The Brasher Doubloon
Encyclopedia
The Brasher Doubloon is a 1947 film noir
based on the novel The High Window
by Raymond Chandler
.
Fred MacMurray
, Victor Mature
, and Dana Andrews
were all mentioned at different times in the Los Angeles Times as having been cast as Philip Marlowe
in the film before the studio settled on George Montgomery.
The plot revolves around a man being pushed out of a high window by a woman while the incident was caught on film.
The movie is technically a remake
of Time to Kill
, a 1942 film which adapted The High Window as a Michael Shayne
adventure starring Lloyd Nolan
.
Marlowe ends up in the middle of a much more complicated case, one that involves blackmail and murder, forcing him to deal with a number of strange individuals. That includes Merle Davis, a deranged secretary to Murdock, whose own role in the matter is considerably more sinister than it seems.
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
based on the novel The High Window
The High Window
The High Window is a 1942 novel written by Raymond Chandler. It is his third novel to feature Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe.-Plot introduction:...
by Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
.
Fred MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
, Victor Mature
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,...
, and Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
were all mentioned at different times in the Los Angeles Times as having been cast as Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. Marlowe first appeared under that name in The Big Sleep published in 1939...
in the film before the studio settled on George Montgomery.
The plot revolves around a man being pushed out of a high window by a woman while the incident was caught on film.
The movie is technically a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of Time to Kill
Time to Kill (1942 film)
Time to Kill is the first screen adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel The High Window, which was remade five years later as The Brasher Doubloon. The detective was changed from Philip Marlowe to Michael Shayne for this version, with Lloyd Nolan playing the part and Heather Angel in a rare turn...
, a 1942 film which adapted The High Window as a Michael Shayne
Michael Shayne
Michael Shayne is a fictional private detective character created during the late 1930s by writer Brett Halliday. It was the title of a series of 12 films starring Lloyd Nolan, a radio series under a variety of names, between 1944 and 1953, and later in 1960-1961, a 32 episode NBC television series...
adventure starring Lloyd Nolan
Lloyd Nolan
Lloyd Benedict Nolan was an American film and television actor.-Biography:Nolan was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Margaret and James Nolan, who was a shoe manufacturer...
.
Plot
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy widow, Elizabeth Murdock, to find a stolen coin called the Brasher Doubloon.Marlowe ends up in the middle of a much more complicated case, one that involves blackmail and murder, forcing him to deal with a number of strange individuals. That includes Merle Davis, a deranged secretary to Murdock, whose own role in the matter is considerably more sinister than it seems.
Cast
- George Montgomery as Philip MarlowePhilip MarlowePhilip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. Marlowe first appeared under that name in The Big Sleep published in 1939...
- Nancy GuildNancy GuildNancy Guild was an American film actress of the 1940s and 1950s. The actress appeared in Somewhere in the Night ; The Brasher Doubloon and the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man...
as Merle Davis - Conrad JanisConrad JanisConrad Janis is an American jazz musician and also a theatre, film, and television actor. In the fall of 1953, he played eldest son Edward in the Ezio Pinza situation comedy Bonino on NBC...
as Leslie Murdock - Roy RobertsRoy RobertsRoy Roberts was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen.-Biography:...
as Lt. Breeze - Fritz KortnerFritz KortnerFritz Kortner was an Austrian-born stage and film actor and theatre director.Kortner was born in Vienna as Fritz Nathan Kohn. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After graduating, he joined Max Reinhardt in Berlin in 1911 and then Leopold Jessner in 1916. Also in that year...
as Vannier - Florence BatesFlorence BatesFlorence Bates was an American character actress who often played grande dame characters in her films.Born Florence Rabe in San Antonio, Texas, the second child of Jewish immigrants, Bates showed musical talent as a child, but a hand injury inhibited her from continuing her piano studies...
as Mrs. Elizabeth Murdock - Marvin MillerMarvin MillerMarvin Julian Miller is a former executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association , from 1966 to 1982. Under Miller's direction, the players' union was transformed into one of the strongest unions in the United States...
as Vince Blair