|
| • Advanced Search • Help |
Murder, My Sweet | Classification: Drama Directed: - Edward Dmytryk Actors/Actresses: - Dick Powell - Claire Trevor HARD BOILED NOIR.... One of the better ventures on the darker side of film noir with Raymond Chandler's PI Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) enmeshed in a complicated search for a jade necklace. He's hired by a thick brute named Moose Malloy (Mike Mazurki) to find former night club singer Velma Valenti. After numerous attempts to throw him off the scent, he tracks her down. She's now Mrs.Grayle (Claire Trevor), married to a much older man with a grown daughter (Anne Shirley) who despises her. The jade necklace comes into play and so does Mrs.Grayle. Marlowe enters a weird plot that eventually finds him drugged and held prisoner before he fights his way back with the help of Shirley. "Murder My Sweet" is good and salty film noir with hard bitten performances, brittle dialogue, thugs, mystery and a sexy femme fatale in Mrs. Grayle. When Marlowe first meets her, she's wearing a revealing white dress that allows her entire leg to be casually exposed when she sits down. Very sexy for the 40's. Excellent b&w photography with almost everything occuring at night drenches the film with heavy noir atmosphere. This is a classic film to be savored and the DVD print is great. A real collectors' treat. Seminal film noir--B&W perfection January 1945: Murder, My Sweet is released starring former movie musical crooner Dick Powell as tough detective Philip Marlowe, Claire Trevor as femme fatale Mrs. Grayle (aka Velma Valentino) and Mike Mazurki (in his first major role) as big lug-thug goofball Moose Malloy. Based on Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely, this baby is the real deal when it comes to film noir. Yeah, there were others before this--The Maltese Falcon and especially, Double Indemnity with a phenomenal performance by Barbara Stanwyck. But this is the one that put detective-based film noir on the map. The 1975 version (same title as the book) with Robert Mitchum, John Ireland, and some of the other classic film noir stalwarts is, in fact, a pretty good piece of work. But Murder, My Sweet is the ne plus ultra of film noir. The director, Edward Dmytryk, had a limited budget and so confined much of his shooting to low-lit interiors to save money. Not only that--he also has some ultra-cool sequences of poor Marlowe, having been force-fed a syringe or two of dope, hallucinating something awful. This shows the influence of German Expressionism to the max; the contrast of black and white has never been sharper, more vibrant, more startling in an American film. And dig those crazy images--multiple doors to go through trying to avoid a doc who walks through doors; larger than life images of two of the bad guys looming above, peering down at Marlowe with spooked up backlit faces; a giant syringe ready to plunge. There's the good girl and the bad girl, sure. There's the supposedly innocent older husband of the femme fatale. There's the evil brains of the picture who loves blackmail, brutality, and backbiting. And of course there's the hard-bitten cops dogging Marlowe throughout his journey from cynical onlooker to active tough guy to sentimental joe. What's not to like? So far the only DVD of this is being released in France. Hey, movie studios! Wake up! Time to get more film noir on DVD! Yeah. A great piece of work; that's what I say. HOW SWEET IT IS ON DVD! Interesting choice of career change for Dick Powell. After establishing himself as the light hearted lothario of 1930s Busby Berkeley musicals at Warner Brothers, the crooner side stepped his squeaky clean, boy-next-door image entirely with a string of deep and powerful dramatic performances. In "Murder My Sweet" Powell carries off Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled detective, Philip Marlowe to perfection. Okay, he's no Bogart, whom film buffs will recall played Marlowe in "The Big Sleep." But Powell's performance is a close second, buffeted by his quick thinking, deeply cynical, smart-shooting dialect. In "Murder My Sweet" Marlowe is hired by an ex-con (Mike Mazurki) to hunt down his old flame. But the plot spins out of control when a murder leads to Marlowe's engagement by a manipulative woman (Claire Trevor), to recover her missing jewels. But a drug induced nightmare fraught in symbolism and expressionism turns Marlowe's world on end, devouring his soul beneath a seedy underbelly that permeates both high-society and the dangerous post war bars and flophouses of inner city Los Angeles. "Murder My Sweet" is one of the first great, though often overlooked, film noirs; an absolute must see.<BR>Warner's transfer on "Murder My Sweet" is better than average. In fact it's remarkably clean. The gray scale is very well balanced with deep solid blacks and whites that are vibrant and sharp. There's some film grain but few age related artifacts for a visual presentation that is over all a considerable improvement over previously issued VHS tapes. The audio is mono but nicely balanced. The more intent listener will notice slight pops. Alain Silver delivers a very thorough audio commentary that will most surely enhance your appreciation for this film. A very good disc to add to your library of classic cinema. Seminal film noir--B&W perfection January 1945: Murder, My Sweet is released starring former movie musical crooner Dick Powell as tough detective Philip Marlowe, Claire Trevor as femme fatale Mrs. Grayle (aka Velma Valentino) and Mike Mazurki (in his first major role) as big lug-thug goofball Moose Malloy. Based on Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely, this baby is the real deal when it comes to film noir. Yeah, there were others before this--The Maltese Falcon and especially, Double Indemnity with a phenomenal performance by Barbara Stanwyck. But this is the one that put detective-based film noir on the map. The 1975 version (same title as the book) with Robert Mitchum, John Ireland, and some of the other classic film noir stalwarts is, in fact, a pretty good piece of work. But Murder, My Sweet is the ne plus ultra of film noir. The director, Edward Dmytryk, had a limited budget and so confined much of his shooting to low-lit interiors to save money. Not only that--he also has some ultra-cool sequences of poor Marlowe, having been force-fed a syringe or two of dope, hallucinating something awful. This shows the influence of German Expressionism to the max; the contrast of black and white has never been sharper, more vibrant, more startling in an American film. And dig those crazy images--multiple doors to go through trying to avoid a doc who walks through doors; larger than life images of two of the bad guys looming above, peering down at Marlowe with spooked up backlit faces; a giant syringe ready to plunge. There's the good girl and the bad girl, sure. There's the supposedly innocent older husband of the femme fatale. There's the evil brains of the picture who loves blackmail, brutality, and backbiting. And of course there's the hard-bitten cops dogging Marlowe throughout his journey from cynical onlooker to active tough guy to sentimental joe. What's not to like? So far the only DVD of this is being released in France. Hey, movie studios! Wake up! Time to get more film noir on DVD! Yeah. A great piece of work; that's what I say. Buy Murder My Sweet at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Murder My Sweet Search with the Priority Search Engine on Murder My Sweet This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
|
