★ 7 / 10
I'm a trained detective! Marlowe is directed by
John Chard
I'm a trained detective! Marlowe is directed by Paul Bogart and adapted to screenplay by Stirling Silliphant from the novel The Little Sister written by…
I'm a trained detective!
Marlowe is directed by Paul Bogart and adapted to screenplay by Stirling Silliphant from the novel The Little Sister written by Raymond Chandler. It stars James Garner, Gayle Hunnicut, Carroll O'Connor and Rita Moreno. Music is by Peter Matz and cinematography by William H. Daniels.
Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlow (Garner) is working on what he thinks is a simple missing persons case, how wrong he is!
Q as in Quintessential - U as in Uninhibited - E as in Extrasensory - S as in Subliminal - T as in Toots!
Another of the interpretations for the great Chandler creation of Philip Marlowe, unsurprisingly met with mixed notices - just as all the others have done. You do wonder what Chandler would have made of the role portrayals that came out post his death? I like to think he very much would have enjoyed Garner's take, because this Marlowe is a quip happy wise guy, unflappable and cool, he portrays so much with just a glance, and the girls love him.
The story is juicy in its little complexities, spinning Marlowe into muddy waters the further he investigates things. His life is always under threat, be it by serial ice-pick users or Asian martial artists (Bruce Lee no less in a nutty couple of scenes) wishing to inflict death, or of arrest by an increasingly frustrated police force. Bogart and Daniels keep the whole thing stylish looking, with film noir camera tricks and colour photography infusing the period details. While the supporting cast, notably the ladies, give Garner some splendid support.
It's a different Marlowe for sure, but a thoroughly engaging and entertaining one. 7/10
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★ 7 / 10
Interesting oddity
thehumanduvet
Following a typical Chandlerian plot involving lots of intrigue, sex, lies, booze, and violence, Garner makes a mildly charming, laid-back Marlowe, trading a…
Following a typical Chandlerian plot involving lots of intrigue, sex, lies, booze, and violence, Garner makes a mildly charming, laid-back Marlowe, trading a fair share of witty one-liners with the policemen, toughs and many eager young women he encounters, as he tries to unravel a convoluted missing persons/blackmail/murder case. Gets an interesting edge from the sixties characters and attitudes (Marlowe's hairdresser neighbour providing light relief, the stoner hotel at the start) but staying very much in the world of sleazy hoods and wealthy stars associated with earlier Bogey takes on Chandler. Bruce Lee's performance as a toughie sent to threaten Marlowe with some spectacular chop-socky is a high-point but sadly brief, and Garner is no Bogey, and the director is no Howard Hawks. Good-ish stuff, but confused by too many personality-free characters (rather than by a complex web as in The Big Sleep), and lacking Bogart's ice-hard edge, Garner is a smooth, witty and fairly convincing Marlowe; likewise the film, fairly convincing, but no classic.
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This looks like fun. My Dad said he likes it... Seed Please. Thanx