Main Cast: George Montgomery, Nancy Guild, Conrad Janis, Roy Roberts, Fritz Kortner
Release Year: 1947
Country: US
Run Time: 72 minutes
Plot
Raymond Chandler's famed detective Philip Marlowe (George Montgomery) is hired by a rich, eccentric widow, Mrs. Murdock (Florence Bates) to find and return a stolen gold coin. Marlowe quickly finds himself involved an a case which includes robbery, blackmail and murder. Just as Marlowe begins to solve the mystery, he is savagely beaten by Vannier (Fritz Kortner). Marlowe finally puts all the pieces of the puzzle together when he discovers a blackmail scheme involving Murdock's mentally-ill secretary, Merle Davis (Nancy Guild) which leads him to suspect his employer. The Brasher Doubloon, adapted from Chandler's novel, The High Window, and beautifully photographed by Lloyd Ahern captures a proper film noir sensibility with its moody, low-key images and dense, dark background shots, while failing to capture the complexity of the novel. Director John Brahm, who also directed the excellent films The Lodger and Hangover Square, is disappointing, failing to create the depth of characterization and plot which he showed in these films. The Brasher Doubloon remains bland, with undistinguished acting by the entire cast. The only exception is Fritz Kortner, a veteran character actor molded in the expressionist cinema of pre-war Berlin, who creates the grotesque character of Vannier, bringing a sense of evil vitality to an otherwise bland production. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
James Basevi - Art Director, Richard Irvine - Art Director, Eleanor Behm - Costume Designer, John Brahm - Director, Harry Reynolds - Editor, David Buttolph - Composer (Music Score), Alfred Newman - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ben Nye, Sr. - Makeup, Lloyd Ahern Sr. - Cinematographer, Robert Bassler - Producer, Frank E. Hughes - Set Designer, Thomas K. Little - Set Designer, Fred Sersen - Special Effects, Dorothy Hannah - Screenwriter, Leonard Praskins - Screenwriter, Dorothy Bennett - Screenwriter, Raymond Chandler - Book Author
