Murder, My Sweet
Murder, My Sweet (Farewell, My Lovely) | |
---|---|
Directed by | Edward Dmytryk |
Screenplay by | John Paxton |
Based on | Farewell, My Lovely 1940 novel by Raymond Chandler |
Produced by | Adrian Scott |
Starring | Dick Powell Claire Trevor Anne Shirley |
Narrated by | Dick Powell |
Cinematography | Harry J. Wild |
Edited by | Joseph Noriega |
Music by | Roy Webb |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 or 95 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $400,000[2] or $468,000[3] |
Murder, My Sweet (released as Farewell, My Lovely in the United Kingdom) is a 1944 American film noir, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor and Anne Shirley (in her final film before retirement).[4] The film is based on Raymond Chandler's 1940 novel Farewell, My Lovely. It was the first film to feature Chandler's primary character, the hard-boiled private detective Philip Marlowe.[5]
Murder, My Sweet is, along with Double Indemnity (released five months prior), one of the first films noirs, and a key influence in the development of the genre.[5]
Plot
With his eyes bandaged, private detective Philip Marlowe is interrogated by police lieutenant Randall about two murders.
Marlowe tells how he was hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to locate Malloy's former girlfriend Velma Valento. They go to Florian's, the nightclub where Velma last worked as a singer, but no one remembers her. Marlowe tracks down Jessie Florian, the alcoholic widow of the nightclub's former owner, who hides a photo of Velma and says Velma is dead. Marlowe steals the photo and hears Jessie making a phone call as he leaves.
The next morning, Lindsay Marriott hires Marlowe to be his bodyguard while he acts as a go-between to pay a ransom for some stolen jewels. During the job, Marlowe is knocked unconscious from behind. When he comes to, a young woman shines a flashlight on his face, then runs away. The money is gone, and Marriott has been murdered with repeated blows from a
Ann Grayle tries to pry information out of Marlowe about the murder. She mentions that the jewels were jade, and introduces him to her weak, elderly, and wealthy father, Leuwen Grayle, and his seductive second wife, Helen. Grayle collects rare jade and was attempting to recover a stolen necklace. Jules Amthor, a psychic healer who treated both Helen and Marriott, shows up just as Marlowe is leaving. Helen retains Marlowe to try to recover the jade, but Ann tries bribing him to drop the case.
In an attempt to locate the jade, Amthor has duped Moose into thinking that Marlowe knows where Velma is. Moose attacks and subdues Marlowe, then Amthor has Marlowe taken to Dr. Sonderberg's sanatorium, where he is drugged and held for three days. Marlowe escapes and convinces Moose that Amthor tricked him, then goes to Ann.
When Marlowe learns that the police had asked Ann's father about the family beach house, which Marriott rented, Marlowe and Ann go there, where they find Helen hiding from the police. Ann leaves to tell her father where his missing wife is. Marlowe deduces that Helen hired him only to set him up for Amthor's interrogations and that Ann was trying to save him from the set-up. Helen attempts to entice Marlowe into helping her murder Amthor. Marlowe seems to go along with her plan, but finds Amthor dead already. Moose is waiting for Marlowe at his office. Marlowe shows Moose the photo of "Velma" he took from Jessie, and as he suspected, it is a fake intended to throw anyone looking for Velma off the track. In fact, Helen is Velma. Marlowe tells Moose to lie low until the next night, when he will take Moose to her.
At the beach house, Marlowe has Moose wait outside while he meets with Helen to find out what happened to the necklace, but she pulls a gun on him. Jessie Florian had tipped her that he was looking for Velma, so she faked the robbery and the ransom exchange to kill Marlowe. Helen killed Marriott while Marlowe went down into the canyon, and was about to kill Marlowe when Ann came along, worried that her jealous father might be trying to kill Marriott.
