Murder, My Sweet

Culver City, CA: RKO Radio Pictures, 1945. Vintage studio still photograph of Dick Powell from the 1945 film with the caption: "PHILLIP MARLOWE (Dick Powell) ...TOUGH, ROUGH, HARDBOILED DETECTIVE - but smooth and slick with the chicks!"

Based on Raymond Chandler's 1940 novel, "Farewell, My Lovely," a Haycraft Queen Cornerstone. Phillip Marlowe (Powell) is a hard-boiled private detective hired by a psychotic ex-con to locate an old girlfriend named Velma (Claire Trevor). During his hunt, Marlowe is railroaded into a lunatic asylum, where he experiences a surreal drug-induced nightmare and is pushed deeper into a complex web of deceit.

The first Philip Marlowe adaptation, which along with the Chandler-scripted Billy Wilder film, "Double Indemnity" (1944), mark the beginning of Chandler's active presence in Hollywood. His novels and stories would inspire films for nearly forty years, from "The Falcon Takes Over" (1942, the first adaptation of "Farewell, My Lovely") to "The Big Sleep" (1978).

Set in and shot on location in Los Angeles

8 x 10 inches. Very Good plus, hard crease in the right margin and faint creasing.

Grant US. Penzler 101. Selby US Masterwork. Silver and Ward Classic Noir. Spicer US.

[Book #146570]