Farewell, My Lovely (1975)

Joe DiMaggio is on a hitting streak and Philip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) is hiding from the police at a cheap motel.  With his options limited, he calls Detective Nulty (John Ireland) and asks to talk.  "Come alone," he says.  When Nulty arrives, Marlowe lays out the story.  On a missing person job, he happened to meet Moose Malloy (Jack O'Halloran), a giant of a man who was just released from prison.  Moose is looking for his old flame, Velma, and hires Marlowe for the job.  Strangely, while Marlowe searches for Velma, everyone he meets seems to be searching for Moose.  Worse still, everyone who gives Marlowe a lead for finding Velma is murdered soon after.  Using a middleman, Marlowe finally arranged for Moose to talk to Velma on the phone.  No sooner did he and Moose arrive than gunmen tried to kill Moose.  Like in previous Marlowe movies, the body count is alarmingly high.  Some secrets must be kept with murder.

Robert Mitchum makes for a great Marlowe except for being too old by 20 years.  Mrs. Grayle (Charlotte Rampling) tries to seduce him shortly after the pair are introduced.  She is not troubled in the least when her husband witnesses their first kiss.  Granted, she is a stunner, but why is Marlowe so ready to have an affair with this married woman?  The biggest surprise of the movie was Sylvester Stallone as a hood in the employ of a Hollywood madam.

The plot is too convoluted.  That much of the film is a flashback where Marlowe is talking to Nulty, and apparently repeating their multiple interactions, just didn't work.  Some characters might have been better left out.  Though I like Harry Dean Stanton, his openly dirty cop never does anything dirty in the movie.  What was the point of that?  Better to cut the character and expand one of the others.  Georgie is almost Marlowe's sidekick, but he doesn't quite get enough development.

Strangely enough, Mitchum returned to the role of Marlowe only 3 years later, in The Big Sleep.  However, that movie takes place in the 1970s and has Marlowe living in London, not Los Angeles.  I wonder why they didn't just recast, since it clearly can't be a sequel.  Unless Marlowe time travels.

Just so-so.

The Big Sleep (1978)

In the English countryside, Philip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) arrives at the estate of General Sternwood (James Stewart).  Even before he meets the general, Camilla Sternwood (Candy Clark) practically molests him in the foyer.  The general explains that a 'bookseller' has sent a huge bill - blackmail? - in regard to his younger daughter, Camilla.  He asks that Marlowe find out if this is something serious or just someone trying to con him for a quick buck.  Marlowe visits the bookstore and finds that it is a front for selling smut.  The receptionist is Agnes Lozelle (Joan Collins).  Trailing the bookseller to his home, Marlowe settles in for a stakeout.  That evening, Camilla arrives.  As Marlowe approaches to get a closer look, there are gunshots.  Inside, he finds Camilla naked and stoned, the bookseller dead, and a camera on a tripod aimed at Camilla but the film is gone.  In the morning, the Sternwood's chauffeur is found dead from suicide and it is clear that he killed the bookseller.  However, he doesn't have the missing film from the camera.  As Marlowe follows each thread of the case, he finds another person who is either dead or about to be murdered.  The death toll on the case is quite high.

The story was written in the late forties for Los Angeles but has here been placed in the modern day (1978) in London.  This hurt the noir aspects of the movie.  Also, much of the action takes place during the day when it is far too bright.  I far prefer Mitchum's Marlowe to that of Eliot Gould.  Mitchum's Marlowe is competent, has an emotional range, actually investigates, and isn't a chain smoking depressive.   Also, the brutal integrity is made clear when he refuses huge sums of money even when it is offered with no strings attached; With Gould, I was baffled that he refused money and tossed away $5000.  On the other hand, Mitchum is too old for the role while Gould was about the right age.  The cast is all stars: Richard Boone, Sarah Miles, Edward Fox, John Mills, Oliver Reed, and Harry Andrews all appear.

The plot is a Gordian knot of intertwining mysteries that all come back to an incident that Marlowe wasn't asked to investigate though everyone asks if he is.  There is always a third party present during any incident; that introduces a new mystery to be solved.  Loose end after loose end, each accompanied by a corpse.  It is an engaging movie but most of the players are too high-strung.  Camilla is the most extreme example but there are a lot of characters who are too ready to resort to murder.  Each one is tipped to murder by the previous domino in the chain.  Maybe crazy attracts crazy.

It's okay.  If you like Robert Mitchum, watch it.