Part of the Nastiness Now: Actors Who Have Played Philip Marlowe

Okay, I confess, Philip Marlowe is my P.I. hero. In order of my personal preference, there's:

• Dick Powell
  Right actor/right place/right time.
  .
• James Garner
  The wit was always part of Marlowe, not grafted on for the star as some have proposed.
  .
• Robert Mitchum
  The role reached him too late, otherwise he might top the list.
  .
• Robert Montgomery
  A typically cornball radio performance - blame the director and his overworked gimmick.
  .
• Humphrey Bogart
  Let's face it, his Big Sleep was really "The Bogie and Baby Show."
  .
• George Montgomery
  Completely wrong, all the way up to the suave little mustache. Fox's own John Payne would have been ideal, but in '47, who knew?.
  .
• Elliot Gould (what else need I say?.
  .
• Dishonorable mention goes to Powers Boothe - the only lasting impression his HBO series made on me is that his fedora was a size or two too small. And (coincidentally enough), I no longer have HBO, so have to catch James Caan in "Poodle Springs" when the video store gets it.

Respectfully submitted by Ron DeSourdis.