The #1 Movie Review, Analysis, Question and Answer Site

The Singing Detective (1986)

Synopsis:
Reworking material from his first novel, "Hide and Seek" (1973), and folding this into a prismatic blend of autobiographical details, popular music and 1940s film noir, Dennis Potter delivered a drama now regarded as a 20th-century masterwork. Detective novelist Philip Marlow (Michael Gambon) suffers from the crippling disease of psoriatic arthropathy. Confined to a hospital bed, Marlow mentally rewrites his early Chandleresque thriller, "The Singing Detective," with himself in the title role, drifting into a surreal 1945 fantasy of spies and criminals, along with vivid memories of a childhood in the Forest of Dean. As past events and 1940s songs surface in his subconscious, Marlow's voyage of self-discovery provides a key to conquering his illness, while his noir-styled hallucinations evoke the Philip Marlowe of Chandler's "Murder, My Sweet" (1944), starring Dick Powell, who later became a "singing detective" on radio's "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (1949), crooning to girlfriend Helen Asher at the end of each episode.
Resource Links:

Reviews & Analyses: The Singing Detective

Tell the world what you think about The Singing Detective. Post a Review / Analysis!

Post a Review / Analysis
Earn QUA for FREE by contributing to MovieQUA!

Login required. Reviews / Analyses cannot be changed once submitted - please post carefully! No URLs!
Title
Required. An introduction to your Review / Analysis
Body
Required. Post your Review / Analysis in as much detail and as personally as you want. This is your chance to share your innermost thoughts on The Singing Detective
Image
Optional. You can include an image to complement your Analysis
Answer Humanoid Test
Two + CAPTCHA Image =

Latest Questions

Be the first to share a The Singing Detective question!

Post Question
Earn QUA for FREE by contributing to MovieQUA!

Login required. Questions cannot be changed once submitted - please post carefully! No URLs!
Question Title
Required. A catchy introduction to your question
Full Question
Required. Describe in detail exactly what you want to know
Question Category
Plot and Symbolism
Fact vs Fiction
Behind the Scenes
Movie Music
Actors and Actresses
Required. Pick what makes sense!
Answer Humanoid Test
Two + CAPTCHA Image =

Banned for over a decade for its outspoken criticism of the post-WWII communist regime in Hungary, Péter Bacsó's 'T...
Music teacher Christine Radcliffe thought Karel Novak to have been killed in the war. She loves him more than ever an...
Aviator and band leader Roger Bond is forever getting his group fired for flirting with the lady guests. When he fall...
Berlin's plushest, most expensive hotel is the setting where in the words of Dr. Otternschlag "People come, people go...