DVD Reviews

Marlowe – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll May 23, 2011, 1:14 GMT

Five-hundred bucks doesn\'t come easily for private eye Philip Marlowe (James Garner). But when it comes by way of a bribe, it might as well be five cents. He rejects Winslow Wong (Bruce Lee) and his offer of cash...and Wong promptly karates the detective\'s office into a junkpile. In a colorful whodunit based on Raymond Chandler\'s The Little Sister, Garner\'s easygoing style contrasts agreeably with the grim task of sleuthing ...more

James Garner steps into the shoes of Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe and updates it to modern times… well 1969 when the film was made.  It may seem more like the Rockford Files, but it does entertain. 

Phillip Marlowe (James Garner) has taken a charity case for the sum of $50 from mousy Orfamay Quest (Sharon Farrell).  Seems her brother Orrin (Roger Newman) has gone missing, but Marlowe has a lead to a seedy hippy motel.  The room Orrin is supposed to be occupying is housing the shifty Grant Hicks (Jackie Coogan) who takes Marlowe’s card and promises a call if he comes across Orrin. 

He returns to tell Orfamay that the case is a dead end and gives back her $50, but she tries to add other offers to the money, but Marlowe doesn’t want to accept her advances.  He does get a phone call from Hicks who wants to hire Marlowe to hold something for him for $100. 

When he arrives at Hicks’ hotel he finds the man with an ice pick in his neck and is hit by a mysterious woman.  Marlowe will discover that the cases will intersect and the suspects include TV star Mavis Wald (Gayle Hunnicutt), gangster Sonny Steelgrave (H.M. Wynant), his henchman Winslow Wong (Bruce Lee), pediatrician Dr. Vincent Lagardie (Paul Stevens), and fetching stripper Dolores Gonzalez (Rita Moreno). 
All the way Marlowe is tailed by cops Lt. French (Carroll O’Connor) and Sgt. Beifus (Kenneth Tobey), who may want to pin the murders on Marlowe. 

Raymond Chandler’s fifth Marlowe adventure called the Little Sister appeared in 1949 and some 20 years later it was updated for modern times.  At least the modern times of 1969 so we have some stuff that may have been old hat by the time it appears on the screen, such as hippies and flower power. 

Although those things quickly take a back seat as gumshoe Marlowe tries to keep ahead of the coppers and solve several murders and mysteries.  James Garner plays him with laconic aplomb but those used to the grittier noir Humphrey Bogart may not like the update.  I think that Garner may be more familiar as his character from the Rockford Files, which wouldn’t start till 1974, and his Marlowe seems more of that era than of Chandlers.

I’ve always liked Garner and he still doesn’t come off badly here in my opinion.  The mystery seems somewhat convoluted and complicated in the film (don’t know about Chandler’s book) but there are some fine and funny moments.  The scene where Bruce Lee hilariously destroys Marlowe’s office only shows off the martial artist’s skills, but he’s only in the film for one more scene. 

The “fine” occurs when Rita Moreno performs a striptease at the end of the film [insert wolf call here].  It’s a fun show in 1969 Los Angeles but I can’t help but think it may have seemed better if it was a period piece in that black and white noir land. 

Marlowe is presented in widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  The only special feature is a 2 minute trailer.  Don’t expect anymore as this is a Warner Archives burn-on-demand title. 

Marlowe tries to reinvent Raymond Chandler’s iconic private eye for a 1970s crowd and only partially succeeds.  There are some good moments, but they don’t add up to a overly memorable film.  It seems more in with the TV series that Garner would headline five years later. 

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