Lady in the Lake

Lady in the Lake (1946) is a film noir worth watching online on iFILM for one bold trick alone: almost the entire movie is shot in first person, through PI Philip Marlowe's eyes. The camera is his gaze — you only glimpse the man himself in mirrors.

Marlowe is sick of detective work and trying his hand at crime fiction. But editor Adrienne Fromsett doesn't want his prose; she wants him to track down her publisher's missing wife, Crystal Kingsby. The case knots fast, bodies pile up, and every other character lies straight into the lens — that is, straight at you. Robert Montgomery both directed and played the lead.

Adapted from Raymond Chandler's novel and moved to Christmastime, the chill suits it. The subjective-camera stunt still divides viewers, but it stands as a genuine curiosity of studio-era Hollywood. Stream Lady in the Lake online on iFILM.