ashogo (Level 21)

(1942) Adaptation of "The High Window". Marlowe's character is changed to some pansy detective called "Michael Shayne".

(1944) This is my favorite Marlowe movie, an opinion shared by Chandler himself. Dick Powell slips into the tough-guy role surprisingly well, and benefits from being younger than two more iconic Marlowes--Bogart and Mitchum. Unfortunately they still felt a need to mess with the ending, so that the guy gets the girl.

(1946) Based on the first Marlowe book of the same title, published in 1939. The plot is a tangled, complex mess that is nearly impossible to follow on a single viewing, or even multiple ones--but then again, plot was never the highlight of Chandler's novels. What the movie does well is to keep the snappy dialogue and sense of style and atmosphere that makes Chandler's books so damn fun to read. Bogart, while a little old to match the Marlowe in my mind, still delivers a great performance as the Los Angeles private eye, and spits out cynical one liners straight out of the book with gusto. He is not the same Marlowe of Chandler's creation--his detective is too light and unburdened--but he's fun to watch nonetheless.

Some notable changes were made to the storyline, most obviously the romance between Marlowe and Vivian (played by Lauren Bacall), which didn't exist in the book. There were a few added scenes that came as a result of this change, including the famous sultry exchange about "horse racing" in the bar. The ending was also completely reworked, which may have been necessary for the romance angle, but also removes a vital part of the plot. Chances are, you'll be so lost on who did what to who and why that you won't even notice by the end anyways.

Interestingly, the original pre-release version of the movie had several additional scenes featuring Carmen, Vivian's spoiled nymphomaniac sister (played by Martha Vickers) that are really fantastic. Unfortunately they were eventually cut, apparently to focus more on the Bogie-Bacall romance and so as to not steal any of the attention away from Bacall.

Overall a very fun adaptation of The Big Sleep. Although like most book-to-film adaptations it becomes a different beast from the original, it does a great job of retaining the essence of Chandler's style.

(1947) Based on "The High Window".

(1947) Based on the book of the same name. Uses a first-person camera gimmick.

(1969) Released in 1969 and based on "The Little Sister". The novel was filled with scathing criticisms of Hollywood, fueled by Chandler's dislike of what he considered to be the fake world of mainstream film-making. The movie loses most of this, and focuses on the rapid-fire plot which, quite frankly I didn't really give a toss about as I watched the movie.

Opposite of The Big Sleep, I don't feel like this film really retains the essence of Chandler's style at all. It's been a little while since I read the book, but none of the snappy dialogue is there, or when it is it just doesn't come alive because of the way it's delivered. James Garner seems an odd choice to play Marlowe, as he comes off as much more rough-and-tumble, less introspective than the burdened knight of the novels. His attempts at wry humor left me completely cold--one scene has him surrounded by several shady-looking thugs who simply grunt "car", nodding towards their black vans. He looks at them with mock confusion and says "beep beep". I groaned.

The movie also transplants the original 30's LA setting to a late 60s/70s aesthetic complete with hippies lounging on street corners. It's a far cry from the hardboiled noir atmosphere of the source material. And even more out of place is Bruce Lee--yeah, Bruce Lee is in this movie, but WHY?? His character, which was nonexistent in the novel, is a thug for the big baddie. He gets 5 minutes screen time max, and seems completely pointless and unnecessary. Not to mention, he meets his downfall in a really pathetic and unbelievable way--sorry Garner, but in real life Lee would've kicked your ass. It's not a really bad movie, and might even be somewhat enjoyable if you know nothing of the source material, but is a very lackluster adaptation of Chandler's work.

(1973) Elliot Gould stars as Marlowe.

(1975) Mitchum. Marlowe. Came out 35 years after the release of the original book.

(1978) Second adaptation of "The Big Sleep", starring a very old and weary looking Robert Mitchum in his second role as Marlowe.

(1998) This is an adaptation of the Marlowe book Poodle Springs, of which Chandler only finished a few chapters before his death. The rest of the story was completed by mystery writer Robert B. Parker, who also wrote another Marlowe book called "Perchance to Dream", a direct sequel to "The Big Sleep".

I've never read Poodle Springs, considering how little of it is Chandler's writing, not to mention the direction he was taking the character in his later years (his last full novel "Playback" was among his weakest). Marlowe gets married--no, really--and moves out to the rich private community of Poodle Springs. But of course, he's not content sitting on his hands and enjoying a luxurious life of decadence, and whatsmore, trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes. Despite my low expectation based on that plot description, I've read some really positive reviews of this movie so I may have to give it a look.

(1959-1960) First of two television series starring Chandler's gumshoe. From what I gather, Philip Carey's portrayal of Marlowe is a significant departure from the source material.