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Murder, My Sweet
This is not only one of the first Hollywood films noir (preceded by Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon), but it is one of the all time very best, virtually defining the cinematic style.
Most viewers are aware that the film’s title was changed from Raymond Chandler’s original Farewell, My Lovely because preview audiences thought that the title suggested a musical comedy, and also because the star Dick Powell was solidly known as a musical comedy lead. But what I newly learned was that RKO had purchased the rights from Chandler in 1942, and had used a similar story with most of the same characters in the film The Falcon Takes Over (1942), starring George Sanders as “The Falcon”, but with no Philip Marlowe character in the adaption.
Dick Powell etched a superb performance playing Marlowe as a hard-boiled, but human shamus with a sense of humor. The performance highly impressed RKO’s studio head, and forever changed the types of roles that Powell would play. The cast itself has no weak portrayals, and the ensemble worked together and separately like a fine Swiss watch.
The plot is convoluted and tricky, as are most of Chandler’s stories. As in his other novels various taboo subjects such as homosexuality and drug addiction had to be soft pedaled and de-emphasized due to the Hays Code. But Marlowe is in on solving the mystery, and there is a very gratifying ending with Powell and Anne Shirley.
Mention must be made of Edward Dmytryk’s superb direction of a faithful screenplay by John Paxton. Dmytryk had done a number of good WWII films, but it was “My Sweet” that really cemented his stock. He went on to direct Crossfire, The Caine Mutiny, The Carpetbaggers, and many other wonderful films. We can thank his deft spinning of a dark and mysterious mood into Chandler’s work, which literally defined film noir.
There have been a number of Philip Marlowes portrayed in American feature film adaptions of Chandler novels. My personal ranking of the actors in order are: Humphrey Bogart, Dick Powell, Robert Mitchum, Robert Montgomery, James Garner, Elliot Gould, James Caan, and George Montgomery. But, having read all of Chandler's Marlowe novels I'd say that Dick Powell plays it as close to the shamus of the novels.