The Brasher Doubloon

In the mid-1940s Hollywood discovered Raymond Chandler: Murder, My Sweet (1944), The Big Sleep (1946) and The Lady in the Lake (1947). Also from '47, John Brahm's The Brasher Dubloon is a version of Chandler's The High Window and, unfortunately, the most disappointing of this crop. Troubles start with the running time; at 72 minutes, that's not enough time for Chandler's baroque structures to start to unfurl, unless you reduce them to mere plot (and plot is not Chandler's long suit). Second, there's George Montgomery trying to fill the shoes of Dick Powell, Humphrey Bogart and the other Montgomery, Robert. He doesn't. While he's pleasant enough -- as a light leading man -- he swallows line after line of the script smoothly where a more nuanced actor would have found a whole ham sandwich to sink his teeth into. Still, there are good points here, especially in Brahm's directing. The big old mansion with its twin, massive turrets is especially ominous with the Santa Ana winds whistling outside; Florence Bates, as its owner, knows how to grande-dame it with the best; and a striking series of sinister characters take us down meaner and ever meaner streets. With a better star and a more leisurely pace, this private-eye flick could have been a contender.

Almost all the reviewers of the Brasher Doubloon have complained that George Montgomery was no Bogart or Powell. True. Would this film had been better with either of them playing the iconic Philip Marlowe? Of course. And while you're at it, it would have been better with Lauren Bacall as the femme fatale and Peter Lorre as the villain, etc. etc.

Get over it, not every classic film can have a Hall of Fame cast. Many movies with 'B' stars were very entertaining -- and the Brasher Doubloon is a good example.

Watch the film with fresh eyes, pretend this is NOT Raymond Chandler's Marlowe and I think you'll enjoy it more. In this film, Marlowe is younger, handsomer and more suave. The script, which many also complained about, suits the persona of the debonair George Montgomery better than the more cynical lines given Bogart and Powell.

The main actors did a good job with their portrayals, the plot keeps you guessing with some good twists, the photography is great, the outdoor locations perfect.

In sum, this is NOT the Maltese Falcon or Murder, My Sweet which are 10+. But the Brasher Doubloon is a solid 7 and well worth watching on its own merits.

Decent Raymond Chandler adaptation that suffers by comparison to the more esteemed Chandler films of the 1940s. Leading man George Montgomery comes across as a poor man's James Craig, who himself was a poor man's Clark Gable. This is a poverty-stricken casting choice for one of the all-time great fictional American characters, Philip Marlowe. Montgomery is just wrong for this part. He doesn't look right and more importantly he doesn't sound right. The rest of the cast is so-so with Nancy Guild a standout, alternating between sympathetic and insufferable. It's interesting to see a young Conrad Janis with hair so there's that.

The script and direction are the film's strength. While it's not as quotable as other Chandler works and it borrows liberally from better stories, most notably Chandler's own The Big Sleep and Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, it kept me glued to the screen the whole time. I also enjoyed the bits of atmosphere throughout. The windy scenes are especially well done.

This was made previously as a Michael Shayne picture. I enjoyed that version more, largely due to Lloyd Nolan being a more interesting and likable actor than George Montgomery. Check out both for the sake of comparison. Neither is a bad watch as long as you go into it knowing you're not getting Bogart.

_The Brasher Doubloon_ is clearly second tier, with at least one scene in Marlowe's office copied directly (and painfully directly) from _The Maltese Falcon._ If the characters are stereotypes and Montgomery's voice over shy-making in its adolescent appreciation of Merle Davis's beauty, the pacing and plot movement are still satisfactorily brisk. Florence Bates is perfect as the crusty, port-sodden Elizabeth Bright Murdock, and the night club goons look just right. It's not a masterpiece but is a diverting hour and a half. The final revelation is ingeniously presented as it involves a film-within-the-film and the way in which this key piece of evidence for the story came into being is more concretely explained in the movie than in Chandler's original, the one way in which the motion picture is superior to the published novel.

This is a very enjoyable mystery. Some reviewers don't have a high opinion of George Montgomery as the detective hero, comparing him to how they think Humphrey Bogart or Dick Powell would have been in the role, but I thought he was very good. Montgomery was handsome, charming and very likeable. Nancy Guild the young lead actress, was also a pleasure to watch--beautiful and mysterious.

The movie has a strong visual style and is fast-paced. Highly recommended for fans of 1940's mysteries.