RARA-AVIS: Re: BBC4 Film Noir Doc plus short season

From: JIM DOHERTY (jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com)
Date: 24 Aug 2009

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    Mark,

    Re your question below:

    "Ed, do you mean Murder My Sweet, or did it revert to the novel's name in the UK? Same with Build My Gallows High, which is known as Out of the Past in the US?"

    Not sure about OUT OF THE PAST, but MURDER, MY SWEET was definitely relased in the UK as FAREWELL, MY LOVELY. In fact, it was released in the UK first, in 1944. RKO's original plan was to release the film here in 1944 as FML (and, in fact, a 1944 issue of either TIME or NEWSWEEK reviews it under that title), but, at the last minute, it was held back and released in 1945 with the new title, one that evoked Chandler's original, but made it clear that it was a crime movie.

    It was thought, given Dick Powell's image to that point, that audiences might think the film was a musical or romantic comedy with the original title, so a new title was inserted that made the film's genre clear.

    JIM DOHERTY

          



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