Detetive Marlowe em Ação

Rita Moreno steals this movie! Plus, she had great chemistry with James Garner which is why they used her on Rockford files. Somewhat complicated plot about P.I. Garner finding a missing brother of an actress who also happens to be dating a gangster. Cameos by Bruce Lee, Jackie Coogan, Carroll O'Connor etc. Great 1960's Los Angeles/Hollywood locales (the strip joint used in the film went on to become the famous Roxbury on Sunset Blvd). I love everything about this movie, the clothes, the cars, the great 60's style overall. Rita Moreno in a platinum blond wig doing a strip tease at the end is worth the price of admission! She even shows a little nudity (if viewed un-edited) which is rare for a star of her magnitude to do in the late 60's. Sharon Farrell is another actress with lots of charisma who is used to little here. Gayle Hunnicutt (who I love) is miscast here as Sharon Farrell's sister, although she adds a lot of glamour. The script is a little hard to follow but it is quite an enjoyable movie as the action never slows down for too long.

Much is said concerning the merits of re-imagining the Philip Marlowe character in the swinging sixties, bringing to it a pop culture emphasis that seems eons away from Humphrey Bogart's turn, but there's three good reasons to consider this Marlowe adaptation.

First-rate cast stars the always affable James Garner in the title character. He's a modest Marlowe, not arrogant, assuming nor especially gifted at his trade, he toils and the rewards follow (albeit with some distress involved). Lovely Gayle Hunnicutt plays the femme fatale along with little sister Sharon Farrell, while Rita Moreno trumps them both with a critical role as a stripper of more than passing resemblance to Hunnicutt.

Then there's the surprise packet, namely, Bruce Lee with just a couple of scenes, one of which involving him demolishing Garner's office like it was made of balsa wood. A perfectly timed scissor kick shatters the overhead light shade (a good foot above his own head), before he dons his sunglasses, turns on his heel and casually walks out the door he's just kicked in half. It's a stern warning to Garner to lay off, but equally hilarious in its approach of which both Lee and Garner seem aware. If you take nothing from the film, you'll always remember that scene.

And finally, if you're familiar with them, the theme tune "Little Sister" is a catchy jazz-pop song by Orpheus, the band who had four albums of jazz-psychedelic pop in the mould of what would later become the signature of Lighthouse, Chicago and others of the ilk. Great adaptation, a real time capsule of the era and well worth a look.

Now it's James Garner's turn to take on the role of Raymond Chandler's legendary private detective Philip Marlowe in an updated screen adaption of Chandler's novel, The Little Sister.

The original novel had the title character be the little sister of a film star who has come in from Manhattan, Kansas to look for their brother who's gone missing. To reflect the update the film star is now the star of a family situation comedy with an image that won't stand up to scandal, especially if it's learned that she's been intimately involved with a notorious mobster.

I have to say that this film was updated far better than Robert Mitchum's version of The Big Sleep, although it's not nearly as good as The original Big Sleep and Murder, My Sweet. Garner is appropriately cynical and appropriately noble in the right moments.

Carroll O'Connor and Kenneth Tobey are a pair of homicide cops who are naturally frustrated with Garner who seems to be blocking them from clearing up several murders after he's hired to find the missing brother. Actually as per usual he's just trying to keep them from reaching wrong conclusions.

Gayle Hunnicutt is the TV star and the little sister is Sharon Farrell and if the film were remade today you would be casting Jessica Simpson in Farrell's role. Rita Moreno is one fetching stripper who goes way back with Hunnicutt. She and Garner work well together and Garner had her on his Rockford Files TV series a few times as Rita Capkovic, a woman of middling virtue.

One thing I do have to criticize. Bruce Lee has a small role as the kung-fu bodyguard of gangster H.M. Wynant. Personally I cannot believe that Garner could have taken out Lee that easily, tricking him the way he did.

Though Marlowe is not a bad film, I don't think most viewers will like how Bruce Lee ended up.

Shifting Chandler's private eye to the '60s seems to work fairly well, although I still miss the film noir look of the gritty '40s melodramas with either Humphrey Bogart or George Montgomery as Marlowe. In addition, filming this one in color to take advantage of some Los Angeles locations, was not necessarily the best idea.

JAMES GARNER works well as Marlowe, although I still prefer the dry delivery of Humphrey Bogart and his one-liners in THE BIG SLEEP. But Garner is at his physical peak and makes a persuasive private detective on the trail of someone's missing brother. Along the way, he gets involved with the usual assortment of disreputable characters who occupy seedy hotel rooms and the shady side of town.

With a supporting cast that includes CARROLL O'CONNOR, JACKIE COOGAN and RITA MORENO (as a stripper), it's a stylish updating of Chandler's novel, "The Little Sister". And let's not forget BRUCE LEE who does a Karate job on Garner's office wall and furniture.

Too many of the early scenes drag and it's an hour into the story before the plot gets any livelier. In short, the plot remains rather flat and devoid of any real urgent suspense in spite of the fact that it deals with ice pick murders.

Summing up: Despite the okay performance from Garner, it remains a flabby exercise in suspense, lacking the terse quality of Chandler's stories and doesn't really perk up until the last ten minutes.

A young girl from Kansas hires Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother. Marlowe's investigation leads to two dead bodies and a blackmail plot concerning an actress. Decent adaptation of the Raymond Chandler novel "The Little Sister," updated to the '60s. Garner's not an ideal Philip Marlowe but he's charismatic and enjoyable to watch. He has good chemistry with Rita Moreno, who steals every scene she's in. Bruce Lee has a small but memorable part. Carroll O'Connor and Kenneth Tobey are good as a couple of cops easily frustrated with Garner. A little too mellow and lacking grit for a hardboiled detective story, though it's still entertaining. More Rockford than Marlowe. A minor quibble: there's a scene late in the film that takes place in a wooded area but is very obviously filmed on a sound stage. I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it if the movie had been made even ten years earlier but for a 1969 film it was very noticeable and fake.