Marlowe (1969) is a neo-noir drama film directed by Paul Bogart. The mystery film was written by Stirling Silliphant based on Chandler's 1949 novel The Little Sister. The film features James Garner as Raymond Chandler's fictional detective Philip Marlowe. The supporting cast includes Bruce Lee, Gayle Hunnicutt, Rita Moreno, Carroll O'Connor, and Jackie Coogan.
The film foreshadowed James Garner's second Los Angeles P.I. character Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files. Many of the wisecracking Marlowe lines written by Silliphant for this movie (quite a few of which were lifted directly from Chandler's novel) could just as easily have come from the mouth of Garner's performance as Rockford, although Garner played Marlowe as a substantially grimmer character. The film is rarely credited as being a direct inspiration for The Rockford Files.
Quiet young Orfamay Quest from Kansas has hired private detective Philip Marlowe to find her brother. After two leads turn up with ice picks stuck in them, he discovers blackmail photos concerning TV star Mavis Wald. She rejects Marlowe's help, and this is forcibly underlined by her gangster boyfriend. So, wonders Marlowe, is there a link between Orfamay and Mavis? Written by Jeremy Perkins
