Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Overlooked Films: Philip Marlowe, Private Eye in "Nevada Gas"


Yep, it's time for another episode of the HBO series Philip Marlowe, Private Eye. Episode 4, "Nevada Gas," was originally broadcast back in May of 1983.

As we noted before, only one episode of that series was actually based on a Marlowe story, because Chandler only wrote one Marlowe short story. Most of the rest were adapted from stories featuring other detectives, some private, some police, some employed elsewhere. "Nevada Gas," from the June 1935 ish of Black Mask (featuring this fine cover by Rudolph Belarski), is different, because the original hero, Johnny De Ruse, isn't a detective at all. He's just a gambler with a floozy for a girl friend, and it gets him sucked into a mess involving a crooked lawyer, a blackmailer and a bunch of mobsters.

Accused of being soft, De Ruse says, "Not soft, baby--just a bit sentimental. I like to clock the ponies and play seven-card stud and mess around with little red cubes with white spots on them. I like games of chance, including women. But when I lose I don't get sore and I don't chisel. I just move on to the next table."

On with the show.

NEVADA GAS - Part 1


NEVADA GAS - Part 2


NEVADA GAS - Part 3


NEVADA GAS - Part 4



The first three episodes of Philip Marlowe, Private Eye are HERE.
Lots more Overlooked Films are looked over each week at this time on Sweet Freedom.

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