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Marlowe

Play trailer Poster for Marlowe PG 1969 1h 40m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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71% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 52% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Mysterious Orfamay Quest (Sharon Farrell) hires Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe (James Garner) to find her missing brother, Orrin. Though the job seems simple enough, it leads Marlowe into the underbelly of the city, turning up leads who are murdered with ice picks, exotic dancers (Rita Moreno), blackmailed television stars (Gayle Hunnicutt) and self-preserving gangsters (H. M. Wynant). Soon, Marlowe's life is on the line right along with his case.
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Marlowe

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times We don't care what happens next because we don't understand what happened before. Marlowe becomes enjoyable only on a basic level; it's fun to watch the action sequences Rated: 2.5/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Richard Schickel LIFE Director Paul Bogart goes for a weird atmospheric mix, keeping Marlowe's crummy, picturesque 1940s-style office intact in the Los Angeles of the 1960s. It is ridiculous when contrasted to the hippie scene, the high rises, the TV production centers. Nov 1, 2021 Full Review Kevin Carr Film School Rejects enjoyable as a period piece, letting us see an older character in a then-modern setting Rated: 3/5 Oct 2, 2013 Full Review Carol Cling Las Vegas Review-Journal Garner's not the best Marlowe, but he's far from the worst - which also applies to this movie. Rated: 4/5 Mar 31, 2006 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Aug 22, 2005 Full Review Robin Clifford Reeling Reviews Rated: 3/5 Nov 19, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (38) audience reviews
Steve D Laughable attempt to shake up the formula. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 07/29/23 Full Review Keith B My second favourite Philip Marlowe movie After The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart James Garner is one of the most underrated movie actors in the history of cinema and makes a fantastic Philip Marlowe. It also features a great cast including Gale Honeycutt and Bruce Lee. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/23/23 Full Review Aldo G In one of the screenwriting books I read, it was suggested that you write dialogue scenes in interesting settings and or have the characters do something of interest. In the climatic scene Marlowe explains what's happened to a stripper as she's doing her burlesque routine. Must see scene. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Russ G An interesting period piece with some groovy locations, and an eclectic cast, but James Garner isn't the hardboiled 1930's and 40's detective type. He later made the Rockford character his own, but transferring Brett Maverick to 1960's LA doesn't quite work. By the end, it's quite a muddle with the audience still not sure which half of the characters killed the other half, but it's left up to Carroll O'Conner to sort it out after the closing credits. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/14/22 Full Review Audience Member All you have to do to enjoy this--essentially a prequel to "The Rockford Files"-- is imagine that you missed a voice-over by Rockford that explains his need to pretend to be named Phillip Marlowe during this case. Twenty years earlier most of the elements are there: dissing the thugs before they punch him in the gut, a beat-up office that anticipates regular destruction by the bad guys, Rita Moreno, the same uneasy alliance with the cops, and that "Marlowe" has a big heart. Heck, there's even a 'hi-tech' scene where Marlowe/Rockford sees that rich man's dictation machine in a Rolls Royce and marvels at the cassette tape, anticipating the upgrade to touch-tone phones that record messages at the beep. The film opens at the beach, at a groovy pad where Angel might have once crashed. Easy to imagine Rockford making choices for his PI restart on a beach, with an even more bust-uppable office while he was wrongfully imprisoned after "Marlowe". Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member As a fan of James Garner and Chandler's Marlowe character, this was for me a can't miss. Though Garner does not portray Marlowe as hardboiled as in the novels he is still fun to watch and you can definitely see the groundwork being laid for his future Rockford Files role. The plot is uneven and convoluted, Garner and his humor make it watchable. And mixing Bruce Lee into the movie is just a fun surprise. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis Mysterious Orfamay Quest (Sharon Farrell) hires Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe (James Garner) to find her missing brother, Orrin. Though the job seems simple enough, it leads Marlowe into the underbelly of the city, turning up leads who are murdered with ice picks, exotic dancers (Rita Moreno), blackmailed television stars (Gayle Hunnicutt) and self-preserving gangsters (H. M. Wynant). Soon, Marlowe's life is on the line right along with his case.
Director
Paul Bogart
Producer
Gabriel Katzka, Sidney Beckerman
Screenwriter
Stirling Silliphant
Production Co
Cherokee Productions
Rating
PG
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 1, 2012
Runtime
1h 40m
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