Re: RARA-AVIS: A few 1940-1950's hard boiled movies recently

Mark Sullivan (ANONYMEINC@webtv.net)
Wed, 30 Sep 1998 00:14:26 -0400 (EDT) Enrique,
Murder My Sweet is great, my favorite Marlowe (Chandler's too, for that
matter).

I'm curious, however, about why you found Kiss Me Deadly unsatisfying.
I really like that movie quite a bit. You are definitely right, it is
not your usual Hammer, this one is something of a cad, using Velda to
sucker husbands into compromising pictures, while he seduces the wives,
depending upon who the client is in the particular divorce case. I
really loved the cynicism of the film, plus the "modern" gadgets, such
as his reel-to-reel answering machine, that now look so outdated.

In its messing with an established character, it reminds me of Altman's
Long Goodbye. The first time I saw it, I was infuriated by the
liberties it took with Marlowe. I set my preconceptions aside, though,
and saw it again. On its own terms, it was very satisfying. Leigh
Brackett updated the PI story brilliantly, holding Marlowe's 40s code up
against 70s reality.

Anyway, I'm curious what you found missing in Kiss Me Deadly.

Mark

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