Marlowe (1969)

Although he spent years playing PI Jim Rockford on TV’s The Rockford Files, actor James Garner isn’t exactly the first actor that you’d associate with the term “hardboiled.” Raymond Chandler’s famous private detective Phillip Marlowe had already been played definitively by Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep (1946) and briefly by Dick Powell in the POV mystery Murder, My Sweet (1944). But Garner fills the shoes quite well in this modernized script that mixes Chandler’s acid-tongued banter with blackmail, hippies and late-‘60s weirdness.

The plot of Marlowe is as convoluted as Chandler devotees would expect. Marlowe is hired to track down a missing person, who turns out to be in possession of some naughty negatives that, if released, would ruin the career of a famous TV star. But each clue seems to uncover another corpse, each sporting an ice pick in the back of the neck. And Marlowe’s clients aren’t talking, which begs the question, is he protecting the wrong person?

Garner’s easygoing charm proves to be an unexpected asset. He delivers Chandler’s witticisms like a pro and navigates the L.A.’s burgeoning counterculture scene with an expression of vague amusement. But director Paul Bogart’s style is closer to a well-lit television episode than anything from the classic film noir catalog. He even manages to make Bruce Lee – who plays a small role as a gangland enforcer – look like a preening show-off rather than a martial arts master. But for all of the film’s stylistic missteps, it’s still an awfully entertaining detective story. It may not rank among the character’s greatest screen adventures, but as a movie caught between a generational divide it remains well worth investigating.

Arrow Video’s limited-edition Blu-ray kicks off with a nice restoration from the original negative and adds on a brand-new appreciation of Marlow’s film appearances from historian Howard S. Berger. There’s also a trailer, image gallery, collector’s booklet and reversible sleeve featuring new artwork.