Sure, most of the cast was over the top, but I expected more from Robert Montgomery. I'm not being overly critical, I just expected so much better acting from him. Perhaps it was the director's fault. This movie was a big disappointment for me.
shareI agree -- Montgomery was terrible. He's one actor who shouldn't have directed himself.
shareYeah, I adore Montgomery but here his off-camera line readings seemed like they were recorded at a table reading or something. This movie is one that would appeal to no one.
He was on Planet Earth the whole time!
Yeah, I´m pretty positive that Montgomery´s merits here as the worst ever screen Marlowe will never be outdone. The guy looks and talks and generally carries himself in a way that´s just about as off as it gets - after all, Marlowe´s not some dapper, chatty, vain socialite type prick who mostly looks and sounds like he wants to sell you something. It´s a blessing that due to the pov gimmick, we actually see very little of him. On the other hand, however, this means that we get far, far more awful acting by the other cast members, especially that Totter woman playing Adrienne Fromsett (although, when it comes to atrocious acting, she is ably rivalled by the guy who played Lavery in that single scene of his, as well as the broad who played Muriel Chess/Mildred Havilland).
Overall, Chandler´s excellent novel is turned to a ridiculously mawkish Christmas movie, dumbed down to boot by absolutely horrid dialogue (yes, they actually saw fit to replace most of the author´s renowned wit with some lame, corny nonsense of their own) as well as turning the whole thing into some kind of dopey romance. Thus far, the worst Chandler adaptation I´d seen, was the 1969 Marlowe with James Garner, but this one is truly something else. Whatta wretched bloody film.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
I thought that Robert Montgomery was about as believable as a private dick as I would be, and I'm not.
Besides that: At the beginning he was offered $200 for his story. That is over $2000 now. What did he do? He started yelling at the woman and never stopped yelling through the whole movie. What the hell? I'm sure the story was good, but I left to go shopping rather than listen to him any more.
he had some gravitas.
The food I've liked in my time is American country cookin'-Colonel Sanders 🇺🇸
There was too much overacting in this movie that I thought it was a comedy. I felt like I was watching "The Invisible Man". The film technique really didn't work either. The entire film was awkward.
The Divine Genealogy Goddess
Yeah, this movie was so bad that it was actually funny. Evidently, Robert Montgomery (as Philip Marlowe) was supposed to be this hot, irresistible guy. He was too old and too fat. And his 1940's misogynistic "tough talk" patter was laughable.
The blonde secretary giving him "the eye" made me guffaw out loud. About as believable a scenario as Melania and the Donald...
Jayne Meadows looked ridiculous in that dopey hat. I kept hearing the voice of Audrey (Meadows, not Totter) so I thought I'd wandered into some weird Twilight Zone/Jackie Gleason time warp. The southern accent on the gigolo was also riotously bad. No wonder somebody shot him.