After two years in an asylum Stephen Neale is released into the insanity that is WWII England, where he stumbles across a murderous spy ring and doesn't know whom he can trust. An atmospheric, expressionistic, war time thriller, packed with unforgettable scenes, starring Ray Milland and directed by the wilfully left-field genius that is Fritz Lang. find out more...

This is, along with Hawks' The Big Sleep, easily the most intelligent of all screen adaptations of Chandler's work. Altman in fact stays pretty close to the novel's basic narrative (though there are a couple of crucial changes), but where he comes up with something totally original is in his ironic updating of the story and characters: Gould's Marlowe is a laid-back, shambling slob who, despite his incessant claim that everything is 'OK with me,' actually harbours the same honourable ideals as C find out more...