Product Description
General Sternwood has four million dollars, and two young daughters, both pretty and both wild. He's an old, sick man, close to death, but he doesn't like being blackmailed. So he asks private detective Philip Marlowe to get the blackmailer off his back. Marlowe knows the dark side of life in Los Angeles well, and nothing much surprises him. But the Sternwood girls are a lot wilder than their old father realizes. They like men, drink, drugs - and it's not just a question of blackmail. ... Read more

Product Description
On every level -- writing, direction, acting -- Double Indemnity (1944) is a triumph and stands as one of the greatest achievements in Billy Wilder's career. Adapted from the James M. Cain novel by director Wilder and novelist Raymond Chandler, it tells the story of an insurance salesman, played by Fred MacMurray, who is lured into a murder-for-insurance plot by Barbara Stanwyck, in an archetypal femme fatale role. From its grim story to its dark, atmospheric lighting, Double Indemnity is a definitive example of World War II-era film noir. Wilder's approach is everywhere evident: in the brutal cynicism the film displays, the moral complexity, and in the empathy we feel for the killers. The film received almost unanimous critical success, garnering seven Academy Award nominations. More than fifty years later, most critics agree that this classic is one of the best films of all time. The collaboration between Wilder and Raymond Chandler produced a masterful script and some of the most memorable dialogue ever spoken in a movie.

This facsimile edition of Double Indemnity contains Wilder and Chandler's original -- and quite different -- ending, published here for the first time. Jeffrey Meyers's introduction contextualizes the screenplay, providing hilarious anecdotes about the turbulent collaboration, as well as background information about Wilder and the film's casting and production. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A must-have for Chandler fans
I enjoy anything written by Raymond Chandler and this screenplay was certainly no exception.I had watched the movie several times before reading the screenplay and it still held my attention.Apparently there is another version of the screenplay but I have not read it so I can't offer any comparison but this one was well worth the money.I would also recommend the screenplay for The Blue Dahlia if you enjoyed this one.

A Masterpiece
This is a great script. A must read for those who are studying the art and wish to become a screenwriter.

Sub Text
I have watched the movie a number of times and had fun reading the script. The subtext is a riot. I think most thinkers will "get" it.

Classic script for classic movie
Billy Wilder may not have been born in America, but he knew America inside and out, from the vernacular of the ordinary folks to the sleezy ambitions and passions of the middle class.He captured all of that in his brilliant screenplay for DOUBLE INDEMNITY, turning the novel into a masterpiece of what has come to be known as Film Noir.He always stressed structure when he talked about his scripts and this is perfectly structured, tightly coiled like a spring, with the suspense building moment by moment -- along with the decaying relationships.Brilliant.

A toss-up for Raymond Chandler fans
For those who already purchased the Library of America edition of "Raymond Chandler : Later Novels and Other Writings" (which contains the screenplay of "Double Indemnity"), here are two reasons why you should buy THIS edition of the "Double Indemnity" screenplay:

1. Unlike most other screenplays published in book form, this edition of "Double Indemnity" appears to be a facsimile of the original screenplay; It's not just a book, but a relic of classic film.

2. This edition also has the alternate/deleted "Gas Chamber" ending which the Library of America edition is lacking.

If it were not for the above two qualities, I would recommend any Chandler fan to purchase the Library of America edition of Chandler's work that contains the "Double Indemnity" screenplay instead of this one. Here's why:

In this edition, Chandler's name does NOT appear on the cover; only Bill Wilder is credited on the cover. However, Chandler's name DOES appear on the title page and first page of the screenplay (the Amazon scans of the book illustrate this curiosity). Why the exclusion of Chandler from the cover?!
Answer: This book was published while Billy Wilder was still alive and he was able to steal the limelight from Raymond Chandler one last time. Well done, Mr. Wilder.

As for the screenplay itself, I've read a lot of screenplays of movies that I have liked and "Double Indemnity" reads better than most. The voice-over dialogue for Neff (written by Chandler) is the best part of the screenplay and is worth having in print. Whether you're a fan of classic Film Noir or an aspiring screenwriter, this is a must-have for your bookshelf. As for Chandler fans, it's only a matter of which edition.

