Poodle Springs (1998) (TV)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Bob Rafelson

Writers (WGA):

Robert B. Parker (book) and
Raymond Chandler (book) ...

Release Date:

25 July 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Sex. Murder. Marlowe. This town has everything.

Plot:

An aging Phillip Marlowe gets mixed up with blackmail & murder among elite social set in 1963.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Stripper | Lamp | Gun Holster | Undershirt

Awards:

1 win

Cast

James Caan	...	Philip Marlowe
Dina Meyer	...	Laura Parker-Marlowe
David Keith	...	Larry Victor / Charles Nichols
Tom Bower	...	Lt. Arnie Burns
Julia Campbell	...	Miriam 'Muffy' Blackstone-Nichols
Brian Cox	...	Clayton Blackstone
Nia Peeples	...	Angel
Sam Vlahos	...	Eddie Garcia
Michael Laskin	...	Manny Lipshultz
David Byrd	...	Seymour
Joe Don Baker	...	P.J. Parker
Royce D. Applegate	...	Ivan, the Motel Manager
Billy Beck	...	Old Man in Jail
Gary Bullock	...	L.A. Captain
Michael Cooke	...	Captain

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | Spain:13 | UK:15 | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Avnet/Kerner Productions

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When James Caan is first seen lighting his cigarette, he uses a pack of safety matches, which has its striker on the back of the matches. These were not introduced until c. 1970. In 1963, he would have used matches where the striker is on the front of the matchbook.

Movie Connections:

References The Thin Man (1934)

First-rate continuation of the Phillip Marlowe character

The late Raymond Chandler's unfinished manuscript POODLE SPRINGS, masterfully completed as a novel by SPENCER creator Robert B. Parker, has been given a first-class screen treatment by Director Bob Rafelson, Screenwriter Tom Stoppard and Production Designer Mark Friedberg. Every familiar signature trait of the Chandler-Marlowe Los Angeles is meticulously recreated and served up with nearly reverential devotion. James Caan is a letter-perfect Marlowe. The part fits him like his gray fedora, no small feat considering he follows in the shoes of such legends as Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum. From matchbooks to automobiles to motels the period atmosphere is extraordinary. When a character drinks a Tab cola, the bottle is a 1963 Tab bottle. When Marlowe pays a call on the rich and powerful, the decor is '63 chic. There is no mistaking it.

Phillip Marlowe is the paradigm 1940s private investigator, but setting this story in 1963, four years after Chandler's death in 1959, is not only correct, it is part of the material's distinguished treatment. Had Chandler lived a few more years, this might well be the Marlowe he wrote for us. Parker, Rafelson and Stoppard have honored the Chandler-Marlowe heritage as the golden fleece of the American film noir and hard-boiled genres. Which, of course, it is.

One question: Why did I just happen to catch this on cable TV a year after it was released? I'd never heard anything about it. Such excellent work deserves publicity. Lots of it.