Screen Debuts & Last Hurrahs Blogathon–Robert Montgomery’s Directorial Debut in “Lady in the Lake”

In 1945, established film star Robert Montgomery was given his chance to direct when he stepped in for an ailing John Ford in They Were Expendable. Bitten by the directing bug, Montgomery was eager to switch gears and move behind the camera in lieu of taking on additional acting work. Looking for a directorial project, Montgomery persuaded his home studio, MGM, to purchase the rights to Raymond Chandler’s 1943 novel, Lady in the Lake–another installment featuring famed detective Philip Marlowe.

Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe in “Murder, My Sweet.”

The first actor to portray Philip Marlowe was Dick Powell in 1944’s Murder, My Sweet. Like Montgomery, Powell was looking to make a career change. In the 1930s, Powell became a star at Warner Brothers playing a crooner and/or the juvenile lead. With his young, boyish looks finally starting to mature, 40-year old Powell felt he was a little long in the tooth to be playing these types of parts. After losing the role of Walter Neff in Double Indemnity to Fred MacMurray, Powell got his break when he was cast in director Edward Dmytryk’s Murder, My Sweet at RKO. This ended up being the break Powell needed to transition away from playing the young crooner in musicals and move into the cynical, bleak world of film noir. Film noir turned out to be a great fit for Powell.

Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe in “The Big Sleep.”

A year or so later, Humphrey Bogart, already at home in film noir was cast in The Big Sleep, also based on a novel by Raymond Chandler. Bogart portrayed Philip Marlowe and provided what is perhaps the definitive depiction of the conventional film noir detective. If a film noir-era detective is going to be spoofed somewhere, it’ll usually be a Bogart impression. Bogart had also played another famous film noir detective, Sam Spade, in the 1941 adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. Bogart’s performance of Philip Marlowe is iconic, no doubt in part due to his pairing with wife Lauren Bacall. For what The Big Sleep lacks in clarity and coherence, it makes up for in style, dialogue and the charisma of the two starts.

Suffice it to say, after two stellar performances of Philip Marlowe having already appeared on the silver screen, Robert Montgomery had big shoes to fill when he decided to not only direct but star in Lady in the Lake in 1947. Director Montgomery also made another ambitious and perhaps questionable decision: he would film the entire movie from Philip Marlowe’s perspective. Marlowe would never appear on screen, only his voice would be heard. In fact, I believe the audience only sees Montgomery a couple times, when he passes in front of a mirror. Dark Passage, also premiering in 1947, also utilized first-person perspective to tell its narrative. However, I would argue that it is used much more effectively as the reason for not seeing the film’s protagonist and star (Humphrey Bogart) is needed for the plot. Bogart is not seen on camera until his character receives plastic surgery as a means to hide in plain sight from the police.

One of two Robert Montgomery “appearances” in “Lady in the Lake.”

In Lady in the Lake, the first-person perspective comes off as very gimmicky and unnecessary, even if it employs the same narrative point of view as Chandler’s original novel. This perspective was meant to place the reader inside the detective’s head; but is less successful on screen. While I don’t mean to be a wet blanket in regard to Montgomery’s performance, I don’t know that he was the best person to cast as Philip Marlowe. I can’t help but wonder if Montgomery saw Dick Powell change his onscreen persona and wanted to try and emulate his success. Powell’s Marlowe is weary and to the point when calling someone out, but also not above making a clever remark or two. He is also a bit of a romantic as seen in his relationship with Ann Grayle (Anne Shirley). However, I think Montgomery over-compensated for his romantic, good guy screen image when delivering his “tough guy” lines and comes across as a crank, barking orders at people. He lacks the charm, romance and smoothness delivered by his predecessors, Powell and Bogart.

Audrey Totter’s amazing facial expressions in “Lady in the Lake” are worth the price of admission!

Montgomery’s experiment with first person perspective might have been more successful had he chosen to simply direct the film. I think that he also would have been better off abandoning the idea or at least using it more strategically, a la Dark Passage. Seeing Montgomery’s outstretched hand giving and taking items, shaking hands with the other characters, etc. is corny. It reminds me of “The Continental” sketch of Saturday Night Live where we see the action unfold from the woman’s perspective and occasionally see an outstretched hand, donning an elbow-length glove, holding champagne, etc.

