Dick Powell

Claire Trevor

Anne Shirley

Otto Kruger

Mike Mazurki

Miles Mander

Douglas Walton

Donald Douglas

Ralf Harolde

Esther Howard

Ernie Adams

George Anderson

Edward Biby

Jack Carr

Tom Coleman

Ralph Dunn

Sam Finn

Rudy Germane

Fred Graham

Bill Hamilton

Paul Hilton

John Indrisano

Daun Kennedy

Donald Kerr

King Lockwood

Paul Phillips

Dewey Robinson

Shimen Ruskin

Larry Wheat

Adrian Scott

Raymond Chandler

Harry J. Wild

Roy Webb

Joseph Noriega

Edward Dmytryk

John Paxton

Mel Berns

Sid Rogell

Carroll Clark

Albert S. D'Agostino

Michael Ohrenbach

Darrell Silvera

Bailey Fesler

James G. Stewart

Vernon L. Walker

C. Bakaleinikoff

Edward Stevenson

William Dorfman

Leslie Urbach

Landon Arnett

Mystery

Drama

Murder, My Sweet

RKO Radio Pictures

United States of America

The dark pit opened up and I dived right in!

Well well, here we have a noir film that really has to be one of the most divisive in the genre, it would seem that some feel it's closer in texture to what Raymond Chandler wrote, and that the portrayal of Phillip Marlowe by Dick Powell is spot on in its execution.

Many others disagree completely though...

Now since I haven't read any of the novels Chandler wrote I have no frame of reference there, but having watched The Big Sleep this past week I feel the push me pull you polar opposite feelings this film creates.

Phillip Marlowe (Dick Powell) is a gruff wise cracking private eye, he is hired by ex convict Moose Malloy (a splendid Mike Mazurki) to find former girlfriend Velma who has been missing for 6 years, this sends him spiralling into a web of deceit, blackmail, theft, murder, in short all the great ingredients for classic noir. For sure the film has a cracking plot that dovetails a treat, but is it dark enough to fully flesh out the material? I just got this annoying itch that where the film should be getting murkier and deadly dark it was in fact far too breezy. Powell does good enough, but the wisecracks to me became more of a hindrance than an enjoyment, I felt in short that I was being lifted out of the dark when I actually wanted to stay cloaked in mud.

The film is still an incredible watch, the photography from Harry Wild is lush, and the core essence of the story is bang on the money, while I should mention the cracking performances of the supporting cast as Claire Trevor and Otto Kruger join in the mystery to help raise the film to a higher standard. Some scenes are joyous in the extreme, witness a nightmare sequence that is as gorgeous as it is unnerving, and director Edward Dmytryk excels in creating a bleak topsy turvy underworld, I just wish that this particular film had done away with the airiness. 8/10

English

Murder, My Sweet (1944) - Original Theatrical Trailer

Murder, My Sweet Original Theatrical Trailer