Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

John Paxton (screenplay)
Raymond Chandler (novel)

Release Date:

9 December 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

An Original Philip Marlowe Mystery

Plot:

After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Private Eye | Drunkenness | Cynicism | Dream

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Dick Powell	...	Philip Marlowe
Claire Trevor	...	Mrs.Helen Grayle aka Velma Valento
Anne Shirley	...	Ann Grayle
Otto Kruger	...	Jules Amthor
Mike Mazurki	...	Moose Malloy
Miles Mander	...	Mr. Grayle
Douglas Walton	...	Lindsay Marriott
Donald Douglas	...	Police Lieutenant Randall (as Don Douglas)
Ralf Harolde	...	Dr. Sonderborg
Esther Howard	...	Jessie Florian
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernie Adams	...	Bartender at 'Florian's' (uncredited)
Bernice Ahi	...	Dancer at the 'Cocoanut Beach Club' (uncredited)
George Anderson	...	Detective (uncredited)
Jack Carr	...	Dr. Sonderborg's Assistant (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Detective (uncredited)
Sam Finn	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Bill Hamilton	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Paul Hilton	...	Boy Getting Laundry (uncredited)
John Indrisano	...	Anthor's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Daun Kennedy	...	Girl in Bar (uncredited)
Donald Kerr	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Paul Phillips	...	Detective Nulty (uncredited)
Dewey Robinson	...	New Boss at 'Florian's' (uncredited)
Shimen Ruskin	...	Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Larry Wheat	...	Grayle's Butler (uncredited)

Directed by
Edward Dmytryk

Writing credits
John Paxton		(screenplay)
Raymond Chandler		(novel)

Produced by
Sid Rogell	....	executive producer
Adrian Scott	....	producer

Original Music by
Roy Webb

Cinematography by
Harry J. Wild		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Joseph Noriega

Art Direction by
Carroll Clark
Albert S. D'Agostino

Set Decoration by
Michael Ohrenbach		(set decorations)
Darrell Silvera		(set decorations)

Costume Design by
Edward Stevenson		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Mel Berns	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Dorfman	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Bailey Fesler	....	recordist
James G. Stewart	....	rerecordist

Special Effects by
Vernon L. Walker	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Landon Arnett	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Douglas Travers	....	montage

Music Department
C. Bakaleinikoff	....	musical director

Other crew
Leslie Urbach	....	dialogue director
Jimmy Evans	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Hugh Lucky	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Les Raymaster	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Wanda Rickerts	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Leslie Saville	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Carol Sawyer	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Jordan Shelley	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Tim Wallace	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures (presents) (as R K O Radio Pictures, Inc.)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1944) (USA) (theatrical) (as An R K O Radio Picture)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1946) (France) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Films (1950) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Manga Films (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Pan Vision Publishing Video (200?) (Finland) (DVD)
• Turner Home Entertainment (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Éditions Montparnasse (2003) (France) (DVD) (collection RKO)

Other Companies

• Bavaria Film Synchron  German dubbing: 1972

Also Known As:

Runtime:

95 min | Germany:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1996) (1998) | USA:Approved (PCA #10158) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-15 (new rating: 2001) | Finland:K-16 (until 2001) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (tv rating) | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1950) | UK:PG (video rating: Murder My Sweet) (1986) (2007)

Filming Locations:

Argyle Hotel - 8358 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

RKO was on the verge of bankruptcy when it signed up aging matinée idol Dick Powell to make a series of musicals. Powell only signed under the proviso that he could play a straight dramatic role first, so he was cast as Philip Marlowe. Attached director Edward Dmytryk was initially horrified at this casting decision.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Marlowe is interrogated by the police, the view through the window would have the building in the middle of the street blocking the street.

Quotes:

Philip Marlowe:Now this is beginning to make sense, in a screwy sort of a way. I get dragged in and get money shoved at me. I get pushed out and get money shoved at me. Everybody pushes me in, everybody pushes me out. Nobody wants me to DO anything. Okay, put a check in the mail. I cost a lot not to do anything. I get restless. Throw in a trip to Mexico.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in L.A. Noire (2011) (VG)

The Screen's Best Marlowe

"I caught the blackjack right behind my ear. A black pool opened up at my feet. I dived in; it had no bottom."- Phillip Marlowe in MURDER, MY SWEET.

There are plenty of bottomless pools in MURDER, MY SWEET, Edward Dmytryk's outstanding noir. Tapping into a direct line to the dark places of the human psyche, the film raises the curtain on one shadowy scene after another. It leads the viewer on a convoluted trip through a very gloomy and treacherous labyrinth where oily con men, pesky cops, scheming ladies, and at least one gargantuan lovesick Romeo put the down-at-heels private investigator through the wringer.

Moose Malloy's vanished girlfriend (and a tidy retainer) occupies Marlowe at first. Then, when an expensive jade necklace needs retrieving (with another fat fee offered), Marlowe bites again. But suddenly those too deep pools begin to appear.

John Paxton's screenplay has the cast of characters thinking out loud a lot, which helps occasionally. But just as in Raymond Chandler's other overly schematic crime story, THE BIG SLEEP, strict attention must be paid. Yet even if you become confused, you can still revel in Harry J. Wilde's sterling cinematography. (As mentioned in another review, Wilde, along with a slew of other people, including Orson Welles, shot additional scenes for THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS for which he and the others received no credit. As Welles himself intones rather solemnly at that film's conclusion: "Stanley Cortez was the photographer").

The really big draw in MURDER is Dick Powell, not just delivering a career-changing performance (and being the first actor to play Marlowe) but also giving the best interpretation of Marlowe on film- and that includes Bogart's fine outing in Hawks' THE BIG SLEEP(1946), Robert Mitchum's two disappointing films, and Elliot Gould's daring 1973 performance in Altman's THE LONG GOODBYE. Powell projects the detective's weary cynicism and dogged determination without any hint of showy mannerism or overplayed toughness. His presence is completely natural and convincing, far from any Hollywood ham acting.

In addition, MURDER, MY SWEET presents the polished villainy of Otto Kruger, slithering around Powell with his characteristic reptilian menace; Anne Shirley as a spunky good girl who brightens the gloom somewhat; and, on the femme fatale side, the high voltage glare of Claire Trevor, laminated in heavy make-up like a pricey, megawatt doxy. Literally towering over everything is Mike Mazurki's Moose (far more effective than Jack O'Halloran's catatonic trance in Mitchum's FAREWELL, MY LOVELY). Mazurki's silent entrance into Marlowe's office at the beginning sets the uneasy mood where huge, powerful forces stir and then emerge from the darkness.