Red Wind

Powers Boothe was marvelous throughout the two iterations 9f this series (1983 and 1986). While the 83 episodes stand out, a couple from 86 measure up. One of those is Red Wind.

There are two factors that make this a standout hour. 1. Powers Boothe is perfect with the internal monologue. The natural forces of the agitating heat brought on by the Santa Ana wind is one of the ma8n characters in this episode. Boothe fleshes out exactly the level of skin-crawling agitation that this windswept heatwave is drumming up in the demimonde of 1940s Los Angeles. 2. Maury Chaykinks performance as the loathesome, bent copper, Lt. Copernik really is something to behold. The bigotry, laziness, stupidity are all unfurled perfectly and give us, for once, a secondary rooting interest in Copernik's I'll-treated partner, Lt. Ybarra. Just an excellent hour of noir!

What a weird coincidence. I decided to watch the last episode of the TV series Philip Marlowe, Private Detective, starring Powers Boothe as Marlowe. It was entitled RED WIND. As soon as it began, the voice over made clear that it was about events in Los Angeles occurring during the fierce blowing of the Santa Ana Winds. This was in the middle of the current catastrophe of the Los Angeles fires, fuelled by those very Santa Ana Winds. And the last shot is of a Malibu pier with a bright red sky! Of course, that red sky was a beautiful sunset. But the coincidence was simply too eerie for words. How is it that these synchronicities happen? As for this episode, it is a very superior one. Boothe was a very convincing Marlowe. The 'dame' in this story was played by Linda Griffiths, whose nervous and pale beauty suited the role perfectly. The standout performance was by Maury Chaykin as the horrible, crooked, and sleazy police lieutenant. He certainly had no vanity, to allow himself to look so disgusting. And the performance of E. G. Marshall is very moving and powerful. Strangely, he is not listed in the cast list of this film on IMDb. The story is very strong and well worth watching. And as a Raymond Chandler fan, I need no convincing. I have read all his short stories, this being one of them, and I highly recommend them. He didn't just write the novels.