Poodle Springs (film)

1998 television film directed by Bob Rafelson

Poodle Springs

Genre| Crime
Drama
Based on| Poodle Springs
by Raymond Chandler
Robert B. Parker
Screenplay by| Tom Stoppard
Directed by| Bob Rafelson
Starring| James Caan
Dina Meyer
David Keith
Music by| Michael Small
Country of origin| United States
Original language| English
Production
Executive producers| Jon Avnet
William Horberg
Jordan Kerner
Sydney Pollack
Producer| Tony Mark
Cinematography| Stuart Dryburgh
Editor| Steven Cohen
Running time| 100 minutes
Production companies| Avnet/Kerner Productions
Mirage Enterprises
HBO Pictures
Universal Television
Original release
Network| HBO
Release| July 25, 1998 (1998-07-25)

Poodle Springs is a 1998 neo-noir HBO film directed by Bob Rafelson, starring James Caan as private detective Philip Marlowe.[1]

The film is based on the unfinished novel Poodle Springs by Raymond Chandler, completed after his death by Robert B. Parker and published in 1989.[1]

Playwright Tom Stoppard wrote the screenplay.[1]

## Plot

[edit]

In 1963, an aging Philip Marlowe (James Caan) is newly married to young socialite Laura Parker (Dina Meyer). The private investigator leaves his Los Angeles apartment behind and sets up a new base of operations in Poodle Springs, an upscale community in the desert a couple of hours from L.A. (a parody of Palm Springs), where he and his wife intend to live.

"I don't do divorces," Marlowe impatiently explains to potential clients in a peaceful, relatively crime-free town. His rich wife Laura would prefer that Philip get out of this line of work entirely and live off her money or come into business with P.J. Parker (Joe Don Baker), her politically connected father, but Marlowe isn't ready to permanently hang up his gun.

While looking into a matter at a gambling club just beyond the city limits, Marlowe sets out to find a photographer with a gambling debt and is soon mixed up in blackmail and murder.

Larry Victor, the photographer (David Keith), is a bigamist, two-timing Laura's wealthy friend Muffy (Julia Campbell) with a drug addict named Angel (Nia Peeples). He is threatening to expose photos of a former stripper (La Joy Farr) who is now running with Muffy's billionaire father, Clayton Blackstone (Brian Cox).

As things progress, Marlowe realizes that his new father-in-law is involved in a land swindle on such a massive scale that it could end up altering the California/Nevada state border. Also, any further snooping on the detective's part could quickly end his wedded bliss.

## Cast

[edit]

* James Caan as Philip Marlowe
* Dina Meyer as Laura Parker-Marlowe
* David Keith as Larry Victor / Charles Nichols
* Joe Don Baker as P.J. Parker
* Tom Bower as Lieutenant Arnie Burns
* Julia Campbell as Miriam "Muffy" Blackstone-Nichols
* Brian Cox as Clayton Blackstone
* Nia Peeples as Angel
* Mo Gallini as J.D.

## References

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1. ^ a b c Bhob Stewart (2014). "Poodle Springs". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2014-10-18.

## External links

[edit]

* Poodle Springs at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Bob Rafelson

* Head (1968)
* Five Easy Pieces (1970)
* The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
* Stay Hungry (1976)
* The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)
* Black Widow (1987)
* Mountains of the Moon (1990)
* Man Trouble (1992)
* Wet (1995)
* Blood and Wine (1996)
* Poodle Springs (1998)
* No Good Deed (2002)

* v
* t
* e

Tom Stoppard

List of awards and nominations

Stage plays|

* Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
* Enter a Free Man
* The Real Inspector Hound
* After Magritte
* Jumpers
* Travesties
* Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land
* Professional Foul
* Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
* Night and Day
* Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth
* 15-Minute Hamlet
* Undiscovered Country
* On the Razzle
* The Real Thing
* Rough Crossing
* Dalliance
* Hapgood
* Arcadia
* Indian Ink
* The Invention of Love
* The Coast of Utopia
* Rock 'n' Roll
* The Hard Problem
* Leopoldstadt

Radio plays|

* Artist Descending a Staircase
* The Dog It Was That Died
* In the Native State
* Darkside

Screenplays|

* The Romantic Englishwoman
* Three Men in a Boat
* The Boundary
* Despair
* Squaring the Circle
* Brazil
* Empire of the Sun
* Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (also directed)
* The Russia House
* Billy Bathgate
* Poodle Springs
* Shakespeare in Love
* Enigma
* Anna Karenina
* Parade's End
* Tulip Fever

* 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)

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