I just watched Murder, My Sweet, the noir classic — and it does include some wonderfully noir cinematography. The film is based on Raymond Chandler’s novel, Farewell, My Lovely — they changed the name, because the lead actor, Dick Powell, had starred in a number of musical comedies, and Farewell, My Lovely sounded like one more.
Chandler himself approved of Powell’s portrayal of Philip Marlowe, but I had a really tough time seeing Powell as a really tough guy — and I laughed out loud when Claire Trevor (as femme fatale Helen Grayle) said, “You’ve got a nice build for a private detective.” Even for 1944, that is not a good build.
One odd bit of trivia: In the movie — again, Murder, My Sweet — the evil psychiatrist mentions using digitalis on our hero. In the book — again, Farewell, My Lovely — he uses scopolamine (also known as Columbian devil’s breath), which makes much more sense:
“There’s a drug called scopolamine, truth serum, that sometimes makes people talk without their knowing it. It’s not sure fire, any more than hypnotism is. But it sometimes works.”
— Marlowe in Farewell, My Lovely