Prismark10 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.

mark.waltz As America wrapped up its four years of World War, a more cynical Hollywood began putting together films with more serious methods of storytelling, a crisp new formula called "film noir". There had been tidbits of film noir going back to the silent era, and even as early as 1932 with "I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang", Hollywood began telling darker stories with brooding anti-heroes, sexy femme fatals and creepy supporting characters looking in the background. There were a few early examples of the upswing of this genre, but it wasn't until 1944 that the era of Film Noir truly began, exploding with such masterpieces as "Laura", "Double Indemnity", "The Phantom Lady" and this dark look at the world of Philip Marlowe with former musical star Dick Powell in the part, moving on to the third phase of his career, having been more the light-hearted non-singing leading man during the early war years and now much more serious."Murder My Sweet" is actually a remake of one of the "Falcon" films, told much darker here, with Powell initially seen being blindfolded and interrogated by cops for his involvement in murder. The road to discovery is a twisted one, interrupted by hellish nightmares, innocent heroines, a deadly femme fatale and some unforgettable character performances of people you hope never to meet in the dark. Everything exploded for Powell's Marlowe when flashing lights kept a stranger standing behind him moving in and out of his visuals. Mike Mazurki is "Moose", a dumb knucklehead searching for his wife, a man tending towards violent mood swings which he seemingly can't stop himself from having. Powell's search for the missing wife leads him to the drunken hag Esther Howard, and a mysterious phone call which she makes that leads him on to even more deadly encounters.Another client has Powell searching for some missing jewels, but this client soon is found dead with Powell knocked out like a light, being rescued by a mysterious young woman. He later encounters the same woman (Anne Shirley in her last film) pretending to be a reporter and discovers the truth which involves her father and his much younger second wife, the seductive Claire Trevor. Powell's involvement with this convoluted family brings him back in contact with Mazurki and the family's shady lawyer (Otto Kruger) and into a dangerous situation which he fears he may not come alive out of.Tensely directed by the controversial Edward Dmytryk ("Crossfire"), "Murder My Sweet" is the first of the truly dark film noirs, one with so many twists and turns that you fear the plot might crash over the side of the road. But you are glued to find out what is really going on, and this really explodes when Powell has a nightmare of such horrific experiences that you could swear you were in a horror movie. Hitchcock picked up on the power of such dream sequences, utilizing it with equal power in the following year's "Spellbound".All of the performances are exceptional, with Powell's darkness a far cry from the juvenile he played in the "Gold Diggers" series and "42nd Street". Trevor is an exciting vixen, and of course, gets some great lines. Shirley is an appealing young leading lady, and it seems a shame that she didn't continue on, even part time, as a movie actress. She's come along way from "Anne of Green Gables" and "Stella Dallas". The always unforgettable Howard makes the most of her one scene as a wretched woman whose life has fallen into utter despair, yet there's a tenderness about her which makes you want to see more of her. Of the male character performers, Mazurki stands out the most, his gentle child-like mentality being overcome with his brutal nature. Everything about this film will have you entranced, and even if the ending is a slight let-down, everything which comes before makes this stand out as one of the greats in a wonderful genre which has obtained a huge cult audience of its own.

PimpinAinttEasy I don't know whether to call this one a crime thriller or a laugh out loud comedy. There are some truly hilarious moments, maybe more than the usual in a pretty over the top thriller.The film has an interesting structure and the director sort of makes an intervention towards the end of the film. The movie is narrated by PHILLIP MARLOWE until the end but the director sort of steps in to give the film a happy ending.MURDER MY SWEET is pretty wild for a film that came out in 1944. There are some seriously psychedelic interludes and highly stylized imagery. JOHN PAXTON really packs it in with the one liners.DICK POWELL sort of made this film for me. He is tough, funny and vulnerable especially in the scenes where he is drugged. He really nailed the MARLOWE character. ANNE SHIRLEY looked gorgeous. I don't understand what was so erotic about CLAIRE TREVOR - i guess she did a fair job, despite her physical limitations. MIKE MAZURKI was pretty sinister and exuded danger as a thug who lived purely on instinct.As a viewer, you better pay attention to the goings on in the movie because its full of twists. I think this is the best crime thriller I have ever watched.

Hurdy_Gurdy_Man "Murder, My Sweet" is first proper adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel featuring legendary detective Philip Marlowe. Title was changed from "Farewell, My Lovely" because it sounded like another lighthearted Dick Powell musical.Speaking of Powell, I was not aware of his matinée idol image prior to doing this film. I haven't seen him in anything else, though as the director of the WWII submarine drama "The Enemy Below", he left a good impression on me. But I admit that I was skeptical. I cannot be blamed for being so because my idea of a perfect Marlowe is Bogart's portrayal of him in "The Big Sleep". I had my doubts whether Powell could match up to it. So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when it turned out that he did have it in him to match Bogart. Maybe he wasn't as outwardly tough but he definitely nailed it in the clinic scenes where he is in a drugged state and then coming out of it. I felt that he gave Marlowe a vulnerable and hence relatable edge.I don't like the novel much. It has the expected hardboiled dialogue but I could not bring myself to care about any of the characters or the mystery, unlike The Big Sleep. Many fans of the novel crib on this film's board about the changes it made to the novel but I think that at least a few of them were for the better. I liked that the role of Grayle's aged husband was enlarged. It injected some genuine emotion in the film which otherwise might have ended up being another cold exercise in mystery solving. It also suited me better that instead of Marlowe stumbling into a mystery by accident, he was expressly hired by Moose Malloy to solve it.Even if he is working on a low budget, Dmytryk employs a lot of interesting gimmicks and tricks to make the film interesting to look at. I loved the way Moose Malloy was introduced as an ominous reflection in the window. The design of the drug trip/withdrawal scene in the clinic had to be believable for it to work and it is certainly a striking feature, but my most memorable single image in the film would be the perfect match cut when Marlowe holds Marriott's driving licence in his hand and then it cuts to the same card in the hands of a detective.And before I forget, Mike Mazurki was simply awesome in his role as the soft-hearted toughie Moose Malloy. He perfectly managed to make his character look dimwitted and menacing simultaneously.