As Helen is about to shoot Marlowe, a lovesick Grayle shows up with Ann. He takes Marlowe's gun and kills Helen/Velma. Moose hears the shot and comes in, finding Velma dead. Grayle admits to shooting her, and Moose lunges for Grayle, who shoots him. Marlowe attempts to intercede as the gun goes off and his eyes are burned by the flash. Three more shots are fired.
His story concluded, the temporarily blinded private eye is told that Moose and Grayle shot each other in a struggle for Marlowe's gun. Marlowe is escorted out of the building by Detective Nulty, with Ann following them and overhearing every word. Marlowe expresses his attraction for Ann to the detective. In the back seat of a taxi cab, the bandaged Marlowe recognizes her perfume, and they kiss.
Cast
- Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe
- Claire Trevor as Helen Grayle/Velma Valento
- Anne Shirley as Ann Grayle
- Otto Kruger as Jules Amthor
- Mike Mazurki as Moose Malloy
- Miles Mander as Mr. Grayle
- Douglas Walton as Lindsay Marriott
- Don Douglasas Police Lt. Randall
- Ralf Harolde as Dr. Sonderborg
- Esther Howard as Mrs. Jessie Florian
- John Indrisanoas chauffeur (Amthor's henchman)
- Dewey Robinson as New Boss at 'Florian's' (uncredited)
Production
The rights to Chandler's
For Murder, My Sweet Koerner assembled a creative staff who were ready to make the move up from
Both Shirley and Trevor tried to convince the studio that they should both play "against type", with perennial good girl Shirley cast as the femme fatale Helen, and Trevor cast as the nice girl, Ann, but their pressure did not convince the studio.[2]
Koerner was also responsible for Dick Powell's transformation from a crooner to playing hard-boiled characters. Powell had been known in the 1930s and early 1940s for light comedies and musicals, but for ten years he had been trying to break away from that
Powell's performance as Philip Marlowe is much debated by fans of Chandler and film noir; some think it too light and comic; while others consider it the best interpretation of Marlowe on film.[7] Chandler himself – who at first had objected to casting Powell – said he was very fond of it, but after seeing Marlowe played by Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep, changed his allegiance to Bogart.[8]
Another actor who had to audition to get the role he played was former pro-wrestler-turned-actor Mike Mazurki. Dmytryk wanted a true actor to play the part, but was convinced by Mazurki in a studio commissary discussion to give him a chance; Powell assisted him in his efforts.[8]
The film's screenwriter,
Another change made in the adaptation from the book to the film was in the character of Ann Grayle. She was originally the daughter of an honest cop, but changing her to the step-daughter of Trevor's seductress helped to show the differences between the two types of women.[2]
It was producer Scott's idea to shoot the film as an extended flashback, which kept the book's first-person narrative style.[2]
Production on Murder, My Sweet took place from May 8 to July 1, 1944.[1] Shooting on the first day was so hectic that Claire Trevor was being sewn into her dress while the first scene was being set up. A makeup person was left off of the call, so Trevor did her makeup herself. During breaks between scenes, Dick Powell would entertain the other actors with imitations of himself as a singer earlier in his film career.[2]
Night location shooting took place in the Hollywood Hills.[1]
Release and title change
The film was first screened on December 18, 1944 in
Response
Critical reception
Murder, My Sweet is considered one of the better adaptations of Chandler's work. Glenn Erickson wrote, "Murder, My Sweet remains the purest version of Chandler on film, even if it all seems far too familiar now."[10]
Alison Dalzell, writing for the Edinburgh University Film Society, notes:
Of all the adaptations of Chandler novels, this film comes as close as any to matching their stylish first person narrative and has the cinematic skill and bravado of direction to carry it off. Since the '40s countless mystery and neo-noir films have been made in Hollywood and around the world. Murder, My Sweet is what they all aspire to be.[11]
