Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Philip Marlowe might now always be associated with Humphrey Bogart but this first adaptation of Farewell my Lovely, directed by Edward Dmytryk and a suitably film noir lighting by Harry J Wild who created a dangerous shadowy world.Dick Powell plays the hard boiled tough talking private eye Philip Marlowe hired by a recently released ex-convict Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend Velma. The case may sound simple but it leads Marlowe to a complex web of lies, deceit and danger.I expected this film to have aged badly but was surprised by how much I enjoyed the film, it is edgy and hard hitting in places, very well adapted from Raymond Chandler's novel and nice to see another take on Marlowe from that era played by a different actor.

Edward Dmytryk directed this first adaptation of author Raymond Chandler's classic private detective character Philip Marlowe(soon to be made even more famous by Humphrey Bogart in the Howard Hawks directed "The Big Sleep"). Here, Dick Powell plays Marlowe in a typically complex case that will put him in mortal danger(and confusion). Marlowe is hired by recently released ex-convict Moose Malloy(played by Mike Mazurki) to find his girlfriend Velma(played by Claire Trevor) whom he hasn't seen in several years, and still loves. The case will not be as simple or as straight-forward as it first appears... Powell is fine as Marlowe, with good direction and reasonably intriguing story.

This is a good movie but it's dated. This is the kind of my that has turned into an antique, meaning that when it was new it was a gem but with the passage of time it has lost its luster. Now, that does not mean that the movie is not worth watching. It has a wonderful cast and excellent cinematography, but still, the movie is essentially dull and hokey. This has nothing to do with the actors. Rather, it a question of changing tastes. What passed for an exciting crime drama in the 1940s would seem stodgy today. Maybe one should not make such generalizations, but to remake this movie today would require a massive re-write to bring it in conformity with the tastes of today's audience, and unless someone today is willing to accept this movie on its own 1940s terms, it will not excite; rather it will bore, and maybe even cure you of insomnia.

Adaptation of Raymond Chandler's enduring mystery novel "Farewell, My Lovely" (filmed previously, so to speak, as "The Falcon Takes Over" in 1942) is mostly a set-bound noir, with Dick Powell looking a tad fit and clean as "grubby" Los Angeles detective Philip Marlowe tying in the disappearance of some jewels to a missing lounge singer. Powell revitalized his career with this performance, and he's indeed quite good in the scenes where his Marlowe is drugged and being held hostage. The mixture of darkly sarcastic humor with gun-play was probably very fresh in 1944, but some of the joshing (as with the final tag outside the police station) is a little broad for a crime drama. Remade (and improved) in 1975 with Robert Mitchum as Marlowe. **1/2 from ****