For more information on Raymond Chandler's involvement in "Double Indemnity", I recommend the book "Creatures of Darkness: Raymond Chandler, Detective Fiction, and Film Noir". After reading, you will see why I and other readers are so incensed by the exclusion of Chandler's credit from the cover. ... Read more

Product Description
Philip Marlowe's on a case: his client, a dried-up husk of a woman, wants him to recover a rare gold coin called a Brasher Doubloon, missing from her late husband's collection. That's the simple part. It becomes more complicated when Marlowe finds that everyone who handles the coin suffers a run of very bad luck: they always end up dead. That's also unlucky for a private investigator, because leaving a trail of corpses around LA gets cops' noses out of joint. If Marlowe doesn't wrap this one up fast, he's going to end up in jail or worse, in a box in the ground. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a series of simplified stories, designed as an introduction to literature. The series offers classics, best-sellers, film-titles and original stories. Each book has extensive exercises, a detailed introduction and information about the syllabus. They are published at six levels: level 1 - beginner (300 words); level 2 - elementary (500 words); level 3 - pre-intermediate (1050 words); level 4 - intermediate ( 1650 words); level 5 - upper intermediate (2300 words); level 6 - advanced (3000 words). The series is designed to be suitable for students of English as a foreign language, for students of English as a second language and for reluctant readers. ... Read more

Product Description
Down-and-out drunk Terry Lennox has a problem: his millionaire wife is dead and he needs to get out of LA fast. So he turns to his only friend in the world: Philip Marlowe, Private Investigator. He's willing to help a man down on his luck, but later, Lennox commits suicide in Mexico and things start to turn nasty. Marlowe finds himself drawn into a sordid crowd of adulterers and alcoholics in LA's Idle Valley, where the rich are suffering one big suntanned hangover. Marlowe is sure Lennox didn't kill his wife, but how many more stiffs will turn up before he gets to the truth! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

PAN tastic
was missing this particular Chandler book and thought it a good idea to just buy it online..was pleasantly surprised with an under 5-dollar purchase ending up being a BRITISH edition produced by PAN in mint condition and a nicely designed cover..great purchase!!

Relaxed pace, but interesting story
Raymond Chandler was always one of those authors I meant to get around to reading someday, and I was familiar with his reputation as the author who turned the hard boiled dectective novel into an art form.

The first thing to know about Raymond Chandler (at least based off of my experience with this one book) is he is no hurry to get where he is going. If his character is going to walk into a house to meet another character, you can bet there will be a detailed description of the front walk in and what the house smells like.

This caught me a little bit off guard because I expected a hard boiled dectective novel to be more action based, but once I made my peace with his slower narrative style I just relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

By way of a counter example: most of the stories in the Sherlock Holmes canon are only about 20 pages, which I think is just about the right length for a mystery. Decently long to let you wonder about it for a while, but short enough so that you can read the whole thing in one sitting and don't have to go to bed wondering who the murderer is.

"The Long Good-Bye" is close to 500 pages, and I read it over the course of about a month. And yet I never really lost too much sleep wondering who the murderer was. After a while the murder didn't even seem like the main point and the story went off in other directions. Needless to say, however, it all ties together at the end.

Mixed in with the story is a fair amount of social criticism, both at the corrupt justice system and also at corrupt government and business.

A good read if you have the patience for it.
... Read more

Product Description
This volume includes three short stories plus Raymond Chandler's essay on "the simple act of murder". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Before there was Marlowe
This book collects a few of Chandler's short stories, along with the essay "The Simple Art of Murder." The essay reads well, and gives a simple, clear statement of what Chandler dislikes about the murder mystery genre. By way of example, the book offers three stories that make the points, by one of the founding authors of the noir detective story.

Although I enjoy the Philip Marlowe novels, these are short stories, they star different characters (none of whom are Marlowe), and generally seem weaker than Chandler's novels. The style is all there. The first story feature people guzzling alochol like a biofueled Hummer; characters throughout seem like people that could only exist at night. Still, even when Chandler isn't at his best, he's a lot better than most others.

-- wiredweird

PS: All of the stories that appear here, and more, also appear in the collection titled "The Simple Art of Murder." ... Read more

Product Description
DESCRIPTION: This graphic novel presents a heart-pounding tale of betrayal, blackmail, and murder that will take you to the edge of your seat on a ride through Raymond Chandler's last thriller. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A Good Crime Novel Made Into A Graphic Novel!
Playback was Raymond Chandler's last novel featuring the ever-popular Philip Marlowe. This graphic novel adaptation takes the same concept, throws out Marlowe and adds the appeal and allure of an old Black and White film noir.

The story was great. It concerns a young woman who is exonerated of her husband's death. Fearing scrutiny from her husband's family, she goes to Vancouver. An inspector follows her and they fall in love. All might be well, but, just like any great film noir, the ending has a twist. This story is reminiscent of the days of the Golden age of Hollywood, with Bogart, Edward G. Robinson and Cagney.

The artwork is stark black and white, without shades of gray. Overall it is quite impressive, but sometimes it can be hard to make out what is going on.

Anyway, if you are a serious comic book collector or a crime novelist aficionado and desire something unique for your collection, pick this up. This is a fine pick for a personal collection with quality production values.

