It's the epitome of the so-called 'hard boiled crime' movie. This film has exactly what you'd expect - fabulous forties dialogue delivered at machine gun pace, menacing camera work, moody lighting but above all, not one single person can be trusted. This film doesn't just give you a taste of this other underworld, it chews you up and spits you out into the gutter to be trampled on underfoot by this unnerving world of shadows.
As you'd expect from Raymond Chandler, the plot is absurdly complicated so if you blink for more than a few seconds, you'll be totally lost. Don't worry about it, be like Marlowe who resigns himself to that fact that stuff just happens and is content to be dragged along with the flow.
As someone who's watched far too many early 30s Warner musicals, it is fascinating to see Dick Powell being so utterly different. That sense of surprise only lasts a few minutes because Powell IS Philip Marlowe - he's perfection.
As you'd expect from Raymond Chandler, the plot is absurdly complicated so if you blink for more than a few seconds, you'll be totally lost. Don't worry about it, be like Marlowe who resigns himself to that fact that stuff just happens and is content to be dragged along with the flow.
As someone who's watched far too many early 30s Warner musicals, it is fascinating to see Dick Powell being so utterly different. That sense of surprise only lasts a few minutes because Powell IS Philip Marlowe - he's perfection.