Marlowe

Five-hundred bucks doesn't come easily for private eye Philip Marlowe (James Garner). But when it comes by way of a bribe, it might as well be five cents. He rejects Winslow Wong (Bruce Lee) and his offer of cash...and Wong promptly karates the detective's office into a junkpile. In a colorful whodunit based on Raymond Chandler's The Little Sister, Garner's easygoing style contrasts agreeably with the grim task of sleuthing a case of missing persons, blackmail and ice-pick murders. Carroll O'Connor, Rita Moreno, William Daniels, Sharon Farrell and Jackie Coogan are among the cast of characters living in a sprawling '60s L.A. so hard-boiled somebody's got to crack. And when that happens, it's Marlowe's job to put the pieces together.

• crime
• drama