Murder, My Sweet
by Edward Dmytryk
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Actor: Anne Shirley, Claire Trevor, Dick Powell, Mike Mazurki, Otto KrugerDirector: Edward Dmytryk
Brand: TREVOR,CLAIRE
Cinematographer: Harry J. Wild
Editor: Joseph Noriega
Producer: Sid Rogell
Writer: John Paxton
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-07-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: RKO Radio Pictures
DVD Reviews of Murder, My Sweet
DVD Review: "I'm just a small businessman in a very messy business, but I like to follow through on a sale."
Summary: 5 Stars
After gaining fame by appearing in a number of musicals early in his career, actor Dick Powell (Cornered, Johnny O'Clock, Pitfall) switched gears to play one of literature's toughest mugs, Private Eye Phillip Marlowe, in Murder, My Sweet (1944), which was based off the Raymond Chandler novel "Farewell My Lovely"...incidentally, Farewell My Lovely was the original title of the film, but was later changed by the studio to Murder, My Sweet, as American audiences, used to seeing Powell in his singing routine, apparently thought the feature was another one of his musicals. Directed by Edward Dmytryk (The Devil Commands, Back to Bataan, The Caine Mutiny), the film features, along with Powell, Academy Award winner Claire Trevor (Stagecoach, Key Largo), Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables, Stella Dallas), and Otto Kruger (Saboteur). Also appearing is Miles Mander (The Picture of Dorian Gray), Donald Douglas (Gilda), Douglas Walton (Dick Tracy vs. Cueball), and wrestler turned silver screen serial thug Mike Mazurki (Abbott and Costello in Hollywood, Dick Tracy, Nightmare Alley).
As the film begins we see the police questioning a man with bandages covering his eyes, whom later we learn is Phillip Marlowe, Private Eye (Powell), to which he starts from the beginning relating a tale involving a valuable jade necklace, blackmail, and...MURDER! Seems not too long ago Marlowe was in his office one evening when a rather big mug (about the size of a Buick) named Moose Malloy (Mazurki) enters, looking for a woman (ain't we all, brother) he once knew named Velma, wanting to hire Marlowe to find her (Moose has been away for some number of years, a guest of the state if you know what I mean). Marlowe accepts the case, but is sidetracked as he's hired for a short gig as a bodyguard by a dandy weasel type named Marriott (Walton), who's attempting to recover a valuable jade necklace recently stolen from a hotsy totsy wealthy socialite named Helen Grayle (Trevor), and is supposedly meeting with the crooks to buy it back. Anyway, Marriott ends up fettucine al dead-o, while Marlowe takes a blackjack just behind the ear. After a bit of exchange with the authorities, Marlowe's visited by a young woman named Ann Grayle (Shirley), stepdaughter to Helen (seems Ann's father likes them young, as I'd say Ann and Helen couldn't be more than ten years apart), which leads to a meeting with her stepmother Helen, and Marlowe being retained to local the necklace. Helen gives Marlowe a line on a well to do psychic consultant/swindling conman named, get this, Jules Amthor (Kruger) as someone possibly involved (Marlowe heard this guy's name come up at the police station). Anyway, from this point on things get seriously complicated as the further Marlowe digs, the more punishment he receives (he's throttled, pistol whipped, drugged, and so on) which, oddly enough, only seems to encourage him to go further (he also feels some responsibility in terms of Marriott's death, as far as he was hired to protect him and he failed). Eventually the pieces begin to fall in place, leading up to a real doozy of a finale.
I haven't had a chance to see many of the films featuring the character of Philip Marlowe, but I've heard this is one of the best, and I'd be inclined to believe it after watching this movie last night. Powell does a wonderful job in the role, presenting a relatively calm, cool, and collected figure, sharp as a tack and yet underestimated by many (which tends to work to his advantage), always handy with just the appropriate glib remark, and possessing a dogged determination to see things through, no matter the dangers that arise. Some of my favorite parts involve the character's narrative, as it generally includes some of the best lines from the film, the most memorable for me being early on when Marlowe was gathering information on Velma, the woman whom Moose had asked him to find. At one point Marlowe visits a shabby, older woman whom he describes in the following manner...
"She was a charming, middle-aged lady with a face like a bucket of mud."
I actually laughed out loud at this statement, something I'm generally not prone to do, even with comedies. Claire Trevor also comes across really well as a true femme fatale, most definitely possessing masters degrees in the fine arts of seduction and manipulation (she's the kind of woman most men wouldn't mind being used by, at least until it was too late). One element I especially liked was the complexity of the story. While I haven't read the novel that spawned this film, I did get a strong feeling in there being an effort to stay true to Chandler's original material, and not an attempt to `dumb' things down (I think often those involved with making films tend to see their patrons as slow witted noodleheads, unable or unwilling to handle labyrinthine and elaborate storylines). I have to give director Edward Dmytryk, who would find himself a target of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the late 1940s, a lot of credit (along with, obviously, Chandler) as no matter how screwy the plot gets, he manages to reign things in at the end, laying it all out for the viewer, but not necessarily in such a way where it seems obvious...what I mean is there's exposition throughout the film, but it's not necessarily presented as such, but more often a natural outgrowth of events on the screen. For me, this is one element that separates standard mystery thrill dramas from truly exceptional ones, the latter being the case here. I was kind of proud of myself, as there were aspects I picked up about the same time as Marlowe, but at the same time there was a lot he figured out well before I did, based on his superior and experienced intuition. Ah well, I'll never be a gumshoe...a rotten heel, perhaps, but never a gumshoe...
The picture, presented in fullscreen (1.33:1), looks very clean and clear, and the Dolby Digital mono audio comes across well. As far as extras, included is a commentary track with author/film-noir specialist Alain Silver, a rough looking theatrical trailer, and subtitles in English, Spanish, and French. If you're interested in picking up this DVD, you might want to look into purchasing the Film Noir Classics Collection, Volume 1, a most excellent DVD set, as it includes this film, along with Gun Crazy (1949) aka Deadly Is the Female, The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Out of the Past (1947), and The Set-Up (1949) which appears to cost significantly less than buying the films individually.
Cookieman108
One last thing, this film was remade and released in 1975 under the title Farewell, My Lovely, and starred Robert Mitchum and Charlotte Rampling, for those who are interested.
Description of Murder, My Sweet
A collection of classic film noir.Genre: Suspense
Rating: NR
Release Date: 6-JUL-2004
Media Type: DVD
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