On Mar 18, 2008, at 4:56 AM,
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com wrote:
> I saw the Ricardo Cortez version on TCM a couple
of
> weeks ago, and it is faithful to the book.
Cortez
> leering portrail of Sam Spade is more than a
little
> hard to deal with and Gutman is horribly miscast,
but
> the story sticks just as closely to the book
as
> Huston's classic. The story aside, however,
both
> directing and acting leave much to be desired in
this
> earlier production.
Nonetheless, it impressed Huston enough that some of his
scenes seem like exact rip-offs (uh, I mean homages), right
down to how they were framed and the actors' gestures and
emphasis.
It's been a few years since I watched the two back to back,
but I remember being surprised by that.
Certainly, Huston had the better cast, but the original isn't
without merit, especially when you consider what passed as
standard hard- boiled P.I. fare at the (pre-Code) time. As
for the leering, Spade was a dog, after all.
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site 1998-2008
10 Years of P.I. Thrills
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