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Lady in the Lake

Lady in the Lake

1947
Drama, Crime
1h 45m
Robert Montgomery stars in and directs this adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel. Detective Philip Marlowe is hired to investigate the disappearance of a publisher's wife, but complications arise when suspects are mysteriously murdered and Marlowe isn't sure who he can trust. The film is notable as the first to be mostly filmed in a first-person perspective.
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Lady in the Lake

1947
Drama, Crime
1h 45m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 46.17% from 180 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(180)
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Rated 22 Jan 2010
77
62nd
one of the better adaptations of chandler or hamett, i'm not exactly fond of the first person camera style, it got to be rather annoying by the end. it's altogether an enjoyable movie that has its faults.
Rated 31 Dec 2015
89
55th
Surprisingly engaging beyond the novelty of how it was shot. A solid mystery with strong acting, and the POV camerawork lends it a certain punch.
Rated 28 Mar 2012
40
15th
Interesting but ultimately it ends up as a failed experiment. The POV-gimmick is incredibly annoying and makes the film feel more like a computer game. Somehow it removes the particularly filmic feeling of noir, perhaps because the protagonist, removed from the image, can't be caught in this dark style of anxiety and cynisism.
Rated 10 Dec 2012
62
29th
After 45 minutes of Robert Montgomery yelling at me, the writers decided to mix it up by having Audrey Totter yell at me too.
Rated 29 May 2009
85
84th
Audrey Tottor has the funniest double-take expressions of any 40s actress. Robert Montgomery (father of Elizabeth Montgomery of "Bewitched") does a first-person hard-boiled narration that is entertaining. A film noir with a Christmas theme.
Rated 21 Oct 2010
40
13th
Interesting in the way it's a POV-movie, but good? Not really. The acting is terrible, the actors really can't figure out how to speak to the camera.
Rated 22 Jul 2008
80
75th
Absolutely great dialogue and acting in this innovative film noir. Audrey Totter's reactionary expressions are hilarious. Notable for being the first film to employ a first-person POV camera technique.
Rated 04 Oct 2015
35
13th
This is a horrible movie, the whole time I kept wondering why Marlowe was such a dick to everybody. Aside from that all the acting was universally bad and the Marlowe voice over was almost torturous. The POV frame work was kind of cool for the first 5 minutes but got old fast, it took all of the atmosphere out of the picture and none of the actors knew how to interact naturally with the camera as a character. The music was also a poor choice as it seem more suited to a gothic ghost story than...
Rated 31 Dec 2009
70
50th
It's built on a gimmick, which means it lives and dies by how well the gimmick works. A lot of the time it does, but it has it's share of falters too. Really bothered by the use of a score in some scenes because I think it hurts rather than helps the dramatic effect. The main mystery is decent enough, although I didn't find the ending to be that believable.
Rated 14 May 2011
70
58th
A failed experiment, but the best kind: a Raymond Chandler adaptation almost entirely in first person from Philip Marlowe. Its not perfect - I know little of the author but I prefer other performances of Marlowe in other films - but it is a true one off, both strange and inspired, and defiantly unforgettable. Gasper Noe is said to have been inspired to make "Enter the Void" after seeing this on acid; frankly, this is a far more original and better film than that one by a country mile.
Rated 29 Nov 2017
71
46th
Hardboiled Henry
Rated 18 Sep 2011
48
5th
Good detective story, terrible everything else. Shooting the film in POV mode for pretty much the whole thing is a cool idea in theory, but there's no film specific reason for it here and it's really badly executed. The gimmick shots made me cringe, as did the abrupt editing. Combined with mediocre acting and awful use of music the story was barely enough to keep me going to the end.
Rated 29 Nov 2015
69
28th
Wastes a great concept on flat direction that can't seem to figure out how a POV film should work. I bet Hitchcock was pissed someone beat him to this and did it so poorly too. Montgomery as Marlowe also ain't much to write home about.
Rated 20 Aug 2017
77
66th
I'll be contrarian and say that I enjoyed it. I played a lot of FMV games as a kid, and this type of POV narrative fit like an old glove. I just wish the actors would consistently look into the camera when they're supposed to be talking to it/Marlowe/me.
Rated 05 Apr 2011
20
4th
Yikes, this experiment did not work at all. What was with the choral music? The two main characters are both profoundly unlikeable. I guess they can look forward to a lifetime of sniping at each other.
Rated 08 Mar 2010
82
52nd
The first-person camera will drive you nuts by the end, but there's still some good acting by Montgomery, Totter, Nolan and Jayne.
Rated 29 Jun 2014
38
1st
If you were ever wondering what a feature-length film directed entirely in a POV shot would look like ("Russian Ark" notwithstanding), it looks like shit. The gimmick gets exhausting after 20 minutes or so, mostly because almost every single shot ends up being a flat medium shot of whoever Marlowe is talking to. It could work if the story and performances were better, but it's boring private eye stuff and Robert Montgomery's voice-over performance is hammy and rather awful.
Rated 29 Aug 2017
30
6th
The perspective is one thing, but Montgomery's voice acting is what sinks the picture. He spits his lines out in a growl as if he's reading them off a page and drains Marlowe of all of his character.
Rated 10 Apr 2010
22
1st
Thank God this stupid gimmick never caught on. POV didn't work that well in Dark Passage either, but at least that was only half the movie. Here it's the entire thing, and it's absolutely terrible. It never looks natural, it's just completely distracting and awful. Montgomery is perfectly dreadful as Marlowe, and none of the other actors are any good either. The dialogue is also really bad. And the plot is dull! Just a painful experience all around. Interesting as a cinematic curiosity only.
Rated 26 Jul 2022
66
39th
Gotta love how earnest they are with the gimmick of the whole thing. Just POV shots of gorgeous folks. No way even 30 years later such a thing could take place. A decent take on Chandler
Rated 11 Jan 2019
50
13th
I don't mind a 4th wall break on occasion, but I'm really glad the POV gimmick didn't become a thing. Very distracting for the viewer and it seemed like the actors were just as uncomfortable with it. Also not particularly thrilled with the writers' take on the hard-boiled banter and repartee or Robert Montgomery's take on the Marlowe tongue.
Rated 18 Oct 2020
80
99th
Very gimmicky Marlowe detective story, but a gimmick I loved! Almost like a 'Point and click' adventure.... except without any pointing or clicking. Okay, that might not have been the best analogy, but you get what I mean when you see it.
Rated 02 Mar 2022
55
24th
An original story built to exploit the unique possibilities of this gimmick might have been more interesting and fun. The acting is pretty good and the first-person technique fits this genre like a glove.
Rated 30 Jul 2022
3
25th
Cool idea with a so so execution
Rated 07 Dec 2023
60
35th
Perhaps it's telling that the recommendation on this film noir is not due to the plot or characters, but solely to its unusual use of first-person POV filming. It's a little headache-inducing, working well sometimes, but rather awkwardly at other times. The pulp detective ("peeper") has some great lines, but because they're disembodied, they don't seem to land well; Bogart would have mumbled them better. Skip unless you're a noir fan. Fav line: "To embrangle me as badly as she could."

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