Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Murder, My Sweet is an American thriller film first released in 1944, directed by Edward Dmytryk.  The film stars Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger and Mike Mazurki.  It has also been released under the title: Farewell My Lovely.  Our overall rating for this film is: excellent.


Private detective Philip Marlowe has his work cut out when two cases fall into his lap at the same time.  First, ex-convict Moose Malloy hires him to find his missing girlfriend, Velma.  Then he is coerced into working as a bodyguard for Lindsay Marriott when he goes to collect a stolen jade necklace.  The private eye quickly learns that nothing is quite what it seems, that no one can be trusted, and that the two seemingly unconnected cases are very closely related.  The question is: will he live to tell the tale?

One of the best adaptations of a Raymond Chandler novel is this quintessential film noir thriller, in which Dick Powell gives us the definitive screen portrayal of the legendary detective Philip Marlowe.  Powell’s fortunes as an actor were very much on the decline when he made this film, and its enormous success is what salvaged his career.  Opposite Powell’s superlative Marlowe, Claire Trevor plays the silkily smooth femme fatale, and Mike Mazurki puts in his best turn as the underworld henchman you would least like to run into on a dark night.

Murder, My Sweet has all the essential ingredients of a great noir thriller – claustrophobic sets draped in sinister shadows, stylishly atmospheric black and white photography, a cast of bewilderingly ambiguous characters, undercurrents of psychosis, mistrust and sexual tension, and a plot murkier than a chief executive’s income tax return.   The plot is so complicated and moves along so fast that it’s just impossible to take in everything that happens – so don’t bother trying. 

Whilst the film’s labyrinthine narrative complexity is initially frustrating, it does add to the film’s very distinctive dreamlike aura, and, in any case, it does somehow all come together in the end – rather like a self-assembly wardrobe (with a few unrecognisable bits left over).   The film captures perfectly the abrupt sardonic humour of Chandler’s novels, particularly in Marlowe’s voiceover narration, although the high point is a wonderfully expressionistic dream sequence.   Altogether, this is one of Edward Dmytryk’s most inspired films, somewhat better than its 1975 remake Farewell, My Lovely.

© James Travers 2008

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