George Montgomery has always been at home on the range in the dozens of westerns that he saddled up for between his contemporary cinematic assignments. Unfortunately, he appears terribly miscast as Raymond Chandler's world-weary private eye Phillip Marlowe in the urban canyons of Los Angeles. Part of the problem with Montgomery is that he looks too robust and to clean-cut to be playing cynical shamus who has too far much of everything and lives on the edge in smoke-laden quarters, neon-tinged storefronts, and dark streets. Furthermore, he sports an Errol Flynn mustache that would seem more appropriate on an eager guy in a dinner jacket or astride a horse in a polo tournament. Montgomery gets to make wisecracks, but his cynicism lacks conviction. In fact, the client who employs him in "The Brasher Doubloon" makes the observation that he doesn't look old enough to be a private eye. The same can be said of John Brahm's swift, straightforward direction and "Always in my Heart" scenarist Dorothy Bennett's inconsequential screenplay with lackluster dialogue derived from Leonard Praskins' adaptation.
Clocking in at a meager 72 minutes, "The Brasher Doubloon" sacrifices narrative depth and decadence for brevity and superficiality. Neither Bennett nor Praskins exploits the complexity of Chandler's third novel "The High Window" and everything emerges as prefabricated. The villains are sinister, but they aren't intimidating like Bob Steele was in "The Big Sleep." Basically, a wealthy, old widow from Pasadena, Mrs. Elizabeth Murdock (Florence Bates of "Kismet") hires Marlowe for $25 a day and expenses on a $100 retainer to recover a valuable coin, the Brasher Doubloon, which has been stolen from her collection. Murdock doesn't care who stole it; she just wants the coin returned. Marlowe finds this a bit suspicious. Moreover, Marlowe is suspicious about Murdock's secretary, Merle Davis (lovely Nancy Guild of "Black Magic"), who suffers from too much ice. She doesn't like to be touched and this intrigues Marlowe who wants to melt her icy demeanor. We're told that Merle was Murdock's husband's secretary. Why Merle has stuck so long with Murdock is a mystery that will be unraveled. She seems to be trapped for no good reason in the Murdock's mansion. Mrs. Murdock's pampered, good-for-nothing son, Leslie (Conrad Janis of "Snafu"), tries to drive off Marlowe before he has a chance to discuss the assignment with mom. The scene when Marlowe meets Murdock is reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart's meeting with General Sternwood in Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep," except that Murdock has few ailments but a wholly eccentric attitude. Once Marlowe gets out of Pasadena and back to Los Angeles, things pick up. He visits an apartment complex where he finds a warm corpse that provides a clue that sends him to see a coin dealer, Elisha Morningstar (Houseley Stevenson of "Moonrise"), who operates on the fringe. When the bodies start to pile up, Marlowe runs afoul of Detective Lieutenant Breeze (Roy Roberts of "Tumbleweed") who never gets a chance to sweat Marlowe. Marlowe entangles himself in a couple of predicaments that he has little trouble of getting out of by the time he figures out what the mystery is. Blackmail is what it is all about. Mrs. Murdock's husband took a fall for a high window and Merle has labored under the delusion that she was responsible for his demise.
Despite some atmospheric directorial touches and "Cry of the City" lenser Lloyd Ahern's black and white cinematography, "The Brasher Doubloon" qualifies as too frivolous to amount to anything more than a potboiler.
Clocking in at a meager 72 minutes, "The Brasher Doubloon" sacrifices narrative depth and decadence for brevity and superficiality. Neither Bennett nor Praskins exploits the complexity of Chandler's third novel "The High Window" and everything emerges as prefabricated. The villains are sinister, but they aren't intimidating like Bob Steele was in "The Big Sleep." Basically, a wealthy, old widow from Pasadena, Mrs. Elizabeth Murdock (Florence Bates of "Kismet") hires Marlowe for $25 a day and expenses on a $100 retainer to recover a valuable coin, the Brasher Doubloon, which has been stolen from her collection. Murdock doesn't care who stole it; she just wants the coin returned. Marlowe finds this a bit suspicious. Moreover, Marlowe is suspicious about Murdock's secretary, Merle Davis (lovely Nancy Guild of "Black Magic"), who suffers from too much ice. She doesn't like to be touched and this intrigues Marlowe who wants to melt her icy demeanor. We're told that Merle was Murdock's husband's secretary. Why Merle has stuck so long with Murdock is a mystery that will be unraveled. She seems to be trapped for no good reason in the Murdock's mansion. Mrs. Murdock's pampered, good-for-nothing son, Leslie (Conrad Janis of "Snafu"), tries to drive off Marlowe before he has a chance to discuss the assignment with mom. The scene when Marlowe meets Murdock is reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart's meeting with General Sternwood in Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep," except that Murdock has few ailments but a wholly eccentric attitude. Once Marlowe gets out of Pasadena and back to Los Angeles, things pick up. He visits an apartment complex where he finds a warm corpse that provides a clue that sends him to see a coin dealer, Elisha Morningstar (Houseley Stevenson of "Moonrise"), who operates on the fringe. When the bodies start to pile up, Marlowe runs afoul of Detective Lieutenant Breeze (Roy Roberts of "Tumbleweed") who never gets a chance to sweat Marlowe. Marlowe entangles himself in a couple of predicaments that he has little trouble of getting out of by the time he figures out what the mystery is. Blackmail is what it is all about. Mrs. Murdock's husband took a fall for a high window and Merle has labored under the delusion that she was responsible for his demise.
Despite some atmospheric directorial touches and "Cry of the City" lenser Lloyd Ahern's black and white cinematography, "The Brasher Doubloon" qualifies as too frivolous to amount to anything more than a potboiler.