Not just one but both leads in this movie are all wrong. George Montgomery, a skinny guy with a skinny moustache, looks like a fellow hanging around a dance trying to get a teenager in trouble. His voice is far too light to sound convincing speaking Raymond Chandler's grim or rueful lines, and his delivery sounds as if he hasn't even convinced himself he's the right one to say them.
It's obvious why most of his romance with Nancy Guild is conducted sitting down when you see them standing together. There are two shots in which this happens, both hilarious, as she comes up to about his belt buckle. In one of them, he is even standing a few steps above her! She also has a very lightweight voice, and she comes off in general like a schoolgirl who has done her hair and makeup to resemble Lauren Bacall, but overdid it. She seems overwhelmed by her hair.
Lacking mood and atmosphere as well, the whole thing is more like a Fifties television episode than a movie.
It's obvious why most of his romance with Nancy Guild is conducted sitting down when you see them standing together. There are two shots in which this happens, both hilarious, as she comes up to about his belt buckle. In one of them, he is even standing a few steps above her! She also has a very lightweight voice, and she comes off in general like a schoolgirl who has done her hair and makeup to resemble Lauren Bacall, but overdid it. She seems overwhelmed by her hair.
Lacking mood and atmosphere as well, the whole thing is more like a Fifties television episode than a movie.