The Raymond Chandler novels that everyone seems to like are Farewell, My Lovely, The Big Sleep, and The Long Goodbye. There is less overall enthusiasm for the other three, although The Lady in the Lake made an interesting film. The Marlowe is Robert Montgomery, a second-tier movie star who managed to prolong his career by turning to producing and directing; he directed this one which has the gimmick of mostly being told from the camera POV of Philip Marlowe.
It is interesting to see a film done this way, although it means the pace is slower – there are lots of single takes. Some cute bits, like only seeing Marlowe via a reflection in the mirror (although he does introduce the film), Marlowe going in for a kiss, Marlowe getting slapped by Lloyd Nolan then punching him out. The technique is most effective when Marlowe is poking around a house on his own – there’s a brilliant sequence where he discovers a dead body in a shower, and another good one where he’s in a car accident and recovers (Montgomery uses lack of music to good effect here, with spooky back effects). But over a whole film it does get wearying.
(It just occurred to me the late 40s were an experimental time with POV in Hollywood – you had this, Rope, Dead Reckoning).
The plot has Marlowe sell a story to a magazine, only to find out they really want him to investigate a case on their behalf. MGM weren’t known for their tougher detective films - the Thin Man series was more along their line – and at times the cast don’t really feel up to it, including Montgomery himself, Audrey Totty, and Tom Tully. Lloyd Nolan is good, though and this is a good film to have seen.
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