Marlowe (1969 film)

1969 film by Paul Bogart

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Marlowe

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Paul Bogart
Screenplay by| Stirling Silliphant
Based on| The Little Sister
1949 novel
by Raymond Chandler
Produced by| Sidney Beckerman
Gabriel Katzka
Starring|

* James Garner
* Gayle Hunnicutt
* Carroll O'Connor
* Rita Moreno
* William Daniels

Cinematography| William H. Daniels
Edited by| Gene Ruggiero
Music by| Peter Matz
Distributed by| Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Release dates

* September 19, 1969 (1969-09-19) (Germany)
* October 22, 1969 (1969-10-22) (U.S.)

Running time

| 96 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Budget| 496,076 tickets (Spain/France)[1]

Marlowe is a 1969 American neo-noir film[2] starring James Garner as Raymond Chandler's private detective Philip Marlowe. Directed by Paul Bogart, the film was written by Stirling Silliphant based on Chandler's 1949 novel The Little Sister.

The supporting cast includes Bruce Lee, Gayle Hunnicutt, Rita Moreno, Sharon Farrell, Carroll O'Connor and Jackie Coogan.[3]

## Plot

[edit]

Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe has been hired by Orfamay Quest, a young woman from Kansas, to find her brother, Orrin. Marlowe searches Orrin's former hotel room and interviews the shady hotel guest, Grant Hicks, he finds there. Returning downstairs he comes across the dead body of desk clerk, Haven Clausen, killed with an ice pick. Soon afterwards Hicks phones Marlowe to hire him to hold onto something for a day or two. When Marlowe gets to his location he finds Hicks dead with an ice pick buried in his neck. A masked, armed woman comes up behind Marlowe and knocks him out and flees. When he recovers, Marlowe searches the room and finds a claim ticket for a roll of photographs. He tells some of what happened to the police, but keeps the most important information to himself. Marlowe recalls that years earlier a crime gang in Brooklyn led by mobster Sonny Steelgrave had perfected a technique for killing its enemies with an ice pick, but they agree the connection is tenuous.

Marlowe tracks down the masked woman. She is television star Mavis Wald, and the photos are of her in a passionate rendezvous with the mobster boss Steelgrave, who has moved his operation west. Marlowe realizes that the murders stemmed from an initial attempt at blackmail. Marlowe calls on Wald, and while waiting to speak to her meets Wald’s friend, exotic dancer Dolores Gonzales. In private, Marlowe tells Wald his suspicion that she was at the hotel where Hicks was killed to pay him off, in return for the photos. He offers Wald his help, but she rejects it. Steelgrave makes several attempts to assault, scare or buy Marlowe off the case but they are all unsuccessful, resulting only in the death of an erudite Steelgrave henchman.

Orfamay tells Marlowe her brother is staying at the clinic of Dr. Vincent Lagardie, a connection Marlowe already knew of. He contacts an executive from Wald's hit TV show and secures a contract to work in her best interest. Marlowe questions Wald again, and from what he learns is able to clear her and Steelgrave of the murders. Marlowe then goes to the clinic and confronts the doctor, who tranquilizes him with a drugged cigarette but otherwise does not harm him. Marlowe comes to during the night and, still groggy, searches the clinic. He hears gunshots and stumbles upon the dying Orrin, who has just enough strength to stab Marlowe with an ice pick, however not seriously. Marlowe finds a photograph that reveals that Orfamay, Orrin and Wald are siblings. This makes Marlowe certain that Orrin was the blackmailer, who later killed Clausen and Hicks because they knew details of the blackmail scheme. Marlowe gets his wound tended to by Dolores. Now closely connected to another death, Marlowe is only able to keep the police at bay with a promise to solve the cases.

Marlowe returns to his office and burns the photos and negatives. He gets a visit from Dolores, who tells him Wald wants to see him at the mobster Steelgrave’s home. They leave watched by Dr. Lagardie. During their ride Marlowe learns that Dolores and Steelgrave had been romantically involved. Marlowe finds Steelgrave dead, and Wald disconsolate. She tells him she killed Steelgrave because he had her brother killed. To protect Wald's reputation, Marlowe makes it look as if Steelgrave committed suicide. However the police are not fooled, and the irate Lieutenant in charge resolves to have Marlowe’s private detective license revoked.

