Murder, My Sweet [Blu-ray]

Director: Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk

Overview

Murder, My Sweet is a nearly perfect film. Long considered one of the quintessential film noir, this tough, sardonic, and unusually witty film features hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) hired by ex-con Moose Malloy (Mike Mazurki) to find his missing girlfriend Velma. Shortly thereafter, Marlowe is hired by socialite Mrs. Grayle (Claire Trevor) to find a valuable jade necklace that has been stolen from her. Marlowe finds the necklace and also finds blackmail, double crosses, corruption, and murder on both sides of the tracks. This film made almost washed up song-and-dance man, Dick Powell a star, and his portrayal of Marlowe is at least the equal of Humphrey Bogart's role in The Big Sleep. Director Edward Dmytryk creates a truly bleak and disorienting netherworld populated by a variety of sordid characters, including Mike Mazurki at his best. Claire Trevor is superlative in a difficult role and gives an unequaled performance as the most evil of femme fatales.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/15/2015
UPC:	0888574319816
Original Release:	1944
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	1:35:00
Sales rank:	17,472

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Dick Powell	Philip Marlowe
Anne Shirley	Ann Grayle
Claire Trevor	Mrs. Grayle
Otto Kruger	Amthor
Mike Mazurki	Moose Malloy
Miles Mander	Mr. Grayle
Douglas Walton	Marriott
Don Douglas	Lt. Randall
Ralf Harolde	Dr. Sonderborg
Esther Howard	Mrs. Florian
John Indrisano	Chauffeur
Jack Carr	Short Guy
Shimen Ruskin	Elevator Operator
Ernie Adams	Bartender,Bartender
Dewey Robinson	The Boss
Larry Wheat	Butler
Sam Finn	Headwaiter
Bernice Ahi	Dancer
Donald Kerr	Taxi Driver
Paul Phillips	Det. Nulty
Ralph Dunn	Detective
George Anderson	Detective
Paul Hilton	Boy
Lawrence Wheat	Butler
Stanley Andrews	Actor
Roy Webb	Composer

Technical Credits

John Paxton

Edward Dmytryk	Director
John Paxton	Screenwriter
Adrian Scott	Producer
Vernon L. Walker	Special Effects,Special Effects
Sid Rogell	Executive Producer
James G. Stewart	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Raymond Chandler didn't invent hard-boiled detective fiction, but his gritty tales featuring private eye Philip Marlowe represent the genre's apotheosis, and Murder, My Sweet is arguably the best screen adaptation of a Marlowe adventure, rivaled only by The Big Sleep. Based on a 1940 Chandler novel (Farewell, My Lovely), Murder opens with the cynical, world-weary Marlowe (former crooner Dick Powell in his career-changing role) reluctantly accepting a commission from hulking gangster Moose Malloy (Mike Mazurki), who's looking for his missing girlfriend. This job brings the smooth-talking shamus into contact with murderers and blackmailers, gets him strung out on drugs, and very nearly costs him his life. Powell, perhaps best known for his warbling in such memorable Busby Berkeley musicals as 42nd Street, is surprisingly effective as Marlowe; the same can be said of leading lady Claire Trevor, here attempting the first in a long string of femme fatale roles. John Paxton's screenplay stays relatively faithful to the novel and preserves quite a bit of Chandler's terse dialogue. To a great extent the direction of Edward Dmytryk relies on the narrative and cinematographic techniques that would become trademarks of the then emerging film noir style. Innumerable private-eye films that come later owe a great deal of their form and substance to Murder, My Sweet. Chandler himself thought this film the best cinematic adaptation of one of his stories, and 60 years later it still ranks among the very best murder mysteries Hollywood has created.