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Marlowe (1969)
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2026 2:45 pm
by Finch
PHILIP MARLOWE IS A PRIVATE EYE. FOR FIFTY BUCKS YOU CAN BUY HIS BRAIN, HIS FISTS AND HIS .44 MAGNUM SPECIAL. IF YOU WANT BLOOD, HE'LL GIVE YOU THAT, TOO! Following in the footsteps of Dick Powell (Murder, My Sweet) and Humphrey Bogart (The Big Sleep), James Garner (The Great Escape) brought iconic private investigator Philip Marlowe into the Age of Aquarius in this 1969 neo-noir based on Raymond Chandler's classic novel The Little Sister. When Orfamay Quest hires Philip Marlowe to find her brother, it seems like just another missing persons case. But soon enough Marlowe's investigation leads him on a trail of blackmail and murder, all of it seemingly linked to a mobster and his TV star mistress. Luscious starlets, pugnacious gangsters, suspicious cops and corpses with ice picks jammed in their necks... welcome to Marlowe country! Garner's easy-going style is a perfect match for Chandler's "shop-soiled Galahad", paving the way for his performance in classic TV show The Rockford Files. Meanwhile, the many suspects are brought vividly to life by the likes of Carroll O'Connor (All in the Family), Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Jackie Coogan (The Addams Family), Gayle Hunnicut (The Legend of Hell House) and none other than Bruce Lee (Enter the Dragon) making his American feature debut.
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new restoration from the original 35mm camera negative by Arrow Films
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
Original lossless mono audio
$100 A Day (Plus Expenses), a brand new appreciation by film historian Howard S. Berger
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by John Pearson
Collectors’ booklet containing new writing by critics Jeff Chang and Priscilla Page
Re: Marlowe (1969)
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2026 3:31 pm
by domino harvey
First DVD-R only Warner Archive title to be upgraded to Blu from a boutique label?
My write up from the Noir List
domino harvey wrote: Thu May 18, 2017 5:22 am
Marlowe (Paul Bogart 1969) James Garner is Marlowe in the land of hippies and gangsters and starlets, oh my. Garner plays the role like he’s in a sitcom, which occasionally works for the part but he lacks the patheticism and charm of the best embodiers of the role. The mystery here is typically convoluted Chandler, no more, no less. On the bright side, Rita Moreno (who has some incredible wigs in this film) does a ridiculous climactic striptease in full-on pasties and g-string. So, if that’s on your bucket list, here you go.
Re: Marlowe (1969)
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2026 8:51 pm
by colinr0380
I mean, this one is really most famous for Bruce Lee's single scene as a thug brought in to systematically destroy Garner's sterotypical Private Eye office with his kung fu skills, one of those small bit-part stereotypical roles that along with his Kato sidekick in The Green Hornet probably showed that if he stayed trying to make a career in Hollywood he was never going to get cast in the leading man roles that he was aiming for, suggesting that the Hong Kong industry was the logical path to take.
Re: Marlowe (1969)
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2026 9:12 pm
by Orlac
This used to be a frequent player on UK TCM.
Re: Marlowe (1969)
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2026 9:13 pm
by Orlac
colinr0380 wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 8:51 pm
I mean, this one is really most famous for Bruce Lee's single scene as a thug brought in to systematically destroy Garner's sterotypical Private Eye office with his kung fu skills, one of those small bit-part stereotypical roles that along with his Kato sidekick in The Green Hornet probably showed that if he stayed trying to make a career in Hollywood he was never going to get cast in the leading man roles that he was aiming for, suggesting that the Hong Kong industry was the logical path to take.
Bruce actually has two scenes, but the second one is a bigger humiliation to him then that cardboard cut-out in Game of Death!
Re: Marlowe (1969)
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2026 9:33 pm
by colinr0380
I think I had wiped all memory of the second scene from my mind Orlac! I mostly just see the Bruce Lee scene here as in a similar vein to that bizarre non-sequitur moment in Cruising where Al Pacino is slapped around in the interrogation cell!