Marlowe catches Orfamay searching his home and tells her he has destroyed the photographs and negatives. Wald arrives and a heated confrontation between the women reveals that Orfamay knew about Orrin's blackmailing scheme and was expecting some money from it. When he disappeared she subsequently told Steelgrave where to find Orrin, in return for one thousand dollars. However she had expected Marlowe to stop Steelgrave from harming Orrin. Marlowe breaks up the fight between the sisters and manhandles the sobbing Orfamay out of his home, telling her to go back to Kansas. Wald admits to Marlowe, who had already deduced it, that she pretended to have killed Steelgrave to protect her sister, who she thought had actually killed him.

Marlowe confronts Dolores, from offstage while she is performing her nightclub act, with his suspicions that she was Orrin's original partner in the blackmail. She did so, Marlowe suggests, because she was still in love with Steelgrave and wanted to force him and Wald apart. He also tells Dolores he thinks she was once married to Dr. Lagardie, when he was a young doctor in Brooklyn. Still dancing on stage, Dolores, when she gets near the side curtain where Marlowe is standing, admits to everything. She is scornful of Marlowe having this knowledge, saying he will never tell the police, as it would destroy Wald’s career. Marlowe leaves the backstage area of the club just as Dr. Lagardie enters from a rear door. The two men see each other, without incident. Marlowe phones the police. Moments later Dr. Lagardie steps out and shoots Dolores dead. The doctor then shoots himself. Marlowe leaves the club before the police arrive.

## Cast

[edit]

* James Garner as Philip Marlowe
* Gayle Hunnicutt as Mavis Wald
* Carroll O'Connor as Lt. Christy French
* Rita Moreno as Dolores Gonzáles
* Sharon Farrell as Orfamay Quest
* William Daniels as Mr. Crowell
* H.M. Wynant as Sonny Steelgrave
* Jackie Coogan as Grant W. Hicks
* Kenneth Tobey as Sgt. Fred Beifus
* Jason Wingreen as Camera Store Clerk
* Bruce Lee as Winslow Wong
* Christopher Cary as Chuck
* George Tyne as Oliver Hady
* Corinne Camacho as Julie
* Paul Stevens as Dr. Vincent Lagardie
* Roger Newman as Orrin Quest
* Anna Lee Carroll as Mona
* Read Morgan as Gumpshaw

## Production

[edit]

In 1968, the last three (of the seven) Marlowe novels had not yet been filmed: The Little Sister, The Long Goodbye, and Playback. In March 1967 it was announced that film rights to Little Sister were purchased by the team of Katzka and Berne who had hired Stirling Silliphant to write a script; MGM would distribute.[4] In June Katzka announced that he had also bought screen rights to The Long Goodbye and that filming on Little Sister would begin in September.[5] However filming was delayed.

In March 1968 it was announced a film would be made of The Little Sister starring James Garner with Paul Bogart to make his debut as director.[6] Garner had to plead his case to appear in the film after one MGM executive vetoed his role in the film.[7] Gayle Hunnicut's casting was announced in June.[8]

Filming started in July 1968.[7] It took place in Los Angeles. Stirling Silliphant said he was interested in writing the script "because here was a chance to write the classic Quest story" and it would get the writer "out of the social conscience bag I'm supposed to be in." Sillipant said he had to create "90% of the dialogue" because he felt Chandler's original was "dated".[9]

In his memoirs Garner says he ad libbed the words "impertinent" and "baroque" in one scene when his character was describing wine because Gore Vidal had just referenced Garner's backside in the novel Myra Breckinridge as "impertinent" and "baroque".[10]

James Garner would go on to play a private detective in the NBC television series The Rockford Files (1974-1980). Over the course of the show Kenneth Tobey (2 times), William Daniels (2), Paul Stevens (2), Christopher Cary (2) and Corinne Camacho (4 times) made guest appearances in different roles. Rita Moreno appeared in 3 episodes, as the same character.

## Reception

[edit]

### Box office

[edit]

In Europe, the film sold 375,668 tickets in Spain and 120,408 tickets in France, for a total of 496,076 tickets sold in Spain and France.[1] The film's box-office performance in North America is currently unknown.

