MURDER, MY SWEET (1944, USA, 95m, PG) ****½
Crime, Drama, Thriller
dist. RKO Radio Pictures; pr co. RKO Radio Pictures; d. Edward Dmytryk; w. John Paxton (based on the novel “Farewell, My Lovely” by Raymond Chandler); pr. Adrian Scott; ph. Harry J. Wild (B&W | 1.37:1); m. Roy Webb; ed. Joseph Noriega; ad. Carroll Clark, Albert S. D’Agostino.
cast: Dick Powell (Philip Marlowe), Claire Trevor (Helen Grayle), Anne Shirley (Ann Grayle), Otto Kruger (Jules Amthor), Mike Mazurki (Joe ‘Moose’ Malloy), Miles Mander (Leuwen Grayle), Douglas Walton (Lindsay Marriott), Donald Douglas (Police Lt. Randall), Ralf Harolde (Dr. Sonderborg), Esther Howard (Jessie Florian), Ernie Adams (Bartender at ‘Florian’s’ (uncredited)), Paul Phillips (Detective Nulty (uncredited)), Larry Wheat (Grayle’s Butler (uncredited)).
Raymond Chandler’s gumshoe Philip Marlowe (Powell) is hired by the huge and oafish ex-con Moose Malloy (Mazurki) to track down his former girlfriend. He’s also hired to accompany an effeminate playboy to buy back some jewels. When the exchange results in the playboy’s murder, Marlowe can’t leave the case alone and soon discovers it’s related to Malloy’s. As he gets drawn deeper into a complex web of intrigue by a mysterious blonde (Trevor), Marlowe finds himself in increasing jeopardy. Densely plotted and stylishly filmed mystery with Powell making a strong impression as a pre-Bogart Philip Marlowe. Paxton’s script wisely retained much of Chandler’s dialogue and atmosphere, even if the ending was changed. Wild’s moody photography and visual depiction of a drug-induced Marlowe are memorable. The film proved to be hugely influential on the film noir genre with its use of voiceover, night-time settings, adventurous framing, seedy characters and hardboiled dialogue. The final film of Anne Shirley. UK title: FAREWELL, MY LOVELY. Filmed previously as THE FALCON TAKES OVER (1942) and remade as FAREWELL, MY LOVELY in 1975.
