Philip Marlowe: The Rise & Fall of The Private Detective

The character of Philip Marlowe first appeared in 1933 in Black Mask magazine, the same publication that hosted other icons of the genre, most notably Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade. Marlowe made his debut in short story format under many names before author Raymond Chandler decided on his iconic name. In the opening lines of Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, Marlowe is introduced to the world as classy and hard-boiled as other private detectives before him.

Many aspects of Marlowe’s character kept changing throughout the years, from his name to his age and origins and even his drink preferences, but his sharpness, intellect, and wit always stayed the same. In the year 1939, Philip Marlowe would finally be somewhat defined and appear in the author’s first novel titled The Big Sleep.

Contrary to the genre’s relatively simple plots that include the same tropes of private detectives, femme fatales, and dangerous enemies, The Big Sleep had a more complex, and to some extent, confusing, plot. After the great success of The Big Sleep, five more novels starring Marlowe’s character were published, while another novel was finished and published posthumously by a different author.

When it comes to the silver screen, Philip Marlowe made his debut at the height of the film noir genre. The film that gave birth to the genre is generally agreed to be The Maltese Falcon, directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade. The Maltese Falcon, and the dozens of films it would subsequently inspire, were simply called crime melodramas in 1940s Hollywood. The name film noir emerged when French audiences first got to experience these films at the end of World War II in 1945. They called these films noir because of their atmospheric dim lighting and grim stories.

Murder, My Sweet: Powell as Marlowe

In 1944, Philip Marlowe appeared on film for the first time. He was portrayed by Dick Powell in the 1944 film Murder, My Sweet by Edward Dmytryk. Many great actors have portrayed the hardboiled, one-of-a-kind private detective, from Humphrey Bogart to Robert Montgomery, but Dick Powell’s performance will always be special. He is juvenile, funny, and very charismatic. Murder, My Sweet puts him in the shoes of this great private detective as he gets drawn into a spiraling web of crime and trickery.

The story starts when he is hired by a man named Moose (played by Mike Mazurki) who wants to find an ex-girlfriend, only to be hired again and again for numerous other jobs that vary from protection to locating a valuable jade necklace. All of these subplots merge into one big conspiracy woven by the incredibly alluring femme fatale Helen (played by Claire Trevor). Murder, My Sweet is one of the best noir films ever. It has moody, shadowy cinematography and a great captivating score by Roy Webb. There’s an abundance of cheesy, memorable one-liners and the story is as enchanting as it is complex. Still, Dick Powell’s somewhat whimsical performance, as great and entertaining as it was, did not do the character justice. That would be remedied in Philip Marlowe’s next appearance on film.

By 1946, Humphrey Bogart had ascended to the status of legend, thanks to his incredible performances in classics such as Casablanca, High Sierra, and The Maltese Falcon. Bogart starred in a half dozen noir classics before he got a career-defining role in The Big Sleep as Marlowe. Aside from The Maltese Falcon, his performance in the 1944 film adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel To Have and Have Not alongside Lauren Bacall is one that needs further attention and applause, and therefore leads to a better understanding of just what it was that made The Big Sleep a great success.

On a fishing trip, Howard Hawks tried to convince his friend Ernest Hemingway that he could make a film out of his worst novel, To Have and Have Not. Hemingway hesitatingly accepted and worked with Hawks on the script for the remainder of the trip. Hawks also hired a couple of writers afterward to work on it including the Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner.

While the preparations were bumpy and complicated, the filming process was anything but that. Bacall, who first appeared on screen in that film, later described Hawks’ filming method as brilliantly creative. The freedom and comfort Howard Hawks granted his actors, coupled with the affection and tutoring Bogart offered, allowed Bacall to give one hell of a performance that would launch her career.

Bogart and Bacall’s chemistry in To Have and Have Not was amazing. Their encounters are filled with expertly crafted subtle tension, thanks to Hawks’ incredible directing. Despite their age difference (Bogart was 44 and Bacall was 19), their relationship developed into a secret love affair as Bogart sought to free himself from his highly turbulent relationship with Mayo Methot.