### Critical reception

[edit]

The film has a score of 63% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 8 reviews.[11]

Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and said it was "not very satisfactory. Even though director Paul Bogart shot on location, he has not quite captured the gritty quality of Chandler's LA. And James Garner, the latest Marlowe (after Robert Montgomery, Dick Powell and Humphrey Bogart), is a little too inclined to play for light, wry, James Bond-style laughs."[12] Roger Greenspun of The New York Times wrote that "Stirling Silliphant's screenplay follows too many styles, and Paul Bogart's direction follows too few to make a more than casually entertaining movie."[13] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four and called it "a muddled disappointment. The plot, or more exactly the three or four subplots, is bewildering."[14] Variety wrote, "Raymond chandler's private eye character, Philip Marlowe, is in need of better handling either producers Gabriel Katzka and Sidney Beckerman, scripter Stirling Silliphant or James Garner in title role, have provided, if he is to survive as a screen hero. 'Marlowe,' which MGM is releasing, is a plodding, unsure piece of so-called sleuthing in which Garner can never make up his mind whether to play it for comedy or hardboil. Silliphant's adaptation of author's 'The Little Sister' come[s] out on the confused side, with too much unexplained action."[15] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "fills that yawning gap between the blockbuster and the small-scale film of social consciousness in thoroughly satisfying fashion. Free from the giganticism of the first and the all-too-frequent pretensions of the second it is ideal escapist entertainment."[16] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called it "a tolerable detective thriller provided you haven't read any of Raymond Chandler's novels or seen Howard Hawks' film version of 'The Big Sleep.' If you have, it will be natural to write off this film as a half-hearted, anachronistic attempt to revive the genre."[17] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "Despite some crisp dialogue in Stirling Silliphant's screenplay, Chandler's novel The Little Sister suffers badly from glossy settings and modish direction ... And Marlowe himself seems a thoroughly synthetic creation—although Garner has a good line in 'cool', he has none of the heavy-lidded cynicism and crumpled charm with which Bogart made the part his own."[18]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Soyer, Renaud (28 January 2013). "Bruce Lee Box Office". Box Office Story (in French). Retrieved 30 June 2020.
2. ^ Silver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5
3. ^ Marlowe at IMDb.
4. ^ A.H. WEILER (Mar 26, 1967). "Arkin Is A Lonely Hunter: Alan Arkin Is a Lonely Hunter". New York Times. p. 89.
5. ^ Martin, Betty (10 June 1967). "Bobby Morse to Co-Star". Los Angeles Times. p. b7.
6. ^ Martin, Betty (Mar 12, 1968). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: 'Little Sister' on Schedule". Los Angeles Times. p. c13.
7. ^ a b Beaupre, Lee (May 15, 1968). "Rising Skepticism On Stars". Variety. p. 1.
8. ^ Martin, Betty (26 June 1968). "New Firm to Shoot 2 Films". Los Angeles Times. p. g9.
9. ^ Thomas, Kevin (Sep 15, 1968). "L.A. Landmarks Co-star in 'Little Sister' Film: L.A. Landmarks". Los Angeles Times. p. c18.
10. ^ Garner, James; Winokur, Jon (2011). The Garner Files: A Memoir. Simon & Schuster. p. 257.
11. ^ "Marlowe". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
12. ^ Ebert, Roger (November 25, 1969). "Marlowe". Marlowe. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
13. ^ Greenspun, Roger (October 23, 1969). "Screen: In the Tradition of 'Marlowe'". The New York Times. 56.
14. ^ Siskel, Gene (November 25, 1969). "Marlowe". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 5.
15. ^ "Film Reviews: Marlowe". Variety. October 8, 1969. 30.
16. ^ Thomas, Kevin (November 6, 1969). Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 16.
17. ^ Arnold, Gary (November 8, 1969). "Cloudy Private Eye Without Flair". The Washington Post. C6.
18. ^ "Marlowe". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 36 (430): 241. November 1969.

## External links

[edit]

* Marlowe at IMDb
* Marlowe at the TCM Movie Database
* Marlowe at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
* Marlowe film trailer on YouTube

