying to retrieve for a lady. Marlowe accompanies him to a deserted spot, off the beaten path. He goes to investigate, sees nothing, but when he returns to the car, he’s hit with a blackjack. When he awakens, it’s to find a flashlight held by a woman shining in his face. She drops it and runs. Then he discovers the dead body in the car and calls the cops.

A third visitor to his office (the elevator operator quips that he’s becoming successful) turns out to be the mysterious lady, one Ann Grayle (Ann Shirley). And the jade necklace belongs to her stepmother, Helen (Claire Trevor). There is obviously no love lost between stepmother and stepdaughter, and the flaxen blonde Helen isn’t slow in showing her attraction to Marlowe.

While following the case, Marlowe becomes involved with a psychic, drugs, a scam, a kidnapping, and more pain than should be given to one man in one lifetime. Will he survive long enough to figure out what’s going on, and who did it?

Commentary:

Murder, My Sweet is based on the novel Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler, that I recently reviewed. It’s pretty much the same story, although some things have been changed and condensed, probably in the interest of time. In the book, Ann was Ann Riordan and not Grayle, therefore not related, but this way does make sense.

One huge change, though, had to do with the things I pointed out in my other review, the un-pc things. The black bar was that no longer. The smelly Indian working for Amthor wasn’t, and Amthor himself became white. The ship that figured in the book is completely gone. The circumstances of Marlowe being in the doctor’s place have slightly changed. But if you haven’t read the book, of course you won’t notice.

All in all, I think it was an enjoyable film, maybe not quite up to snuff with the Big Sleep, except in one regard. The casting of Philip Marlowe. Having seen both films and read both books, I have to say that Dick Powell’s performance was closer to the mark as regards the character that Chandler depicted than Bogart’s. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bogart. But Powell has it pretty dead-on with how I saw Marlowe, and while I was skeptical before I watched it, afterward I was a firm believer in Powell’s ability to act. I hadn’t seen him in anything before, so I had no preconceived notions, but I understand most of his roles were lightweight compared to this one. I hope he did more Marlowe films after this; he deserved it.

You might recognize the guy who played Moose if you ever watched Gilligan’s Island, and a lot of other old TV shows. He was type cast as the big, dumb heavy, but in real life, he was very intelligent and a witty conversationalist.

As with a lot of films, the romantic element was played up more than in the book, leaving Marlowe and Ann kissing in the back of a taxi. Not a bad ending, but I seriously doubt she appears in any of the other books. Guess I’ll find out.

A good film and a good way to spend an evening. I definitely recommend watching this if you enjoy film noir.

Farewell, My Lovely Review

Farewell, My Lovely  

Author: Raymond Chandler

Publisher: Vintage

American release date: July 12, 1988 (rerelease)

Format/Genre/Length: Novel/Crime/292 pages

Publisher/Industry Age Rating: not rated

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

While working a job that never pans out, PI Philip Marlowe is drawn against his will into a bar called Florian’s by a very huge man. Moose Malloy has just spent eight years doing time, and he’s looking for his girl Velma. Well, it has been eight years, and the bar’s changed hands since then. The new owners and employees know nothing of any Velma, but Moose gets mad and someone gets dead, and Marlowe finds himself in the middle of something he never bargained for.

Synopsis:

Being a good PI, Marlowe calls the police, and the case goes to a fellow named Nulty, who tries to inveigle Marlowe into helping him solve it. Marlowe says he’ll let him know if he thinks of anything, then decides to follow up on the Velma angle. He goes into a hotel near the bar, asking about the previous owner, and learns where the man’s widow still resides. So Marlowe decides to pay her a visit.

Mrs. Florian is a house-bound soul with a fondness for alcohol. It isn’t hard to pry information out of her, armed with a bottle and a willingness to suffer being her drinking companion in order to get her to talk. The widow plays coy, but when she learns Moose is on the loose, she grows pale. Velma is dead, she says, so no use looking for her. Marlowe informs Nulty and goes back to his office.

There he receives a phone call about a job, although the caller is being very vague and mysterious about what he’s to be doing for his money. Money is money, so Marlowe gets the address and agrees to meet the client that night.  His name is Lindsay Marriott and he lives in the better part of time. He wants Marlowe to go with him while he does something, but he isn’t to be seen or do anything. Marlowe doesn’t like that and makes no bones about it, and then he lays down his rules. It seems that Marriott is paying to retrieve some stolen jewelry—very valuable jade, to be exact. It was taken from a lady, and the thieves are holding it for ransom.

Marlowe agrees to the job, for a hundred dollars, and instructions are received, along with directions. However, nothing is simple, and Marlowe gets sapped. By the time he wakes up, there’s a strange girl there by the name of Anne Riordan, and Lindsay Marriott is deceased. Marlowe checks the man’s pockets and finds something interesting—marihuana cigarettes in a cheap case. However, by the time the police arrive, those are no longer there.

Turns out Anne’s father was once police chief of Bay City, so she can’t help but be nosy about what she’s stumbled across. Marlowe finds her attractive in a more than pretty face kind of way. She returns the cigarettes she stole to him, and he makes an interesting discovery—hidden inside are the business cards of a local psychic, Jules Amthor. So Marlowe sets off to investigate.

A dead man, an escaped convict, a missing girl, graft in high polices, a crooked doctor, gambling—all these things and more lie in wait for Philip Marlowe. The question is, has he bitten off more than he can chew, and are there people who are determined that he not find out the truth, no matter how they have to silence him?

Commentary:

Farewell, My Lovely is the sequel to The Big Sleep. It’s another great read from Raymond Chandler. I’m really enjoying Marlowe’s adventures. He’s not a super hero, he’s just an ordinary guy, doing his job, and as such he’s not beyond getting hurt—and he does, because he keeps sticking his nose where it isn’t wanted.

One thing to keep in mind when you read this is that it’s a product of its times, much as Huckleberry Finn. Some of the terms used would be considered racist now, but they weren’t then, so you have to realize that and either not be offended, or not read the book. Those don’t detract from the enjoyment of the story.

Chandler has a definite way with words that I enjoy. For example, in talking about Marlowe’s first sight of Moose Malloy: “He was looking up at the dusty windows with a sort of ecstatic fixity of expression, like a hunky immigrant catching his first sight of the Statue of Liberty.”   His description of scenery is also unique, pure Marlowe:  “I got down to Montemar Vista as the light began to fade, but there was still a fine sparkle on the water and the surf was breaking far out in long smooth curves.”

This story has a lot of twists and turns, and I didn’t see the ending coming until it was on top of me. Raymond Chandler set the bar for detective stories, and he set it pretty damn high. I recommend this to anyone who loves mysteries and detectives, and to those who haven’t put your toe in the water, try it, you’ll like it.