S04E08 - Marlowe

Published: June 28, 2020, 11 a.m.

We revive a pre-lockdown theme we shelved while we tried to make sense of the world; Raymond Chandler’s iconic character of Philip Marlowe. We start with James Garner as barrel-chested Marlowe in Paul Bogart’s Marlowe (1969). Next up is Elliot Gould as schlubby, besuited Marlowe in Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye (1973). We finish with Robert Mitchum as transposed to London, expat Marlowe in Michael Winner’s The Big Sleep (1978) and ask why, just, why? Also: Amiability. The Rockford Files (1974). Chandler’s Ten Commandments. Bruce Lee. Rita Moreno. EGOTs. Leigh Brackett. The Bradbury Building. Inherent Vice (2014). Henry Gibson is always the bad guy. Arnold Goddamn Schwarzenegger. Joe’s Hemingway impression. Farewell My Lovely (1974). Death Wish (1974). Strong opinions about Michael Winner. Dempsey and Makepeace (1975). We play a game of “Name That Dick”.