the pov of lady the in the lake experiment hide the fact that robert montgomery wasn not up to the task of be philip marlowe . oh he have the tough talk down pat and but a someone say earlier he be well in ride the pink horse . in this movie he doesn not feel like marlowe and a marlowe who can take and give a hard punch . the first confrontation he take a punch that result in a black eye but it leave him unconscious . dick powell the surprise philip marlowe of all time and humphery bogart one of the best marlowe of all time would have require a shot from moose malloy or a sap to the head by some strong arm thug to go down from one blow like that . perhaps it be her reaction to a camera instead of an actor that make audrey totter seem chill in their scene together rather than claire trevor cold hearted user and lauren bacall cool cynic in the early marlowe incantation . and mgm be never at that time at least a studio know for hardboiled and gritty crime drama . the christmas carol though be a nice touch and lloyd nolan who should have play the lead be good a usual in his role a the crooked cop . nolan have play a pi in some michael shayne b before the noir cycle begin so he know the mannerism and philip marlowe a tarnished knight with principle would have be a perfect fit . all in all lady in the lake be noteworthy for it groundbreaking experiment and the appeasement of a fading lead man ego ( not the last time either ) and some vision into the world of chandler alter ego . george montgomery a philip marlowe . blasphemy . james garner a 60 laidback version suitable but also a precursor to jim rockford who have his chandler moment . roert mitchum be philip marlowe both in look and world weariness a perfect match only bogart equal him . mr. montgomery would ride a pink carousel horse to good success .