I wasn't aware of the Stacy Keach incarnation of Marlowe, but I am familiar with
his playing of Spillane's Mike Hammer, so I will take your word on how bad it
was.
Garner as Marlowe was actually surprisingly poor. Before I saw it I thought he
would have been almost ideal, but someone decided to play it all smart ass and
jokey, with Garner seemingly rehearsing his Rockford Files character rather than
playing Marlowe's world weary idealism, a trait he was well-equipped
dramatically to portray. The original book, 'The Little Sister', may not have
been first flight Chandler, but it was very entertaining, I thought, and
featured some acerbic and probably heartfelt sideswipes at Hollywood.
Patrick
________________________________
From: Kevin Burton Smith <kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com>
To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, 20 September, 2010 17:36:30
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: The various incarnations of The Long Goodbye
Kevin
------------------------------------
RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
Yahoo! Groups Links
You want to argue about other misguided adaptations, let's talk about James
Garner in MARLOWE. Or the cheapo, antiseptic PBS-lite costume dramas with Stacy
Keech, where Marlowe had a girlfriend and lived in a world where the mean
streets were swept clean by set designers every five minutes so as to not risk
dirtying the antiques.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 20 Sep 2010 EDT