Talk:Marlowe (2022 film)

Poisoned or slipped a Mickey?
In the plot summary it says "Marlowe confronts Hanson who offers him a drink, but suspicious Hanson poisoned it, Marlowe throws it away and feigns that he is dying." It was my impression that the liquid that we see Hanson pour into Marlowe's drink was a Mickey (knock out drops).

This is more consistent with other hard-boiled detective stories where slipping someone a Mickey is a frequent plot device. Outright poisoning someone (especially the detective hero) is less common. Moreover, when Marlowe is dumped in the basement he finds Cedric already there and handcuffed with two other characters dead and Hendricks tied to a chair and has been tortured. Cedric says that he too was offered a drink that he accepted and it knocked him out, but now he we see that he has recovered. It would be inconsistent for Marlowe to have been poisoned with the intention of killing him but Cedric was only knocked out. Presumably Hanson wants Marlowe alive so he can be questioned if none of the other four (two of whom are now dead after being tortured) do not tell Hanson where the drugs are, which is further evidence that Marlowe was slipped a Mickey, not poisoned.

At 1:11:18 into the movie, as Marlowe is sneaking into the club, two waiters can be heard talking. One says to the other that "It's a Mickey" (the actual dialogue is a bit more complicated, and uses "Miguel" but then "Mickey"). It's pretty clear that this is intended to alert viewers to what is coming up for Marlowe.

I admit that a Mickey could be considered poison, but the main point is that I think Marlowe was not faking being dead, he was faking being unconscious. The two thugs who drag him to the basement are not likely to be fooled into thinking he is dead, but it is believable that they might think he was unconscious, which is what a Mickey would make him.

My suggestion is that the text be changed to "Marlowe confronts Hanson who offers him a drink, but suspicious Hanson has slipped him a Mickey (knock out drops), Marlowe throws it away and feigns that he has passed out." Ksbooth (talk) 09:46, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

Who is O'Reilly?
The character Philip O'Reilly has been the mother Dorothy Quincannon's long-time agent and lover, and the owner of Pacific FIlm Studios in Hollywood, but O'Reilly is about to head off to become the U.S. ambassador to England (the Court of St. James). In real life, Joseph Kennedy (JFK's father) was involved in the motion picture industry (including the creation of RKO) and there are obvious parallels between Kennedy and O'Reilly in terms of their involvement with Hollywood, bootlegging, and women. Kennedy was known to have had a relationship with Gloria Swanson during which he managed her personal and business affairs.

I think this is worth mentioning in the article. Ksbooth (talk) 10:06, 9 April 2024 (UTC)