Patrick,
I've never actually seen I DIED A THOUSAND TIMES. I only
brought it up to illustrate that there was a precedent for
Palance portraying a character that had previously been
played by Bogart.
Your point about Mitchum's version of THE BIG SLEEP is
well-taken. However, I would argue that this was due less to
Mitchum's casting as Marlowe than to a generally lacklustre
production and the inexplicable change of setting from Los
Angeles to London.
After all, Mitchum's version of FAREWELL, MY LOVELY made just
a couple of years earlier, is one of the most satisfying
Chandler film adaptations ever, and, if Mitchum should
ideally have played the part ten or fifteen years older, the
script turns his age from a liability to an asset by having
him muse about how he's "getting old in the job."
My favorite Marlowe is still Dick Powell, in the original FML
film adaptation MURDER, MY SWEET (which, BTW, is being run
this weekend on TCM's "Essentials" series). But Mitchum's
versions is one of the few times I've ever seen a remake of a
film I loved that I liked almost as much as the
original.
JIM DOHERTY
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