Bogart and Bacall’s relationship resulted in them making a few films together, notably three film noirs which include The Big Sleep. The film opens with silhouettes of Bogart’s and Bacall’s characters dropping their cigarettes in an ashtray. As the cigarettes burn off, the credits roll. In old Hollywood, there was something known as The Hays Code, a collection of censorship laws that applied to any American film made during the period. One of these laws was against explicit displays of sexuality.

While this law was certainly restricting in many ways, it also resulted in clever and subtle symbolic tricks that directors used in order to get their messages across. One of these ways, and one that is emblematic of film noir, is the use of cigarettes, and smoking in general. Depending on the context, smoke can mean many things and a woman blowing smoke at a man can be read as the equivalent of an invitation to bed. So, The Big Sleep foretells the relationship between Bogart and Bacall’s characters in its first minutes.

The story follows Philip Marlowe who is hired by a retired general to investigate his wild daughter’s gambling debts. As the investigation gets more and more complex, her older sister (played by Lauren Bacall) intervenes and helps him in his quest. Philip Marlowe, played by Bogart, is suave, sharp, flirty, and charismatic. When faced with danger, he is composed and seems to deal with tense situations in what could only be called a cool manner. Contrary to the tropes of film noir, Marlowe never falls into the trap of a femme fatale, the dangerous attractive woman the genre is known for, instead, he has his eyes on the calm and homely Vivian.

These films, made at the height of World War II, reflected the spirit of the nation. While the men were at war, the women were forced to work, and with this came a new-found freedom that lasted even after the men came back from the war. As power balances and societal norms rapidly changed, the perception of these women became increasingly unfavorable. Femme Fatales were incredible beauties, alluring and sweet-talking, but to fall for them was synonymous with doom. Film noir represented another type of woman as well—the redeemer. She was generally portrayed as less attractive, but more affectionate and caring, and most importantly, more conforming to societal norms. In 1940s America, she was seen as wife material.

The Big Sleep proved to be a great success. The next adaptations of the character, played by Robert Montgomery in the 1947 Lady in the Lake, George Montgomery in the 1947 The Brasher Doubloon, and James Garner in the 1969 Marlowe weren’t spectacular. Their roles could not amount to Bogart’s defining performance, one that lingered and set a high standard for the character. By Raymond Chandler’s death in 1959, all of the novels featuring Philip Marlowe had been adapted into films, with the exception of one.

Philip Marlowe would find new life in Robert Altman’s excellent adaptation of The Long Goodbye 14 years after the death of its author. The Long Goodbye put Elliot Gould in the shoes of the classic private detective, Philip Marlowe. In this film, the detective gets dragged into a spiraling web of crime and conspiracies. Robert Altman moved the story, which was originally set in the 1940s to 1970s Hollywood. This way he modernized the tale and made it more relevant. There was also a subtle critique of a selfish society hidden in there as well.

The Big Sleep: The Art of the Calm Thriller

​​The advantage that classic film noir had over neo-noir is its black-and-white cinematography, which allowed for very moody and shady scenes. Shadows were the focal point of every shot, whether they highlighted danger, accentuated sensuality, or underscored paranoia, they played a vital role in classic noir camerawork. The Long Goodbye was shot in color in a very gritty manner. John Williams’s incredibly jazzy score accentuates the film’s haunting feel. On its own, it stands toe-to-toe with other memorable neo-noir tunes like Bernard Hermann’s Taxi Driver and John Barry’s Body Heat. Elliot Gould plays Philip Marlowe like no actor before him and gives the iconic character a new dimension that classic film noir never allowed for. He reveals a new side of Marlowe and gives him a newfound depth and profundity.

And so, Philip Marlowe retired after a couple of decades of suave crime-solving. He first appeared in Dick Powell’s whimsical performance not much different from other private detectives of the genre, got defined as the best and most iconic under the light of Bogart’s timeless performance in The Big Sleep, lost his touch for a while, and then reappeared to conclude his saga with Elliot Gould’s modernized approach.