"The Brasher Doubloon" Movie Review

 

by Daniel White

"Lunatic! Lunatic! Lunatic!"

Based on the Raymond Chandler novel, The High Window, and directed by John Brahm for Twentieth Century Fox, I was surprised at how effective this 1947 Philip Marlowe flick proved to be. While Murder, My Sweet and The Big Sleep are touted as classics, this scrawny little step child is unfairly overlooked. Grimy, gritty, and just as pulpy as the previous two Marlowe movies mentioned (maybe even more so), The Brasher Doubloon deserves to be noticed.

The film opens with the cynical detective driving up to a Pasadena estate where he has been summoned by the formidable Mrs. Murdock (a fantastically fierce Florence Bates). Instructed by the demanding dragon lady to recover the rare, invaluable coin of the title, the irreverent gumshoe soon finds himself knee-deep in blackmail and murder, while romancing a dizzy, possibly duplicitous dame.

It's been a long time since I've read Raymond Chandler, but the dialogue here seemed as close to his style of writing as I remember. Yes, our leading man, Montgomery may be a bit too breezy (one critic called him "lightweight"), and not world-weary enough, but by the end of the movie, I came to appreciate his take on the shamus.

As for Nancy Guild ("rhymes with wild"), I thought her turn as the vague, anxious, possibly criminal Merle Davis excellent. She may not sizzle and smoke like Bacall or Claire Trevor, but she had me guessing up to the end. Is she or isn't she another Brigid O'Shaughnessy? Comparison may be the problem with the film and why it isn't better appreciated. A competent director who pales next to Howard Hawks. Two B-list actors with little luster, and a screenplay by a couple of relative unknowns. Any movie buff looking at those credentials might be inclined to dismiss the flick. But I'm here to tell you, The Brasher Doubloon is a worthy endeavor, near equal to any of the other Marlowe outings I've experienced.

It's got one of the creepiest cast of supporting players of any film-noir venture, several of them uncredited (who played the busted-eye, straw hat wearing Eddie?), and at 72 minutes, hums along nicely. It's a tight, compact murder mystery that resolves itself quite respectably. With Fritz Kortner, Roy Roberts, Marvin Miller, and Conrad Janis as Florence Bates sneering, sociopathic son, The Brasher Doubloon is available on YouTube.

Next up: Looking for Philip Marlowe