Based on ‘The Little Sister,’ one of Raymond Chandler’s best stories, James Garner stars as Philip Marlowe in this stylish contemporary adaptation. Marlowe may confuse any viewers who do not have prior knowledge of Chandler’s story. Despite its flaws and incoherent tone Marlowe is a must-see for any admirers of Chandler.
Marlowe Gets Involved in Blackmail
Marlowe is hired by prim little Orfamay Quest (Sharon Fennell) to find her missing older brother Orin. Marlowe is not convinced Orin is missing at all, until he finds the body of a blackmailer (Jackie Coogan, Chaplin’s The Kid all grown up and better known as Uncle Fester from The Addams Family) with an ice-pick in his head. As ever with Chandler the plot is complicated, but Paul Bogart’s film manages to make it unfathomable.
Marlowe finds himself embroiled in a case involving the blackmailing of a clean-cut television star Mavis Wald (Gayle Hunnicutt) who has been photographed cavorting with notorious gangster Sonny Steelgrave (H.M. Wyant). Marlowe is beaten by thugs, menaced by a martial arts expert (Bruce Lee) and hassled by an embittered cop (Carroll O Connor), but never loses his ability to crack wise.
James Garner Makes an Interesting Marlowe
Garner is an easy-going likeable actor with a hint of melancholy he keeps hidden under the surface. He is also capable of delivering Chandler style dialogue with aplomb though Stirling Silliphant's screenplay does not give enough opportunities for Garner to do so. Some reviews of Marlowe have complained Garner lacks depth, though the scene during the finale in the strip club negates that view completely.
Philip Marlowe Updated to the Sixties
By relocating Philip Marlowe from the post-war years of the 40’s to the 60’s he does seem slightly out of context. Bogart’s direction is fine, but he does nothing as interesting as Robert Altman, who placed Philip Marlowe in the 70’s for The Long Goodbye (1973) and managed to comment on both Chandler’s outdated notions of chivalry and how hopelessly out of place they were in the cynical 70’s.
‘The Little Sister’ Too Slight for a Feature-Length Movie
Chandler’s ‘The Little Sister’ is fairly short and while it is one of Chandler’s best stories there is perhaps not enough there to stretch out for a full length feature. Though it is certainly worth seeing for devotees of Philip Marlowe and for Garner’s performance, not to mention Bruce Lee’s furniture breaking cameo as a gangland enforcer.
- Marlowe
- Starring James Garner
- Written by Stirling Silliphant, Based on a novel by Raymond Chandler
- Directed by Paul Bogart
- Year 1969
- Running time 96 mins
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