Once again Robert Mitchum takes on the part of Philip Marlowe in another filmed adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel.
Set in Los Angeles it involves Mitchum in the search for a recently released prisoner's girlfriend whom he hasn't seen since being sent down for seven years following a robbery. There are the usual shenanigans involving thuggery and double dealing, with a surprise ending that's impossible to guess although it does explain all of the confusing elements of the story.
Mitchum is good in this type of role where his world weary cynical private eye act helps to carry the improbability of the plot. Sylvester Stallone ( dare I say Sly?) has a bit part as a thug, and the femme fatale is Charlotte Rampling who, given her propensity for disporting her minuscule superstructure in numerous supposedly glamorous roles, would be more appropriately named Charlotte Dumplings.
7/10



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