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Paul Bogart

* Pinocchio (1957)
* Hansel and Gretel (1958)
* Ten Little Indians (1959)
* The Citadel (1960)
* Ages of Man (1960)
* The Three Sisters (1966)
* Evening Primrose (1966)
* An Enemy of the People (1966)
* The Trap of Solid Gold (1967)
* The Final War of Olly Winter (1967)
* Hal Holbrook: Mark Twain Tonight! (1967)
* Carousel (1967)
* Johnny Belinda (1967)
* Kiss Me Kate (1968)
* Marlowe (1969)
* Halls of Anger (1970)
* In Search of America (1971)
* Skin Game (1971)
* Look Homeward, Angel (1972)
* Cancel My Reservation (1972)
* The House Without a Christmas Tree (1972)
* Class of '44 (1973)
* The Thanksgiving Treasure (1973)
* Double Solitaire (1974)
* The Country Girl (1974)
* Tell Me Where It Hurts (1974)
* Mr. Ricco (1975)
* Winner Take All (1975)
* The Easter Promise (1975)
* The Owl and the Pussycat (1975)
* The War Widow (1976)
* You Can't Take It with You (1979)
* Fun and Games (1980)
* Oh, God! You Devil (1984)
* The Canterville Ghost (1986)
* Nutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder (1987)
* Torch Song Trilogy (1988)
* Broadway Bound (1992)
* The Last Mile (1992)
* The Gift of Love (1994)
* The Heidi Chronicles (1995)

* v
* t
* e

Works by Raymond Chandler

Novels|

* The Big Sleep
* Farewell, My Lovely
* The High Window
* The Lady in the Lake
* The Little Sister
* The Long Goodbye
* Playback
* Poodle Springs (unfinished)

Characters|

* Philip Marlowe

Short stories
and collections|

* "Blackmailers Don't Shoot"
* "Nevada Gas"
* "Smart-Aleck Kill"
* The Simple Art of Murder
* Killer in the Rain

Non-fiction|

* Raymond Chandler Speaking

Screenplays|

* Double Indemnity
* And Now Tomorrow
* The Unseen
* The Blue Dahlia
* Strangers on a Train

Film adaptations|

* Time to Kill (1942)
* The Falcon Takes Over (1942)
* Murder, My Sweet (1944)
* The Big Sleep (1946)
* Lady in the Lake (1947)
* The Brasher Doubloon (1947)
* Marlowe (1969)
* The Long Goodbye (1973)
* Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
* The Big Sleep (1978)
* Poodle Springs (1998)

TV adaptations|

* "The Big Sleep" (1950)
* "The Long Goodbye" (1954)
* Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1983–1986)

* v
* t
* e

Bruce Lee

* Filmography
* Awards and honors
* Media about

Films|

| As film director|

* Way of the Dragon (1972, also writer and produced)
* The Game of Death (1972, also writer)

|

As writer|

* The silent flute (1978)
* The Warrior (Lee, before created the concept for an other series and then it was finished in Warrior)

Books written|

* Chinese Gung Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense
* Tao of Jeet Kune Do
* Bruce Lee's Fighting Method
* Bruce Lee Library
* Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (book)

Techniques|

* Jeet Kune Do
* One-inch punch
* Straight blast

Works about|

| Films|

| Hong Kong|

* Bruce Lee: The Man and the Legend (1973)
* A Dragon Story (1974)
* Bruce Lee and I (1976)
* The Dragon Lives (1976)
* The Man, The Myth (1976)
* The Real Bruce Lee (1977)
* A Warrior's Journey (2000)
* Bruce Lee, My Brother (2010)

|

United States|

* Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)
* The Curse of the Dragon (1993)
* A Warrior's Journey (2000)
* The Story (2001)
* The Legend of Bruce Lee (video; 2008)
* I Am Bruce Lee (2012)
* Birth of the Dragon (2016)
* Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
* Be Water (2020)

Television|

* Spirit of the Dragon (1992)
* The Lost Interview (1994)
* The Legend of Bruce Lee (2008)

Books|

* The Man Only I Knew (1975)
* Bruce Lee: A Life (2019)

Comics|

* The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (1976)

Video games|

* Bruce Lee
* Kung-Fu Master
* China Warrior
* Bruce Lee Lives
* Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
* Quest of the Dragon
* Return of the Legend

Family|

* Lee Hoi-chuen (father)
* Grace Ho (mother)
* Peter Lee (brother)
* Robert Lee (brother)
* Linda Emery Lee (wife)
* Brandon Lee (son)
* Shannon Lee (daughter)

Related|

* 41 Cumberland Road
* Bruceploitation
* Bruce Li
* Bruce Le
* Bruce Lai
* Bruce Liang
* Dragon Lee
* Kato
* Graves of Bruce and Brandon Lee
* Long Beach International Karate Championships
* Statues
* Hong Kong
* Los Angeles
* Mostar
* Betty Ting
* Chen Zhen
* Ip Man
* Warrior
* Wong Shun Leung
* Wong Jack Man

* Category

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