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Philip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) confronts Adrienne
Fromsette (Audrey Totter) in "Lady in the Lake." |
Lady in the Lake (1947, MGM)
Starring Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan,
Tom Tully, Leon Ames, and Jayne Meadows
Screenplay by Steve Fisher; Based on the novel by Raymond Chandler
Directed by Robert Montgomery
“Do you fall in love with all of your clients?” — Adrienne Fromsette
“Only the ones in skirts.” — Philip Marlowe
Before the first minute of "Lady in the Lake" has elapsed, you know it’s going to be an unusual film noir/detective story. After the roar of the MGM lion, the titles appear on cards depicting Christmas and winter scenes, and they are paired with music of the season.
What really makes it stand out, however, is the use of the subjective view, which represents the point of view of private detective Philip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery). Except for his introduction of different sections of the story, the audience gets a glimpse of Marlowe only in mirrors. This technique was considered a gimmick upon the film’s initial release, but it works for me because we get to see the people, places and situations as Raymond Chandler’s detective sees them.
One of the first people we spy is the attractive Adrienne Fromsette (Audrey Totter), the tightly wound, seemingly straight-laced editor of crime magazines. Shortly before Christmas, she summons Marlowe to her office on the pretense of publishing a story he’d submitted, but Adrienne really wants him to find the wife of her boss. Marlowe takes the job and falls into a maze of deception, obsession and murder, where he meets a gigolo, a crooked cop named Lt. DeGarmot (Lloyd Nolan), and the object of DeGarmot’s fixation, Mildred Havelend (Jayne Meadows).
Not only does the audience view the proceedings through Marlowe’s eyes, such as when he watches Adrienne’s shapely blonde secretary stride across the room, but we take part in his experiences. The camera goes to the floor when Marlowe is assaulted, and the screen goes black when he becomes unconscious, as well as when he closes his eyes to kiss Adrienne.
The unusual technique does get in the way of the storytelling at times. Because I couldn’t see his face, sometimes I couldn’t tell when the often-sarcastic Marlowe was being sarcastic and when he wasn’t, especially when he spoke to Adrienne. But it was a small price to pay to see more of the lovely Audrey Totter’s fine performance and less of Montgomery’s usual wooden acting.
This is an imperfect rendering of a superb Chandler novel, and Montgomery is a mediocre Marlowe, but Lady in the Lake is a highly entertaining and unique film.
