^ A film I do want to eventually see.
Marlowe (1969: Paul Bogart)
The main reason I watched this film was that I knew Bruce Lee had a small appearance in it. This would be his first American film appearance (having done several TV episodes before this including
The Green Hornet series) and a few years before his fateful role in
The Big Boss when his popularity would skyrocket. It is no wonder that many reviews state his first scene in the film as a highlight of the movie. He literally trashes Marlowe’s office (fans of Bruce Lee have probably seen this scene already). Lee’s later scene is a disappointment because it seems so stupid what happens to him. I knew it was coming, but still the way it was done was hilariously bad.
The movie, based on the book from Raymond Chandler’s
The Little Sister, looks and almost feels like a TV movie. In fact for years I thought it was. The direction from Paul Bogart is ho hum with little interest in movement or framing. The plot is a bit jumbled and was confusing at times for myself. The pacing is sometimes meandering. I have not read the book so I do not know if any of these issues were present there.
Good to see Jackie Coogan in a small role here. If you want to see how time can make a difference in an actor watch him in Chaplin’s
The Kid and then watch an episode of the
The Addam’s Family where he plays Uncle Fester.
I like Garner as Phillip Marlowe. One of many actors to play this role. His sense of humor for the character is there, though he does seem to miss a certain gravitas with the character. He does not seem as dangerous as Humphrey Bogart (or even Robert Mitchum) playing the same character in
The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks as the director certainly helps.) The character is not too far from
Maverick and certainly not too far from the later
Rockford Files.
A couple of good reviews:
http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/i ... chive.html: a nice review from clydefro.
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/marlowe-1969: Ebert uses the term Karate which is technically incorrect.
