This is a fine example of the American thriller - in its plot, its atmospheric photography and lighting, its brutality (both police and lovers'), and its theatrical touches and twists of plot. It is one of the best films in the genre - and one of Dmytryk's best." - Georges Sadoul, Dictionary of Films (University of California Press).

"A revolutionary crime film in that it was the first to depict the genuinely seedy milieu suggested by its author. One of the first film noirs of the mid-forties, a minor masterpiece of expressionist film making, and a total change of direction for a crooner who suddenly became a tough guy." - Halliwell's Film & Video Guide (HarperPerennial).

"Picture is known for its seedy characters; hard-edged, hyperbolic dialogue and narration; dark, atmospheric photography by Harry J. Wild. But I think it's most significant because it is the one picture to fully exploit the nightmarish elements that are present in good film noir. Because our narrator, Marlowe, spends time recovering from being knocked out and, later, from drugs in his bloodstream, he never has a clear head; the dark, smoky world he walks through becomes increasingly surreal, indicating he is in a dream state." - Danny Peary, Guide for the Film Fanatic (Fireside).

"Murder, My Sweet, a taut thriller about a private detective enmeshed with a gang of blackmailers, is as smart as it is gripping. Ace direction and fine camera-work combine with a neat story and top performances. It should pay off plenty." -- Bron, Variety.

"A nasty, draggled bit of dirty work, accurately observed." -- C.A. Lejeune, the Observer.

"Fine adaptation of Chandler's novel....evocatively creating a seedy, sordid world of shifting loyalties and unseen evil...Powell is surprisingly good as Marlowe, certainly more faithful to the writer's conception than Bogart was in The Big Sleep [1946], while the supporting cast make the most of John Paxton's superb dialogue. And Harry Wild's chiaroscuro camerawork is the true stuff of noir." - Geoff Andrew, TimeOut Film Guide (Penguin).

"The movie is energetic enough, but its crumminess can't all be explained by fidelity to the material. Edward Dmytryk directed, in the brutal, fast style popular in the war years." - Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the Movies (Henry Holt and Company).

"The fully realized noir look first appears in Murder, My Sweet (1944), an echt-forties thriller which rarely gets it due because of the relative unpopularity of its director, Edward Dmytryk, and the miscalculation of casting Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe, a crooner playing a private eye, his dimples showing through the stubble." - Carlos Clarens, Crime Movies: An Illustrated History (W.W. Norton).
Murder, My Sweet has a visual quality that became characteristic of the period. Contrast is all important...Murder, My Sweet is also filled with a succession of grotesque characters that have little relation to the real world. They exist as icons or images of the twilight world of film noir. Ultimately, Murder, My Sweet is the archetype for a number of films made later." - Carl Macek & Ellen Keneshea, Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (The Overlook Press).

"Director Edward Dmytryk (Crossfire, 1947, The Caine Mutiny, 1954) masterfully employs all the genre staples -- deep shadows, swirling cigarette smoke, harsh lighting, and a constant aura of unease -- while adding his own creative, visually stunning touches, such as the recurring "black pool" that opens up and engulfs Marlowe whenever thugs render him unconscious. In addition, when the detective is injected with a cocktail of coma-inducing narcotics, Dmytryk takes us inside Marlowe's brain, using an expressionistic style to depict the disjointed and unsettling images the drugs inspire. Powell's detached narration throughout these scenes enhances the mood, while keeping the avant-garde touches within the story's framework." -- David Krauss, digitallyobsessed.com.

"Still packs a wallop." - Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide (Plume).

"Murder, My Sweet gave a Raymond Chandler story the combination of skinned knuckles and big-city sentience proper to it." - James Agee.

AWARDS & HONORS

Murder, My Sweet won the Mystery Writers of America's Best Motion Picture Award for 1945.

Compiled by Frank Miller & Jeff Stafford