According to film critics Ellen Keneshea and Carl Macek, the picture takes Chandler's novel and transforms it into a "film with a dark ambiance unknown at [the] time". Dmytryk was able to transcend the tough dialogue and mystery film conventions by creating a "cynical vision of society". As such, the film enters the world of film noir.[9]
When the film was released, Bosley Crowther, the film critic for The New York Times, appreciated the adaptation of Chandler's novel and lauded the acting and writing:
Practically all of the supporting roles are exceptionally well played, particularly by Mike Mazurki, the former wrestler, as the brutish Moose Malloy; Otto Kruger as Jules Amthor, quack-psychologist and insidious blackmailer; Anne Shirley as an innocent among the wolf pack, and Don Douglas as the police lieutenant. In short, Murder, My Sweet is pulse-quickening entertainment.[4]
The staff at Variety magazine also gave the film kudos, writing:
Murder, My Sweet, a taut thriller about a private detective enmeshed with a gang of blackmailers, is as smart as it is gripping ... Performances are on a par with the production. Dick Powell is a surprise as the hard-boiled copper. The portrayal is potent and convincing. Claire Trevor is as dramatic as the predatory femme, with Anne Shirley in sharp contrast as the soft kid caught in the crossfire.[12]
Box office
The film made a profit of $597,000.[13]
Awards and honors
Murder, My Sweet won four 1946
- Best Motion Picture
- John Paxton (screenplay)
- Raymond Chandler (author)
- Dick Powell (actor)
Other versions
- The Chandler novel had been filmed once before, in 1942, as The Falcon.
- In 1975, the story was remade under its original title as Farewell, My Lovely starring Robert Mitchum as Marlowe and directed by Dick Richards.
- The film version of Murder, My Sweet was dramatized as an hour-long radio play on June 11, 1945, broadcast of Lux Radio Theater, with Powell and Trevor in their original film roles.[14]
- Another radio adaptation, with Powell and Mike Mazurki reprising their roles, was presented on Hollywood Star Time in 1948, with Mary Astor playing Helen.[2]
- The success of Murder, My Sweet inspired the creation of two radio series: 1947's short-lived Philip Marlow with Van Heflin in the lead role, and The Adventures of Philip Marlowe which played from 1948 to 1951, with Gerald Mohr as Marlowe. The latter was the most popular show on radio in 1949.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Murder, My Sweet at the American Film Institute Catalog
- ^ TCM.com
- ISBN 9781476680927.
- ^ a b Crowther, Bosley (2007). "Murder, My Sweet". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Miller, Frank; Feaster, Felicia. "Why 'Murder, My Sweet' Is Essential". TCM.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Muller, Eddie (January 19. 2019) Intro to the Noir Alley presentation of Murder, My Sweet on Turner Classic Movies
- ^ a b Clute, Shannon and Richard Edwards. Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir, Episode 26: Murder, My Sweet. Last accessed: December 13, 2007.
- ^ a b c Muller, Eddie (January 19. 2019) Outro to the Noir Alley presentation of Murder, My Sweet on Turner Classic Movies
- ^ ISBN 0-87951-479-5.
- ^ Erickson, Glenn. DVD Savant Review, film analysis, 2007. Last accessed: December 13, 2007.
- ^ Dalzell, Alison Archived May 14, 2005, at the Wayback Machine. Edinburgh University Film Society, film review. 1997. Last accessed: December 13, 2007.
- ^ Staff (January 1, 1945) "Murder, My Sweet" Variety
- ISBN 9780520289673
- ^ "Pop Culture 101: Murder, My Sweet". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
External links
- Murder, My Sweet at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Murder, My Sweet at IMDb
- Murder, My Sweet at Rotten Tomatoes
- Murder, My Sweet at AllMovie
- Murder, My Sweet at the TCM Movie Database
- Murder, My Sweet film clip on YouTube
- Streaming audio
- Murder, My Sweet on Lux Radio Theater: June 11, 1945
- Murder, My Sweet on Hollywood Star Time: June 8, 1946
- Murder, My Sweet on