Dick Powell doesn't quite fit the role of hard boiled detective, but he does acquit himself pretty well, and everyone else does a great job. This is a plot heavy noir and the twists come along at a strong and steady pace, always leaving you trying to piece things together before they're revealed. Great all the way around.

One of the best of the noirs. I like Dick Powell's Marlowe--he's not too sure of himself, and that uncertainty is the reason for his wisecracks. Otto Kruger is suitably oily and sinister, Claire Trevor is cheap, desirable and dangerous. And then of course there is Mike Mazurki as Moose Molloy.

"I'm in a wild mood tonight. I want to go dance in the foam. I hear the banshees calling." Pure Chandler.

It's just a classical noir with nothing else to say - complex and complicated as much as it could be.

"What really fills out the film is Dmytryk's jazzy application of Orson Welles's RKO set-design." - Eric Henderson

"OK Marlowe, I said to myself, you're a tough guy. You've been sapped twice, choked, beaten silly with a gun, shot in the arm until you're crazy as a couple of waltzing mice. Now let's see you do something really tough - like putting your pants on." What a line! This is quintessential noir, with great cinematography, sizzling dialogue, flawed characters and a twisty, labyrinthine plot. Good stuff.

A good detective story, but, believe it or not, the Robert Mitchum version made in 1975 blows this one clear out of the water

Decent, but not great noir.

The only noir I've seen with the sterotypical Noir voiceover (you know the one "it was a blonde, a blonde that would make a priest kick down a stained-glass window). That gives it an extra five points.

I like this a lot. There are a few criticisms to level at it, mainly that it's a bit upbeat for a noir (since you know from the flashback he comes out alright), but it's got a great complex plot and it moves from one nightmarish location to the next, never lingering in places, which I love; it never lets you get grounded or relaxed, keeping the tension even throughout.

Great noir with tough guys, gorgeous dames and snappy dialog. The voice over narration is also hilarious. The best non-Bogey version of the Marlowe character.

Very entertaining noir, jam-packed with Chandler's sparkling dialogue and plenty of action. I don't think Dick Powell makes a good Marlowe, but he's competing with Bogart and Mitchum. The surreal dream sequence was an unexpected surprise... cheesy, but bold.

one of the best noirs i've seen yet

A masterpiece of film noir. The thing that immediately sticks out is the cinematography, which falls in line with the style's usual stark chiaroscuro, but it gets much more creative than most. Then you've got Dick Powell's sarcastic take on Marlowe, at once spouting hard boiled flashback narration and clever one-liners. His trek through thievery, murder, and blackmail couldn't be more labyrinthine, and throughout he maintains some sort of "every man" quality I couldn't help but love.