Murder, My Sweet (1944)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

John Paxton (screenplay)
Raymond Chandler (novel)

Release Date:

9 December 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

An Original Philip Marlowe Mystery

Plot:

This adaptation of the Raymond Chandler novel 'Farewell, My Lovely', renamed for the American market...

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Private Eye | Cynicism | Unconsciousness | Doctor

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Dick Powell	...	Philip Marlowe
Claire Trevor	...	Mrs.Helen Grayle
Anne Shirley	...	Ann Grayle
Otto Kruger	...	Jules Amthor
Mike Mazurki	...	Moose Malloy
Miles Mander	...	Mr. Grayle
Douglas Walton	...	Lindsay Marriott
Donald Douglas	...	Police Lieutenant Randall (as Don Douglas)
Ralf Harolde	...	Dr. Sonderborg
Esther Howard	...	Jessie Florian

Also Known As:

Farewell My Lovely (UK)

Runtime:

95 min | Germany:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #10158) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Argyle Hotel - 8358 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Nat Pendleton is in studio records/casting call lists as a cast member, but did not appear in the film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Marlowe is interrogated by the police, the view through the window would have the building in the middle of the street blocking the street.

Quotes:

Ann Grayle: Sometimes I hate men. ALL men. Old men, young men... beautiful young men who use rosewater and... almost heels who are private detectives.
Helen Grayle: [hidden in the shadows, laughs - then she comes out] Oh, I'm sorry, darling, I couldn't help laughing; but you should know by now that men play rough. They soften you up, throw you off guard, and then belt you one.
[to Marlowe]
Helen Grayle: That was a dirty trick; but maybe it'll teach you not to overplay a good hand. Now she doesn't like you. She hates men.
Ann Grayle: That was only the first half of the speech. The rest of it goes like this: I hate their women, too - especially the "big league blondes". Beautiful, expensive babes who know what they've got... all bubble bath, and dewy morning, and moonlight. And inside: blue steel, cold - cold like that... only not that clean.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Big Lebowski (1998)

One of the most entertaining Detective thrillers ever made.

'Murder, My Sweet' is based on Raymond Chandler's classic detective novel 'Farewell, My Lovely'. The book was later filmed in the 1970s under its original title starring Robert Mitchum. The Mitchum version is actually more faithful, but for some reason nowhere near as entertaining. 'Murder, My Sweet' tones down some of the racial and sexual aspects of the original story (which are included in the 1970s remake), and I'm might be mistaken (it's been a while since I read it), but the Anne Shirley character appears to have been created as a potential love interest for Dick Powell. She seems to have been inspired by a similar character in 'Double Indemnity' (written by James M. Cain and filmed the same year with the help of Chandler). Dick Powell was originally a crooner and casting him as Philip Marlowe was a very strange choice at the time, but it certainly works. Personally I would have preferred to see Robert Mitchum playing Marlowe in this version, but by the 1970s he was too old for the part, and comparing the two versions Powell definitely wins. Claire Trevor is also excellent as one of the definitive noir femme fatales, and her scenes with Powell are compelling. The drug sequence is also very memorable. 'Murder, My Sweet' is one of the most entertaining detective thrillers ever made, and along with 'Double Indemnity' and 'Out Of The Past' one of the very best crime movies of the 1940s.