Sleep, My Sweet

9 p.m. Saturday rolled around & there was nothing good on TV (as always). All of a sudden the channel changed & TiVo began recording Murder, My Sweet - I had forgotten I programmed it to record. I watched about an hour of it before I started to get sleepy. It wasn't the movie's fault.

TCM's Robert Osborne started out the flick noting they changed the title of the movie (Farewell, My Lovely) so it wouldn't sound like a sweet n' cheery Dick Powell musical. Never having seen one of his singing movies, I'd never had guessed he was the type. He pulled off a good, gruff, Philip Marlowe.

I think I enjoyed watching Murder, My Sweet more for the visuals than the actual story line. The lighting, shadows, and angles drew me in. There was one scene where Philip Marlowe's name appeared in shadow over another character's face - the lettering from his office window. There was another scene where I paused the film - the grille design on the convertible when Marlowe & Marriott drive out into the sticks: a sun & lightning bolts. I know absolutely nothing about cars...

Everyone loves drug induced delusions, right? Wow, what a nightmare when Marlowe gets shot up with some mystery drug. I'm still seeing cobwebs. Cool visualizations for 1944.

And the ending...I won't spill the beans.