The Brasher Doubloon

Can't add much to what has already been said, but what this film has over some of the better known Marlowe films is some real Los Angeles location photography, which gives it a special atmosphere; the eerie Pasadena mansion with huge palm trees blowing in the wind, and a rambling old Craftsman house in the Hollywood Hills on a windy afternoon.

Among other films based on Raymond Chandler stories, "The Big Sleep," in particular, all filmed on indoor sets, has no feeling of Los Angeles at all. George Montgomery in "Brasher Doubloon" is a lightweight, but the film is fun and entertaining. Surprising that it is virtually NEVER shown on TV. I only saw it because a pal owns a 35mm print.

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.

The late 1940's produced some of Hollywood's best film noir....Out of the Past, Murder my Sweet, The Blue Dahlia, Crossfire, The Dark Corner, Dark Passage, The Big Sleep....and the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, The Brasher Doubloon was not one of them! However, the 1947 film with George Montgomery as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, has gotten a bad rap! It has terrific atmosphere...that old mansion, the Santa Ana winds, terrific character actors and that exceptional personality - actress Florence Bates.

True, George Montgomery doesn't possess the world weariness of Humphrey Bogart or Dick Powell (both of whom played Marlowe previously), but there is a winsomeness about his character that keeps surviving the constantly battering given to him that works for the film. Nancy Guild as the young woman in distress possesses a femme fatale quality which was often found in noir films of the time...ie..Martha Vickers in 'Big Sleep', Mary Astor in 'Falcon' as well as Veronica Lake and June Duprez "Murder My Sweet".

Most reviews of this film that I have read described this film as poor. Actually it really isn't. Its just that the other 40's Phillip Marlowe films are better. George Montgomery tries hard as Marlowe, but he is a bit to young looking to be convincing as a hard boiled detective. Ideally,an actor in his thirties or forties should have been cast; old enough to have grown world weary but still young enough to woo the babes. Despite this films faults, its still worth a look and is not the dismal failure some critics have claimed it is.

_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.