Phillip Marlowe is a tough-talking and clever sleuth created by Raymond Chandler, the greatest noir author ever. Hammett may be an ex-Pinkerton and one of the pioneer of the hardboiled genre, but nobody can quite match Chandler. I was charmed with him in The Big Sleep, adored him in The High Window, infatuated in Lady in the Lake, and fell with him in Little Sister. I can't imagine what I'll feel about him in The Long Goodbye.
Marlowe is hard and simple on the outside, but soft and complex inside. Many of his clients are unable to see more deeply into him. All they can see is he's a shamus for hire. But hello. How many shamus out there that can distinguish and enjoy good wine, secretly mellow inside, and can quote from literature? Not many. Only Marlowe, solely him.
He can be involved in a dangerous brawl in one night while saving a damsel. He can interact and mingle with crème de la crème quite easily. He can flirt with femme fatales well and treat the innocents with courtesy. He does not gamble and drinks occasionally for fun and not for getting black out drunk. He smokes and lives modestly, but it is okay. He is debtless and lives within his means, without being reduced to shabbiness.
Phillip Marlowe - he is a perfect gentleman.
I have only seen one movie adaptation of Marlowe, The Big Sleep, where he was played by Humphrey Bogart. Bogart is a good choice for portraying Marlowe, I think. The gestures and that drawl are so Marlowe! And the fact that his co-star is the inimitable Bacall... It makes the movie salvageable.
Why salvageable? The movie was unfortunately produced after the establishment of the Code, which means many details, and even story line and solution from the original novel were adapted so that they adhere to the Code. That is totally 残念and ダメ and GOD HOW IT PISSED ME OFF.
But I am born too late and too southeast to have any say in the production. So. Be. It.
So those are my reasons why I slice off a piece of my heart and bequeath it to a fictional character for keepsake. Here, I endeth my fangirling.
Credits for images (written in the sequence they appear):
He can be involved in a dangerous brawl in one night while saving a damsel. He can interact and mingle with crème de la crème quite easily. He can flirt with femme fatales well and treat the innocents with courtesy. He does not gamble and drinks occasionally for fun and not for getting black out drunk. He smokes and lives modestly, but it is okay. He is debtless and lives within his means, without being reduced to shabbiness.
Phillip Marlowe - he is a perfect gentleman.
I have only seen one movie adaptation of Marlowe, The Big Sleep, where he was played by Humphrey Bogart. Bogart is a good choice for portraying Marlowe, I think. The gestures and that drawl are so Marlowe! And the fact that his co-star is the inimitable Bacall... It makes the movie salvageable.
 |
| Wheee wheee wheee! |
Why salvageable? The movie was unfortunately produced after the establishment of the Code, which means many details, and even story line and solution from the original novel were adapted so that they adhere to the Code. That is totally 残念and ダメ and GOD HOW IT PISSED ME OFF.
But I am born too late and too southeast to have any say in the production. So. Be. It.
So those are my reasons why I slice off a piece of my heart and bequeath it to a fictional character for keepsake. Here, I endeth my fangirling.
Credits for images (written in the sequence they appear):
- http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Books/Pix/pictures/2014/3/5/1394025956274/Lauren-Bacall-and-Humphre-009.jpg
- https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0X-f2360E5QqZwPYc_SWLDTwbQKwe3mxJmsPW4MHVjd3FXzH3w3_zwxN8kz-pDqd-h_y0tyCvBJHm4_WOSNTsbdydYQdHC6pXeb2sZU65mI6PPyPviaVEN90HgQ9CrxS-AMV6xvtzIGhu/s1600/you-guys-are-so-busted.gif
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