Randy Money’s Reviews > In the Woods > Status Update

I loved this book.

I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Which is good, since I've somehow acquired a few other books by her.

I read like the first 3 - 4 books. I enjoy her writing style and the mysteries are multilayered. One was a bit different. It was about a retired detective who moved to Ireland. I still liked it.

Oh, I'm watching the 1946 Lady in the Lake with Robert Montgomery. I don't like the camera work of letting the viewer see what Marlowe sees, and I still don't like Montgomery as much as Bogart. LOL

PS Most of the leading men in noir movies would be charged with sex assault today.

I've seen that and it's odd. Interesting for it's gimmick, but odd.

I recall a critic of Chandler's discussing how Marlowe often seemed on the edge of hysteria, and I thought Montgomery seemed to pick that up in his line delivery (Dick Powell, too, in a better movie). Frankly, Lloyd Nolan would have been better in the Marlowe role; his Marlowe probably wouldn't have keeled over every time someone landed one punch.

On the other hand, Audrey Totter. Wow, even by today's standards of makeup and fashion. One piece of trivia I picked up from TCM's Noir Alley: Totter was up for the role that made Marilyn Monroe a star in The Asphalt Jungle, but turned it down because her friend, Montgomery, asked her to do this one. Baaaad decision. If you haven't seen The Set-Up, another noir, with Robert Ryan, she's in that and they both give terrific performances. She was maybe one role away from being a major star.

Oh, yes, she was beautiful and did make a very bad decision not taking the role in The Asphalt Jungle, but Marilyn. She was the best: comedic timing and emotional vulnerability all wrapped up in a slamming bod.