THE BRASHER DOUBLOON. 1947.  George Montgomery as PI Philip Marlowe, Nancy Guild, Conrad Janis, Florence Bates, Roy Roberts, Marvin Miller. Based on the novel The High Window by Raymond Chandler. Director: John Brahm.

   The novel, of course, that author Raymond Chandler originally told was The High Window, in which private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by a crabby old woman who wants him to find a coin missing from her late husband’s collection. Her secretary convinces Marlowe into accepting the case, even though he knows he is being lied to.

   Very nearly the perfect private eye movie, and I’d say it was if I understood the plot a little more. The atmosphere, the characters, the southern California winds, all just right. Nancy Guild has a naive, innocent allure that is also just exactly right.