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Reviews
Marlowe (1969)
Cool movie; Jim Rockford before there was a Jim Rockford?
A great little movie that was part of a brief, late 1960s renaissance of private eye flicks. Jim Garner does a nice turn as a modern-day Marlowe who find himself trapped in a game a lot more complicated than he thought. Garner plays it funny, smart and light--kind of a Jim Rockford five years before the fact. The movie has a few goodies though. There is great dialogue, an ice-picking, a pretty good beat-down, drug laced cigarettes and an unforgettable strip tease by Rita Moreno. A PBS station--of all places--aired this gem in the early 1990s and fortunately it is available on video.
P.J. (1967)
Great movie that should be released on video.
The private eye genre had something of a rebirth in the late 1960s, most notably with Paul Newman's excellent "Harper,'' Frank Sinatra's "Tony Rome'' movies and James Garner doing a nice turn as "Marlow.'' But George Peppard merits a tip of the fedora for his work in this forgotten goodie, "P.J.'' Peppard's PJ is hired as a bodyguard for a fat-cat's (played by a menacing Raymond Burr) mistress, unleashing a plot of double-crosses and, eventually murder. Peppard is great as a wisecracking P.J. Detwieler and the above average script is perfectly matches to his rapid-fire, half-bemused delivery. Gayle Hunnicutt is great as the kept woman, the fantastic (and overlooked)Brock Peters turns up in small, but pivotal role and a young, "pre-MacMillan and Wife'' Susan Saint James spews a few deliciously catty lines. And there is a great ending. Sadly, "PJ" can't be found on video or DVD. And I haven't seen it aired on tv since I saw it (and recorded it, luckly) when a Chicago station aired it 1986. Too bad. This little gem deserves to be seen.