I do hope the estate for Raymond Chandler are getting all there owed,otherwise Phillip Marlowe will have to come around on lean on ya a little.Its quite amazing to think that when Robert Mitchum made this back in 75,he was there pretty much at the start of Noir and its heyday,obviously he had aged since then but none the less Mitchum still carries himself well and still looked the part.Jack O'Halloran as Moose Malloy is looking for his girlfreind Velma,so hires Marlowe,as usual the storyline soon expands as the plot-line thickens with intrigue and murder.
Unlike the The Big Sleep which Mitchum made with Micheal Winner this version keeps to the sleazy streets of los Angeles of the 1940's,so its fedora hats and non stop chain smoking while guzzling whiskey for breakfast,and that's just the women.
Directed by Dick Richards it does lack a certain style and sort of look likes a glorified TV movie,im not saying its badly directed just kind of lacklustre like he was just going through the motions.Surprising this is an early Produced movie by Elliott Kastner and Jerry Bruckheimer thankfully no shit gets blown up on this movie.
But its not all bad news as I said Mitchum is his usual self,we also have the sexy Charlotte Rampling as Helen Grayle,plus the not so sexy Joe Spinell and an early appearance of Sly Stallone as hired goons.Plus Harry Dean Stanton as rather inept detective.As always I have no idea how faithful this is to the novel but going by the internet it seems more faithful than the previous incarnation Murder, My Sweet in 1944 (although that's a more superior film).Its an interesting film,the early seventies did see a resurgence of 1940's art deco style which crept into music and films,so not a total loss just opportunity wasted me thinks.
out of 5