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:

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on June 11, 1945 with Dick Powell and Claire Trevor reprising their film roles.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the dream sequence where the stair rail disappears you can see that Powell is holding onto a string where the rail was.

Quotes:

Lt. Randall:Let's get it on the record... from the beginning.
Philip Marlowe:With Malloy, then. Oh, it was about seven o'clock. Anyway it was dark.
Lt. Randall:What were you doing at the office that late?
Philip Marlowe:I'm a homing pigeon. I always come back to the stinking coop, no matter how late it is. I'd been out peeking under old Sunday sections for a barber named Dominick whose wife wanted him back - I forget why. Only reason I took the job was because my bank account was trying to crawl under a duck.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light (2006) (V)

Film Noir 101

This is the movie that hooked me on "Film Noir." I first saw this on the late show while suffering a killer flu. Even through local TV editing and enough medicine to tranquilize a circus tent, it had me sitting at attention from start to finish. It wasn't until several years later that I got to see it uncut on cable that I got the full effect. Having grown up with Bogart's hard-boiled private eye archetype, Dick Powell was a complete revelation to me. If you double-bill this with Bogart's "Big Sleep," you see at once that Powell truly IS Phillip Marlowe (even Raymond Chandler thought so), and Bogart is much better suited to portray Hammet's colder, meaner Sam Spade. Powell gives Marlowe a vulnerable cynicism as well as a touch of the "everyman," that Bogart wouldn't be able to pull off until later in his career. Powell's background in romantic musicals gives him access to a far deeper emotional range, needed to play the complex and conflicted Marlowe; his cynicism, his humour, his loyalty to his code...it's all there. Powell manages to give extra resonance to some of Chandler's throw-away similes! No wonder he claimed this as his favorite role!

The direction by Edward Dmytryk and cinematography by Harry Wild are perfect, giving the film a tight, economical yet alluring vintage "feel". Working on a tight budget, they manage to infuse it with all the seedy, chaotic topography that would serve as the touchstones for every film of this type from "Night of the Hunter" to "Blade Runner." While this isn't the first Noir film, it may well be the best.