Lady in the Lake

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Lady in the Lake ★★½ 1946

Why is it everyone wants to get artsy with pulp fiction? Actor Montgomery directs himself in this Philip Marlowe goround, using a subjective camera style to imitate Chandler's first person narrative (that means the only time we get to see Marlowe/Montgomery's mug is in a mirror. That pretty well says it all). Having decided to give up eyeing privately, Marlowe turns to the pen to tell the tangled tale of the lady in the lake: once upon a time, a detective was hired to find the wicked wife of a paying client…Some find the direction clever. Others consider MGM chief Louis B. Mayer, who made sure this was Montgomery's last project with MGM, to be a wise man. 103m/B VHS . Robert Montgomery, Lloyd Nolan, Audrey Totter, Tom Tully, Leon Ames, Jayne Meadows; D: Robert Montgomery; C: Paul Vogel.