A Dash of Film Noir: Lady in the Lake

Welcome back all to Day 5 of A Dash of Film Noir Week and we will end this week on a bit of an unusual camera POV.  Yes this entire film is shot through the eyes of the lead actor which sounds a bit like a horror movie but is in fact a Point of View shot.  The supporting cast will intentionally seem to break the fourth wall and stare at the camera and speak as though you are the hardboiled detective struggling to get to the truth.  With the exception of a few exterior shots this film is entirely shot in POV and there is little to no soundtrack attached to it.  So grab your snacks and soft drink, droop in your seat and take this all in.  This is Lady in the Lake.

 

This suit cut me right?

Adrienne: Do you fall in love with all of your spoilers?

Marlowe: Only the ones in skirts.

Director and lead actor Robert Montgomery (Made on Broadway, The Mystery of Mr. X, Riptide, No More Ladies and Trouble for Two) chose a different approach to this Raymond Chandler novel turned film.  The subjective view allows you to see the film and story coil out through Marlowe’s eyes.  All the actors stare directly at the camera and give you the feel that you are asking the questions and taking no grief.    Our story begins Marlowe submitting a murder story for the Kingsby Publications Inc.  He gets an invite to the publication to chin wag about his story but it comes quite clear that it is only a ruse for a job.  So much for the Great American Novel I guess.   Adrienne Fromsett (Audrey Totter of The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Set-Up, Man in the Dark, Champ for a Day, Massacre Canyon and Man or Gun) is the executive publicist that wants to hire Marlow to find the wife of her boss Derace Kingsby (Leon Ames of Meet Me in St. Louis, The Thin Man Goes Home, The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Absent-Minded Professor and The Monkey’s Uncle) who has been missing for the better part of a month after sending a telegram stating she is off to Mexico to divorce him and marry a schmoe name of Chris Lavery.

Santa??!

Adrienne states she had seen Lavery in Bay City not long ago.   Marlowe drops in to see Lavery and he attests to no knowledge of this trip to Mexico then socks Marlowe.  A black gunky fog comes over Marlowe and he wakes up in jail where he is grilled by Captain Kane (Tom Tully of The Caine Mutiny, The Lineup, Love Me or Leave Me and Coogan’s Bluff) and his snarky lieutenant DeGarmot (Lloyd Nolan of The House on 92^nd Street, Two Smart People, Martin Kane, Special Agent 7 and 77 Sunset Strip) with Marlowe claiming confidential client clause.  With a brisk warning from Kane not to muddy his waters Marlowe is back on the streets.

 Back on the trail of Lavery, Marlowe learns of the body of a woman in the lake owned by Kingsby, and his caretaker was charged with the murder of his wife.  Fromsett believes that  Kingsby’s wife is the real killer given the hatred Muriel and she had.  Finding Lavery’s apartment, his landlady steps out of his house holding a revolver she claims to have found.   Hoofing up the stairs Marlowe discovers Lavery shot numerous times in the shower of all places and a handkerchief with the monogram “A F”. 

The plot thickens as Marlowe is fired by Fromsett only to be hired by Kingsby to find his wife.

The first-person camera technique is a little throwing.   At any moment I am expecting a zombie or mutant to come at me and I have to frag ‘em with a BFG.  A clever effect that we do not see Montgomery unless he looks in a mirror but the concept wears on the nerves and it got a bit annoying for me.  Also there didn’t feel like there was any chemistry between Montgomery and Audrey Totter.  The love angle felt forced and unrealistic.  Not one of the best Marlowes in my opinion.

Chief O' Hara beats the town drunk....AGAIN.