Murder, My Sweet (DVD)

They say crime doesn't pay. Private detective Philip Marlowe knows better. The fat wad of folding money warming his breast pocket is the kind of thing that keeps him going through thick and thicker as he wades chin deep into a mystery involving a missing necklace and a missing hoodlum's moll named Velma. Sharply directed by Edward Dmytryk, Murder, My Sweet is film at it's most noir, creating a moody sense of a world that never plays on the level. Cast against type, Dick Powell puts sunny crooner roles behind him, dishing hardboiled patter and wearing five-going on-six-o'clock stubble so well that source author Raymond Chandler called Powell his favorite screen Marlowe. I'm just a small businessman in a very messy business, the PI observes. With wit and trendsetting style to burn, it's never business as usual.

Starring: Dick Powell, Miles Mander, Don Douglas, Ralf Harolde, Esther Howard, John Indrisano, Jack Carr, Shimen Ruskin, Ernie Adams, Dewey Robinson, Larry Wheat, Sammy Finn, Don Kerr, Paul Phillips, Ralph Dunn, George Anderson, Paul Hilton, Fred Graham, Nat Pendleton