Marlowe

1969

Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller

4
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 53% · 7 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 53% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 4280 4.3K

philip marlowe blackmail detective murder

Plot summary

Mysterious Orfamay Quest hires Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother. Though the job seems simple enough, it leads Marlowe into the underbelly of the city, turning up leads who are murdered with ice picks, exotic dancers, blackmailed television stars and self-preserving gangsters. Soon, Marlowe's life is on the line right along with his case.

Director

Paul Bogart Photo
Paul Bogart

Top cast

Bruce Lee Photo
Bruce Lee as Winslow Wong
James Garner Photo
James Garner as Philip Marlowe
Paul Stevens Photo
Paul Stevens as Dr. Vincent Lagardie
William Daniels Photo
William Daniels as Mr. Crowell
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
879.39 MB
1280*718
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us   fr  
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 3
1.59 GB
1916*1076
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us   fr  
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 15

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by thehumanduvet 7 / 10

Interesting oddity

Following a typical Chandlerian plot involving lots of intrigue, sex, lies, booze, and violence, Garner makes a mildly charming, laid-back Marlowe, trading a fair share of witty one-liners with the policemen, toughs and many eager young women he encounters, as he tries to unravel a convoluted missing persons/blackmail/murder case. Gets an interesting edge from the sixties characters and attitudes (Marlowe's hairdresser neighbour providing light relief, the stoner hotel at the start) but staying very much in the world of sleazy hoods and wealthy stars associated with earlier Bogey takes on Chandler. Bruce Lee's performance as a toughie sent to threaten Marlowe with some spectacular chop-socky is a high-point but sadly brief, and Garner is no Bogey, and the director is no Howard Hawks. Good-ish stuff, but confused by too many personality-free characters (rather than by a complex web as in The Big Sleep), and lacking Bogart's ice-hard edge, Garner is a smooth, witty and fairly convincing Marlowe; likewise the film, fairly convincing, but no classic.
Reviewed by utgard14 6 / 10

"Underneath the pasties is a size 40 heart."

A young girl from Kansas hires Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother. Marlowe's investigation leads to two dead bodies and a blackmail plot concerning an actress. Decent adaptation of the Raymond Chandler novel "The Little Sister," updated to the '60s. Garner's not an ideal Philip Marlowe but he's charismatic and enjoyable to watch. He has good chemistry with Rita Moreno, who steals every scene she's in. Bruce Lee has a small but memorable part. Carroll O'Connor and Kenneth Tobey are good as a couple of cops easily frustrated with Garner. A little too mellow and lacking grit for a hardboiled detective story, though it's still entertaining. More Rockford than Marlowe. A minor quibble: there's a scene late in the film that takes place in a wooded area but is very obviously filmed on a sound stage. I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it if the movie had been made even ten years earlier but for a 1969 film it was very noticeable and fake.
Read more IMDb reviews

2 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment