カンサスから来た娘、オーファメイ(S・ファレル)から失踪した兄を探してほしいと依頼された私立探偵マーロウ(J・ガーナー)。兄が住んでいたアパートを訪ねるが部屋にいたのは別人で、さらに管理人は首をアイスピックで刺されて殺されていた。あるホテルに呼び出されたマーロウはそこでサングラスで顔を隠した女に襲撃され、彼を呼び出したチンピラの男もアイスピックで殺されていた。現場でカメラ店の引換券を見つけたマーロウは、現像された写真に暗黒街の顔役スティールグレーブ(H・M・ワイナント)と人気女優メイビス(G・ハニカット)がプールサイドで愛し合っている姿が撮影されていた。メイビスの家の訪ねたマーロウは、スティールグレーブが差し向けた殺し屋(B・リー)に、この件から手を引けと脅される…
映画化された原作や関連書籍を読んで、映像との違いや独自の世界観を楽しみましょう。
監督: Paul Bogart
脚本: レイモンド・チャンドラー / Stirling Silliphant
音楽: ピーター7・マッツ
制作: Gabriel Katzka / Sidney Beckerman / ジェームズ・ガーナー
撮影監督: William H. Daniels
制作会社: Cherokee Productions / Katzka-Berne Productions / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
I'm a trained detective! Marlowe is directed by Paul Bogart and adapted to screenplay by Stirling Silliphant from the novel The Little Sister written by Raymond Chandler. It stars James Garner, Gayle Hunnicut, Carroll O'Connor and Rita Moreno. Music is by Peter Matz and cinematography by William H. Daniels. Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlow (Garner) is working on what he thinks is a simple missing persons case, how wrong he is! Q as in Quintessential - U as in Uninhibited - E as in Extrasensory - S as in Subliminal - T as in Toots! Another of the interpretations for the great Chandler creation of Philip Marlowe, unsurprisingly met with mixed notices - just as all the others have done. You do wonder what Chandler would have made of the role portrayals that came out post his death? I like to think he very much would have enjoyed Garner's take, because this Marlowe is a quip happy wise guy, unflappable and cool, he portrays so much with just a glance, and the girls love him. The story is juicy in its little complexities, spinning Marlowe into muddy waters the further he investigates things. His life is always under threat, be it by serial ice-pick users or Asian martial artists (Bruce Lee no less in a nutty couple of scenes) wishing to inflict death, or of arrest by an increasingly frustrated police force. Bogart and Daniels keep the whole thing stylish looking, with film noir camera tricks and colour photography infusing the period details. While the supporting cast, notably the ladies, give Garner some splendid support. It's a different Marlowe for sure, but a thoroughly engaging and entertaining one. 7/10
