How Long Is “Lady in the Lake”?

Detective Philip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) meets Adrienne Fromsett (Audrey Totter), editor of a series of crime magazines published by Derace Kingsby (Leon Ames). Adrienne hires Marlowe to find Kingsby's missing wife, Crystal, so that he can divorce her. The investigation proceeds as Marlowe is repeatedly beaten up, lied to and several potential witnesses are murdered. Adrienne is spurned by Kingsby, but falls in love with Marlowe. In a series of plot twists, the real identity and fate of Crystal is revealed. Directed by its star, Robert MontgomeryLady in the Lake was almost entirely photographed from a subjective point-of-view, where the camera serves as the eyes of Marlowe. This device, while interesting in the beginning, tends to confuse an already convoluted plot and in the end, becomes annoying to the viewer. Despite good performances by all the cast, and an interesting premise, Lady in the Lake is an intriguing though failed experiment.