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Lady in the Lake

Play trailer Poster for Lady in the Lake 1946 1h 43m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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60% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Private eye Phillip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) wants to get out of the detective racket and into crime writing. But when he's called to the office of editor Adrienne Fromsett (Audrey Totter), it's not to talk about his story ideas -- she wants him to locate the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby (Leon Ames). The assignment quickly becomes complicated when bodies start turning up. This Raymond Chandler adaptation is notable for being filmed entirely from Marlowe's first-person perspective.
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Lady in the Lake

Critics Reviews

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Paul Brenner Filmcritic.com 06/28/2009
2/5
completely misinterprets the joys of film noir Go to Full Review John J. Puccio Movie Metropolis 07/15/2006
7/10
...the movie is different, and one can hardly say that Lady in the Lake is anything less than entertaining for most of its running time. Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 06/13/2005
4/5
Robin Clifford Reeling Reviews 11/19/2004
3/5
Carol Cling Las Vegas Review-Journal 06/25/2004
4/5
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 05/14/2004
B
Chandler's story, which might be his finest, somehow comes through this gimmicky filmmaking experiment intact enough though much scathed. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alain E @AlainE Oct 11 I believe this movie needs to be seen for the two main female characters. Audrey Totter throughout is superb with an expressive face that changes every few seconds. Despite her long career she never won any awards. Her compensation was that she had a satisfactory personal life with a long marriage to a UCLA physician and lived to be 95. Lila Leeds plays the receptionist at the publishing company who constantly makes eyes to Phillip Marlowe. She appears only in the beginning, but she is excellent. Her career was cut short when she was arrested, together with Robert Mitchum, for marijuana possession. Boys will be boys, and Michum did fine, but she never found work afterwards. Robert Montgomery directs well but looks too soft and polished to be a tough private eye. The gimmick of showing, via the lens, his point of view, almost destroys the movie. See more Martha C 10/02/2024 If you understand Noir, you will love this movie! Some of the best lines and camera movement I seen, and I've seen A LOT of film noir. The banter between Audrey Totter and Robert Montgomery is as good as Boggie and Bacall and the scenes with Lila Leeds are just wonderful. If you give it a chance, you'll see. See more Leo P 02/28/2024 Great."They try to stop me talking about things that I don't know."At first,it was strange to see Marlowe who didn't look like Bogart,but I soon realized the copy was as marvellous as the original.Funny,witty,and mesmerizing Chandler gem.And,yes,"I am scared,but isn't it wonderful!" See more Charles D 12/23/2023 Much better than a mere 51% audience rating. The film is worth watching for the surprising and innovative camerawork alone. See more Russ 05/18/2023 I stuck it out to see how it ended, but the 1st person POV gimmick gets old. I presume this "technique" made Mr. Montgomery's job as "director" easier. The only contemporary attempt at this of which I know was the Bogart/Bacall "Dark Passage." See more CL 05/17/2023 More like firesign theater than noir. It's so bad that it must be a farce, or satire. See more Read all reviews
Lady in the Lake

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Cast & Crew

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Robert Montgomery

Director

Robert Montgomery

Phillip Marlowe

Audrey Totter

Adrienne Fromsett

Lloyd Nolan

Lt. DeGarmot

Tom Tully

Capt. Kane

Leon Ames

Derace Kingsby

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Lady in the Lake

Lady in the Lake (1946) Lady in the Lake (1946) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Private eye Phillip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) wants to get out of the detective racket and into crime writing. But when he's called to the office of editor Adrienne Fromsett (Audrey Totter), it's not to talk about his story ideas -- she wants him to locate the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby (Leon Ames). The assignment quickly becomes complicated when bodies start turning up. This Raymond Chandler adaptation is notable for being filmed entirely from Marlowe's first-person perspective.
Director
Robert Montgomery
Producer
George Haight
Screenwriter
Steve Fisher
Production Co
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Loew's
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2009
Runtime
1h 43m
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