TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Robert Montgomery's Lady in the Lake (1947) with Robert Montgomery (who also directed), Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan, Leon Ames and Jane Meadows

By David in TN
friday, december 19, 2025 at 6:19:00 p.m. est

TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Mednight and 10 a.m. ET is Robert Montgomery's Lady in the Lake (1947) with Robert Montgomery (who also directed), Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan, Leon Ames and Jane Meadows.

Film Noir Guide: "Montgomery is Raymond Chandler's famous private eye, Philip Marlowe, in this slow-moving and hard-to-follow mystery. He's hired by a magazine editor (Totter) to find the missing wife of her boss (Ames). A woman's body is soon discovered in a country lake, and Montgomery finds himself mixed up with a shady cop (Nolan) and a mystery lady (Meadows)."

"Along the way, he suffers a few beatings, gets framed for drunk driving (twice) and, of course, falls in love with Totter. The film's biggest attraction is Montgomery's innovative use of the camera, allowing the viewer to see things through his eyes. But even that gets annoying, especialy with the excessive number of mirror shots, the only purpose for which seems to be to provide Montgomery with ample screen time."

"This strange film does have its good points, however--namely, Totter and Nolan as the tough, two-fisted cop. Meadows does a fine job of overacting. Although it's been said that Montgomery was the screen's closest counterpart to Chandler's fictional private investigator, Chandler himself did not appreciate Montgomery's portrayal, preferring instead Dick Powell's in Murder My Sweet."

N.S.: Pay no mind to the Crime Movie Guide. Its synopsis sounds like it was ghost-written by Red Eddie Muller, plus spelling errors and sperlers. I saw Lady in the Lake on The Late Show 50-odd years ago, and enjoyed it immensely. Of course, I always enjoy Bob Montgomery.