Plot SynopsisUnder the opening company logo and titles, the film opened in wartime Los Angeles.The disorienting opening shot was of a blinding ceiling light and sounds of accusatory voices in a dark shadowy room, and then soon after, a pull-back camera movement revealed the side of the face of tough yet vulnerable, blindfolded gumshoe detective Philip Marlowe (played by 30s musical crooner Powell in a dramatic role switch).Charming ordered his villain accomplices to surround the heroes, and the outnumbered forces were quickly subdued.However, in the early 1980s, a revisionist crime drama with a May-December romance at its heart couldn""t compete with he age ofDirty Harry (1971)andDeath Wish (1974)vigilante films,The Godfather film saga, and the blockbuster era ofJaws (1975)and heStar Wars Trilogy (1977-1983)." The first image and appearance of Mrs.Dietrichson is bewitching as she asks: "Is there anything I can do?" She cooly emerges at the top of the stairs landing looking down, wearing only a bath towel on account of being interrupted while sunbathing - she""s not "fully covered.