In this inventively filmed detective story, Robert Montgomery (who also directs) plays Philip Marlowe and solves an entire mystery from the camera's point of view; when Marlowe takes a punch, the audience feels the hit. Based on Raymond Chandler's novel, the story follows Marlowe as he tries to track down the missing wife of a publisher. Audrey Totter plays the femme fatale who slinks into his office to hire him for the job.