It's no "Sin City"
This looks like an attempt to emulate "Sin City" with its stark black and white (with no shades of gray) artwork.And the story itself is not bad.But the artwork is terrible.The characters are so poorly drawn that it's often hard to tell who's who.And the uninspired layouts and composition make it a chore to get through.So skip this, and get any volume of Frank Miller's "Sin City" instead.

Beautiful Binding, Pitiful Artwork
Given the excellent production values that went into this hardback edition of the "lost" Raymond Chandler work "Playback," in graphic novel form, it is regrettable that the artwork is of such mediocre caliber.Francois Ayroles no doubt put a lot of effort and vision into his personal interpretation of the plot.Unfortunately, his characters are uniformly stiff and awkward, their facial expressions taut and unconvincing.The citiscapes are drab and uncompelling.

The project of bringing to life Chandler's final effort is a once-in-a-lifetime endeavor and it is a pity that artists of the competence of R. G. Taylor ("Wordsmith") or Ted Slampyak ("Jazz Age Chronicles)," whose proven artistic mastery of bygone American eras was not chosen.

Inexpertly-drawn rendition of a good story
Though not an expert (by any means) on the genre, I do love film-noir and had high hopes for this story. This graphic novel, a look at never-filmed script written by the great Raymond Chandler, offers only limited satisfaction.

The story was terrific. A young wife is officially exonerated of her husband's death, but fears retribution from his family who thinks she murdered him. She feels to Vancouver to escape them. While there, another death may be pinned on her. But who is the killer? The desolate young beauty? The aging socialite with the gun in her purse? The mysterious older gentleman? Someone else?The investigation is complicated when the inspector falls in love with one of the suspects.

The tale involves the same easy-to-miss plot points that adorn (bedevil?) old movies, and that need a second reading to pick up. This is not a problem, as it's fun to read a book, once the key to character behavior has been revealed, to see how you were fooled the first time around.

But I found the artwork distracting and hard to decipher. Rendered solely in black and white, without shades of gray, shadowed faces sometimes "read" as weird masks of spilled ink. The inconsistent drawing style made it difficult for me to keep the characters straight. Sometimes I had to look carefully for the one characteristic (an upturned mustache on Inspector Killaine, for instance) that helped identify the character.

I enjoyed the story's twists and the turns of logic that helped identify the killer. Not a standout work, as graphic novels go, but interesting and memorable. A written introduction tells the story of Chandler's star-crossed experience of writing the script.

A very strong pick for personal and community library collections
If you like graphic novels in classic black and white, Raymond Chandler's mysteries, or comics revolving around blackmail and murder, then this Arcade Publishing edition of Playback is for you. It holds plenty of tough talk and strong dialogue, brisk action, and well done characters: combine these with excellent graphic images and you have a very strong pick for personal and community library collections.
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Product Description
In "The Big Sleep" Philip Marlowe becomes embroiled in the affairs of the ultra-rich Sternwood family. Moose Molly, big as a beer truck, is looking for Velma in "Farewell My Lovely". In "The Long Good-Bye" Marlowe makes friends with Terry Lennox, the politest drunk he has ever met. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Crime stories.
Fallen Angels is an anthology comprised of six short stories.Raymond Chandler, Jim Thompson, William Campbell Gault, Cornell Woolrich, Jonathan Craig and James Ellroy are each represented by one of their works.Also included is a short but hard hitting preface by Mr. Ellroy.

Each of these stories was filmed as a half hour TV show and aired on the cable network Showtime in 1993.Immediately after each story is presented in its original form, it is followed by the teleplay used to adapt it to the TV format.In all cases, there are substantive differences between the original and the adaptation.

The book's subtitle: Six Noir Tales Told for Television is a bit misleading.Story number 2, The Frightening Frammis, was written by the legendary Jim Thompson, one of noir's grandmasters.Now I suppose it could be argued as to what is noir and what isn't.But this particular story (and it happens to be a good one) just does not fit the noir mold.Instead of the brutally stark and gut wrenching take on reality that is noir's stock and trade, The Frightening Frammis is rife with slapstick comedy and other way over the top devices.Interestingly, the accompanying teleplay simplifies the narrative quite a bit and in doing so eliminates much of the over the top material.

The most intriguing short story in this collection is the final one, Since I Don't Have You by James Ellroy.It unfolds over a two day period in the Los Angeles of 1949 and has as supporting characters two real life figures, Howard Hughes and gangster Mickey Cohen.

Fallen Angels is definitely a worthwhile read.It's particularly interesting to see how screenwriters must both add to and subtract from the original work of others to create a final product suitable for TV or film. ... Read more