Pickup on Noon Street is a heavy and brilliant episode from Season 2 of HBO's too-short run of Powers Boothe as Chandler's iconic shamus. As usual, sets, wardrobe, music is perfect and Robin Givens gives an entrancing performance as Token Ware, a damsel who is sure to encounter distress. It was a glimpse of some serious leading lady potential at a time when she was known for the ensemble comedy Head of the Class. Not the breeziest entry in this series - this dark tale about murdered sex workers of color and how little their lives meant to just about everyone in the Los Angeles of the late 40s doesn't lend itself to the humor that breezes through the less somber episodes of this show. But, this cast proves itself versatile enough to tackle the darkest hour in this series where life is grossly cheap, even hard boiled detective fiction standards.
Boothe was a perfect Marlowe. He's #3 in my book (Bogart still owns this role more than even his Sam Spade and James Garner is superb in Marlowe), and that is no snub given Elliot Gould, Bob Mitchum, James Caan and others have given Marlowe their best.
Aside from this series being too short, my only other regret was that HBO did not bring back Boothe for 1998's Poodle Springs about an aging Marlowe giving domestication a shot. A companion novel of sorts to the Long Goodbye, Chandler died with it unfinished but Robert Parker capably completed it and James Caan gave a good show of a world weary, yet hopeful Marlowe. Still, I'd have just been over the moon to see Powers Boothe come back after 12 years - which would have faithfully represented the passing of time between this series' timeline and Poodle Springs, set in 1963, about 15 years after the events of this series.
Boothe was a perfect Marlowe. He's #3 in my book (Bogart still owns this role more than even his Sam Spade and James Garner is superb in Marlowe), and that is no snub given Elliot Gould, Bob Mitchum, James Caan and others have given Marlowe their best.
Aside from this series being too short, my only other regret was that HBO did not bring back Boothe for 1998's Poodle Springs about an aging Marlowe giving domestication a shot. A companion novel of sorts to the Long Goodbye, Chandler died with it unfinished but Robert Parker capably completed it and James Caan gave a good show of a world weary, yet hopeful Marlowe. Still, I'd have just been over the moon to see Powers Boothe come back after 12 years - which would have faithfully represented the passing of time between this series' timeline and Poodle Springs, set in 1963, about 15 years after the events of this series.
