John Lau:
"guys, especially actors look different now than they did
back then."
Yes, sure, but still I insist that Powell isn't convincing in
that scene. Okay, he is (since he is convincing as Marlowe in
the whole), but why the hell did they make the dame come to
him and say he's really good-looking when he really isn't?
All that I really ask is that the dame says something else.
(And you don't have to tell me that men back then didn't look
like Stallone - there must be some golden middle or whatever.
If it were Bogart in that scene (thanks for the photo!), I
wouldn't be complaining.)
But as much as I like the film (as a Chandler film, it really
is better than THE BIG SLEEP), I've never understood Dick
Powell. He has a weak chin and his eyes are not very
attractive. I see him always as Marlowe, a bit shoddy, his
chin unshaven, temporarily blind, and certainly not as a
cheerful guy who makes ladies swoon in high society
films.
Juri
PS. As for realism in hardboiled, just see SIN CITY. The
Hammer myth is still very much alive. Sadly, some seem to
equate hardboiled (and pulp) with SIN CITY and think they can
approach with a campy smile (or smirk) on their face. And
aren't Dan Simmons's novels (HARD AS NAILS etc.) also near
Spillane? Based on the cover, David Schow's coming Hard Case
novel moves along in similar veins.
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