James Garner's death last week was a sad occasion for me because I'd enjoyed his work over the years in so many movies and TV series. There's a lot of Garner in Sheriff Dan Rhodes, and Judy and I have always thought that Garner would've been perfect to play Rhodes in the movies at just about any time between the ages of 50 and 70. Back in 1969 Garner played another character that I thought he was right for, Philip Marlowe, in a movie based on Raymond Chandler's The Little Sister. Most people don't regard this as one of Chadler's better novels, but I like it a lot. Most people don't regard Marlowe as one of the better film adaptations of Chandler's work, so it won't surprise you to learn that I like it a lot, too.
The movie follows the plot of the novel fairly closely, and if you check out the trailer below, you can see that the toupee removal scene even looks a lot like it was lifted from the cover of the first paperback edition of the book. Stirling Silliphant wrote the script, and he lifted some of Marlowe's snappy patter from the book, too. However, the movie was given a contemporary setting, and it's very much a late '60s item. Maybe that's one reason I like it.
Garner's very good as Marlowe, and Carol O'Connor is dandy at the tough cop. Rita Moreno almost steals the picture. Bruce Lee shows up, as you can see in the trailer, but I didn't really think his part suited the movie. You might not agree. Anyway, it's a lot of fun, and Garner's performance foreshadows Jim Rockford in ways you'll recognize. Check it out.
UPDATE: The movie will be part of the TCM Garner marathon. I believe the time is 4 A.M. on 7/29 CDT. Check your local listings.
