Rent Philip Marlowe: Private Eye (1986)

Decent, and with Boothe an excellent Marlowe - Philip Marlowe: Private Eye review by RD

It seems this is actually the second series, the first not yet released and is meant to be superior to this. Nevertheless a good dose of 30s Marlowe, no attempt to update the stories, which is definitely a good thing. The best thing though is Boothe, who plays a Marlowe somewhere between Mitchum and Bogart - but never tries to imitate them. There's something in Boothe's manner that fits the part. You can tell that there's been some money spent on the series by the nascent HBO, no wobbly sets and the acting is mainly fine - occasionally there's the odd weakness of scripting but it hits the right feel. Generally I found this got better as it went along, with the best episode being the final one, the claustrophobic Red Wind. What lets it down though is the print is very much early DVD better than VHS but not crisp like we'd expect if this was pressed today. Shame, really. 3 1/2 out of five.