Dueling Marlowes

In 1939, Raymond Chandler wrote a detective novel that he called,The Big Sleep. His protagonist was a fellow named Philip Marlowe. His hard-boiled tough muscular prose was a fertile field waiting to be plowed by Hollywood, and rewritten into movie scripts. Between 1942 and 1997, eight actors portrayed Marlowe, and there have been at least nine films made from the Chandler books.

In 1946, the legendary Howard Hawks directed his version of THE BIG SLEEP with Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe. This time Hollywood got it right. Lauren Bacall, hot for Bogie, played the slinky sexy debutante femme. Dorothy Malone had some good scenes with Bogie in a bookstore. Bob Steele, and Elisha Cook Jr. gave wonderful support. In 1978, Brit Michael Winner directed a modern version of THE BIG SLEEP with Robert Mitchum playing Marlowe. This was his second time playing the Chandler gumshoe. The first time in 1975 was much more successful. This film, shot in London was an all-star snooze-fest. Sarah Miles played the femme. Richard Boone, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, Edward Fox, John Mills, James Stewart, Oliver Reed, Harry Andrews, and Richard Todd all phoned in their performances.

In 1942 there was a series of detective movies in production called THE FALCON. George Sanders initially played the main character, Gay Lawrence. The second film in that series, THE FALCON TAKES OVER, had a plot line based specifically on Raymond Chandler's second Marlowe novel, FAREWELL, MY LOVELY. In this movie, Ward Bond played Moose Malloy, and Lynn Bari was the femme. So, although Sanders was not actually called "Marlowe", he is credited as being the first screen actor to portray him.

In 1944, director Edward Dmytryk presented Chandler fans with Murder My Sweet and it had Dick Powell playing Philip Marlowe. Prior to that, Powell had done very little drama. He was perceived mostly as a song and dance man, playing lightweight comedic leads, romancing Ruby Keeler and Alice Faye. So Powell is better received at present than he was by the audiences of the WWII era. Powell was considered a powderpuff, trying to act tough. In retrospect, we can see that Dick Powell was a fine dramatic actor, and later a director. Claire Trevor was the femme, and Mike Mazurki, the ex-wrestler, was Moose Malloy.

In 1975, Richard Rush directed his version of FAREWELL, MY LOVELY, and suddenly the book came to life, and grew limbs. Robert Mitchum, himself a veteran of several Noir features from the 1940's and 1950's, was the perfect Philip Marlowe; growling out his narration with a gravelly voice, the product of too many smokes and cheap booze. His Marlowe was tough, and yet vulnerable; a sucker for a looker like Charlotte Rampling as the sexy, exciting femme. John Ireland, also a veteran of classic Noir, was very good. Harry Dean Stanton, Sylvia Miles, Anthony Zerbe gave support. Jack O'Halloran played the hulking Moose Malloy. And in several small scenes we had glimpses of Sly Stallone ( pre-Rocky ) as a vicious punk.

In 1943, Chandler wrote LADY IN THE LAKE, and it was # 4 in the Marlowe canon. In 1946, Robert Montgomery starred in and directed LADY IN THE LAKE presenting us with only the reflected image of Marlowe. The whole film was shot from the point-of-view (POV) of the detective. We only actually saw Marlowe in mirrors and windows. A creative gimmick, but for me it deluted the strength of the narrative; it was kind of disembodied. Audrey Totter was the femme. This is a Chandler novel that begs to be remade today; perhaps with Powers Boothe in the lead; filmed by HBO or Showtime. Boothe is one of my favorite Philip Marlowes. A few years ago, he starred in an HBO series called PHILLIP MARLOWE: Private Eye, filming 11 hours of episodes. It was based on the Chandler short stories, and it was excellent.

In 1969, Paul Bogart directed MARLOWE, a kind of a modern '60's hybrid of Chandler plots. James Garner was a good Marlowe, but not a great one. Gayle Hunnicutt was the femme. Bruce Lee had several scenes in it as a vicious violent thug. Carroll O'Conner, Rita Moreno, William Daniels, Jackie Coogan, and Kenneth Tobey were in support. If this film had been shot in period, the 1940's, with the same cast, it might have been more substantial.

Later in the Marlowe series, Raymond Chandler wrote THE LONG GOODBYE. In 1973, Robert Altman joined the fray, directing THE LONG GOODBYE, with the '60's icon Elliott Gould doing a Jewish version of Philip Marlowe. This was another odd Altman vision, but somehow the film works. Gould found a quality that created a solid characterization. Nina Van Pallandt was the femme; all glamour and no substance. Sterling Hayden was the heavy. Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson, David Arkin were in support. Cameos were done by David Carradine, and the unknown Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The most recent Marlowe, done a few years ago, again as an HBO special, was entitled PODDLE SPRINGS. James Caan was quite effective as an older Philip Marlowe. Who will be next to strap on the .45, and wear the mantle of Marlowe ?I can hardly wait for Marlowe to rise again.

Glenn Buttkus 2004