Philip Marlowe, Private Eye Collection (1986)

For this set, you'd better peel off your trench coat, pour yourself a stiff drink, and get ready for a slick look at the dirty secrets of Deco Era Hollywood with the private dick who knows them all. HBO's Philip Marlowe, Private Eye takes Raymond Chandler's grittiest short stories and transforms them into stylish, atmospheric production pieces. In these six hour-long tales, you're taken on a tough tour through the decaying glamour of Los Angeles, from the mansions and movie studios to the jazz joints and one-night cheap hotels. Every character has a story to tell, and every one of them has a secret to keep. Powers Boothe does a wonderful job bringing the hardest of hard-boiled detectives to life in these colorful cases of corruption and revenge. In early episodes, the supporting players are occasionally overwhelmed by Boothe's talent, but overall, the acting is tight--and Chandler's dialogue is still razor sharp decades after it was written. The stories will keep you guessing until the end...which is exactly what you'd expect from a master of mystery. But the real triumph of the series is in bringing the grim noir morality tales to life, painstakingly re-creating the sweaty streets and penthouse suites of a great city gone to seed. When all the elements come together, you can almost taste the cigarettes, feel the sweat, and smell the aroma of cordite and dime-store perfume. --Grant Balfour Amazon.com

Continental Op needs this type of love!

The 3 DVD, 11 episode set of Philip Marlowe Private Eye is a very sweet collection of adaptations from Chandler's short stories. Personally I prefer both Chandler and Dashiell Hammett in short story form and so found this to be an enjoyable series.

A problem with adapting a short story to movie length is filling the time slot. This is a slippery slope as seen with 2002's NO GOOD DEED (A House In Turk Street) which devolved so far away from the original story that it was unrecognizable. So keeping to a 1 hour or less format is perfect for the shorts.

As with the TV production of Hammett's "The Dain Curse", the Marlowe series does suffer from the type of flat lighting that was typical of the late 70s and early 80s. I think a part of the appeal of watching an adaptation of a hard-boiled story is seeing it lit in a "noir" atmosphere, using light and shadow to add texture to the storytelling. A later Noir/Hard-boiled series on HBO called FALLEN ANGELS did a great job with the lighting and settings.

But aside from the bland lighting, the stories are told in a terse and entertaining style. Powers Booth makes for a good Marlowe, (though in the earlier episodes his hat is too small for his head!). September 17, 2008

Trouble is My Business

A series that ran on HBO in 5 episodes in 1983 and an additional 6 in 1986, it is probably the best adaption of Raymond Chandler's world weary private eye of them all. Boothe is terrific. The first season the titles are by the renowned Maurice Binder (who did all the best James Bond credits) and many directed by Peter Hunt (Bond film editor and the director of ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE). The second season has new people behind the scenes and new music but there is still Boothe as Marlowe. September 15, 2008

Enjoyable Series with Excellent Marlowe

Indeed Powers Boothe is perhaps the best Marlowe and he alone makes the series totally worthwhile. All of the shows are enjoyable but the supporting acting is very uneven. The first 4 shows of the series also show a very limited budget and the video transfers are not the best. However, if you can put these issues aside you are in for a treat as Philip Marlowe comes alive on the screen. January 2, 2007

Good series, lousy transfer

HBO's Philip Marlowe series is an accurate and enjoyable adaptation of Raymond Chandler's short stories. Some people consider it the most accurate screen adaptation of Marlowe available.

That said, the digital transfer on this edition is mediocre at best, and this should be considered "For hardcore fans only". November 27, 2006

hard-boiled fan

Overall quality was good. First three were the best and went a little downhill thereafter. If you are a fan of Raymond Chandler, Dashell Hammett, or Erle Stanley Gardner's early work, you will love these 1930's rough and tumble, always a last minute surprise detective stories. November 9, 2006

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