Dir: Edward Dymtryk | Cast: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger | US Film Noir 95’
It’s always good to see an actor visibly enjoying himself, and Dick Powell evidently found playing forties tough guy Philip Marlowe a lot more satisfying in this edgy film noir than the anodyne warblers he had spent most of the thirties playing.
Another performer in Farewell My Lovely also fulfilling the promise she had shown during the thirties was Claire Trevor – soon to win an Academy Award – who here plays possibly the definitive noir blonde cobra.
In supporting roles the sadly forgotten Anne Shirley is also good in what would prove her swan song; while the presence of Miles Mander is definitely one for the teenagers. @RichardChatten
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