The best part of the decision to use first person perspective is Audrey Totter, who plays the female lead, Adrienne Fromsett. She is who initially hires Marlowe to solve the disappearance of her boss’ wife, Chrystal Kingsby. Having Totter’s character looking at Marlowe allows her to do some amazing acting with her face, especially with her eyes. Totter’s facial expressions, with her bugged out eyes and pursed lips make the film worth watching. In the film, Adrienne plays a publishing executive (yay a woman in a high-powered job!) who initially brings Marlowe into her office under the guise of discussing a murder story he’s submitted for one of her company’s publications. However, Marlowe quickly realizes that it was a ruse.

While investigating the disappearance of Ms. Kingsby, we meet the excellent supporting cast. Ms. Kingsby’s husband and Adrienne’s boss, Derace (Leon Ames). Derace is one of Marlowe’s top suspects as his wife had written him a telegram, stating that she planned on divorcing him and marrying another man, Chris Lavery (Dick Simmons). Marlowe then investigates “the other man,” Lavery as another potential suspect. As Marlowe continues his investigation, he starts to believe that Adrienne’s concern about the whereabouts of her boss’ wife might not be genuine. In true film noir fashion, as one door closes, another opens. More and more characters enter the mix and the story takes numerous twists and turns. Lloyd Nolan, Tom Tully, and Jayne Meadows play some of the other supporting characters.

Another great Audrey Totter face scene.

While I was critical of Robert Montgomery’s performance and decision to use first-person perspective earlier in my article, I don’t want to dissuade anyone from watching Lady in the Lake. In fact, I actually quite enjoy this film and own a copy of it. The film is set at Christmastime, so it’s a nice diversion from the multitudes of sappy Christmas films that permeate the airwaves during the holiday season. Lady in the Lake actually opens with “Jingle Bells” playing as the credits unfold. The cheery Christmas music serves as an interesting juxtaposition to the crime and murder that happens in the film.

Aside from the Christmas setting, the story is entertaining. Looking past the film’s perspective, there are a lot of great performances in the film and the story is compelling. It’s not the greatest film noir I’ve ever seen; but it is worth watching. Lady in the Lake, while a box-office success, did not endear Robert Montgomery to MGM nor did it endear him to Raymond Chandler. After the success of Chandler and Billy Wilder’s collaboration on Double Indemnity, Montgomery hired him to write the screenplay to Lady in the Lake. However, after Chandler turned in his 195 page script, Montgomery hated it and hired Chandler’s old co-worker, Steve Fisher to redo the screenplay. Fisher changed the setting to Christmastime and removed all lake scenes, cutting the screenplay down to a mere 125 pages. Chandler was incensed and removed himself from the project, but not without insisting on an onscreen screenplay credit. However, after seeing the final product, Chandler requested his onscreen credit be removed. After Lady in the Lake wrapped, Montgomery would end his employment with MGM, having been there for 18 years, since 1929.

In the same year, 1947, Montgomery would also direct another film noir, Ride the Pink Horse. In my opinion, this noir is superior to Lady in the Lake and actually proves that Montgomery could direct himself in a film if he stuck with more conventional storytelling techniques. Montgomery was able to hire the excellent screenwriting team of Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer. They turned in a superior script and combined with Montgomery’s direction, were able to help guide co-star Thomas Gomez to a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.

Robert Montgomery and his daughter Elizabeth.

Montgomery, like his contemporary and fellow Philip Marlowe, Dick Powell, would only go on to direct a handful of feature films. Montgomery continued to appear in front of the camera as well as behind. Powell would permanently move behind the camera in 1954 after making Susan Slept Here. Both Powell and Montgomery would host their own television anthology shows, Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater and Robert Montgomery Presents, respectively. Montgomery would form his own repertory group of performers in 1952 to appear in various episodes of his program. Two of the performers that would go onto fame were Cliff Robertson and Montgomery’s daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Montgomery would go on to become a TV icon, playing Samantha Stevens, a witch, in ABC’s hit 1964-1972 sitcom, Bewitched.