Morning Vent, 21 June 2010

Watch Phillip Marlowe... The

Gungirl insists!

    This post, like the canned update below, appears courtesy of the blogger autopost function. I'm assuming that I made it to Albany in one piece, if not in picture-perfect health and that I limped thru the work night OK. If not, your sleep may have been disturbed by distant, piercing screams of rage, pain and frustration.
    One of the by-products of being laid up has been watching a lot of DVDs and streaming video. Just want to give a shout-out to one show from the early, mid 80s: Phillip Marlowe, Private Eye. Portrayed by Texan actor Powers Boothe, Marlowe is just as hard-boiled and tough as Raymond Chandler's literary creation. Produced in England, the series debuted on HBO in 1983. The 5 episode run featured fantastic period automobiles, suitably pulpish action, and a jazzy musical score that beautifully set the mood for the stories. Here's a brief sample:

Philip Marlowe, Private Eye Opening Titles, 'Nevada Gas' Episode

Uploaded 28 September 2008 by lewisherschell

   Cool, huh? The Phillip Marlowe series inexplicably took a 3 year hiatus, returning to HBO in 1986 with a new production team and, regrettably, a new musical score that largely eliminated the noirish feel of the original series. The second series plots are OK, tho not quite as punchy as the first run. Still, it's Powers Boothe at his best and well worth watching.