Murder, My Sweet
Greg Smith medium.com
The next entry in our Philip Marlowe Marathon is “Murder, My Sweet.” Here, Marlowe is played by Dick Powell in a more straight-laced version of the private eye than we saw with Bogart in “The Big…
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Though “The Big Sleep”- and its star, Humphrey Bogart- looms largest in the Philip Marlowe film canon, “Murder, My Sweet” was actually the first major motion picture to depict the now-iconic private eye.

This movie, released just two years before “The Big Sleep,” shares a lot with its successor: biting, witty dialog, all the usual film noir elements, and a plot with enough twists and turns to make your head spin a bit.

I will admit, the story in “Murder, My Sweet” is definitely easier to follow than “The Big Sleep.” Here, I at least had a clue of what was going on throughout the film. Everyone’s after a lost $100,000 jade necklace, though the ins-and-outs of who’s after it, and why, do definitely get a little complex.

Like “The Big Sleep” though, I don’t feel like the plot matters here too much. I’m not interested in this to see what Marlowe is trying to solve. I’m just interested in the fact that he’s solving something. Watching him operate is the pleasure.

Dick Powell’s incarnation of Marlowe is pretty strong, overall. He brings a different style to the character than Bogart does. He’s not quite as cool, though trying measure someone’s level of cool against Bogart is a fool’s errand. He’s just as witty as Bogart’s Marlowe (he has a line for every situation), but his manner is more folksy. He has a bit of that “aw shucks” quality to him. That’s not to say that Marlowe’s lost his sense of humor or quick wit here. Consider this exchange between Marlowe and love interest Ann Grayle, after Marlowe’s harrowing stay at Jules Amthor’s drug house:

Ann: I don’t even think you know which side you’re on.

Marlowe: I don’t know which side anybody’s on. I don’t even know who’s playing today.

The Marlowe of “Murder, My Sweet” is still incredibly skilled at getting information from people, maybe even more so than Bogart. When he’s looking for something in particular in a conversation, that folksy quality dissolves into no-nonsense professionalism. And of course, he deploys liquor very strategically for this purpose, with a high success rate.

Powell’s Marlowe is definitely more wary of the ladies than Bogart. Whereas Bogart’s version would immediately charm and flirt with every woman he comes across, Powell plays it straight the vast majority of the time. He is immediately taken with the femme fatale here, Helen Grayle, and looking at her, it’s hard to blame him. But even as he lets himself be physically intrigued by her, he keeps his guard up. Marlowe’s greatest defense against the ladies is that as good of a lover he might be, he’s a better detective.

As a contrast to Bogart’s Marlowe, and more in keeping with the version from the novels, Powell’s Marlowe also seemed to me to be a little more cautious about resorting to violence. I don’t know if it’s a circumstance of the story, but unless I’m mistaken, Marlowe never fires a gun in this movie. He brandishes one on occasion, most notably while threatening the crazy doctor who’s drugged him, but he never uses one. With Bogart, it was pretty easy to imagine him unloading on someone (and he eventually does), but I got the feeling that Powell’s private eye saw this show of force as an absolute last resort.

One thing I enjoy about Marlowe as a character is his unwillingness (or is it inability?) to stop his investigation. I noticed this trait in “The Big Sleep,” but it really was driven home in “Murder, My Sweet.” In this story, there are a number of times where it would be natural to pack it in, whether because the police have told him to or he just decided to do so out of self-preservation. But Marlowe is seemingly incapable of giving up on what he started. I don’t think it is out of any moral obligation; morals sort of come and go for him. I just think it’s his personality. Once he starts in on a case, he’s going to finish, consequences be damned. To the average viewer, this trait might appear a bit backwards and dangerous, but it is also part of what makes Marlowe such an intriguing character.

“Murder, My Sweet” does have a number of those cool, inky film noir shots. The film opens with Marlowe blindfolded (we find out later why) while being interrogated by the police (as seen earlier in the article). It’s the class dark room with one overhead light. My favorite shot, however, is captured as Marlowe meets Moose Malloy for the first time. Malloy wants to hire Marlowe to look for his old girlfriend Velma, and the accurately-named Moose is a massive human being. We first see his reflection in the window of Marlowe’s office in a great shot. Marlowe is rightfully taken aback.

Unlike “The Big Sleep,” “Murder, My Sweet” deploys Marlowe as a voice-over narrator. This is a classic technique in film noir, and I enjoy it as a signal of the both the genre and the era. A lot of times, it’s enjoyable to hear the protagonist explain things directly from his point of view. However, I was a bit more intrigued that “The Big Sleep” tried to eschew that convention. Whether that was a creative decision or a more practical one, I’m not sure. But I’m drawn to the fact that it tried to be different.

Overall, this movie left me feeling a lot like “The Big Sleep” did. The plot details are a bit fuzzy, and the ending is what it is: the bad guys die, Marlowe ends up with the good girl. But it’s Marlowe himself that keeps me watching. Studying how he operates- and more importantly, why- is more fascinating to me that the often convoluted situations in which he finds himself.