Jack O'Halloran's Great Performance as Moose Malloy

Its good to see Jack O'Halloran so well represented on this board -- by others talking about him and by him talking in person because -- what a great perf he gave as Moose Malloy.

What a unique presence...big and tall(but not giant tall) with an intimidating impassive face. Some of what's great here comes from Raymond Chandler's novel and the screenplay, but O'Halloran gives us a gigantic blank-faced slab of a man who thinks bluntly and quickly about whatever and whoever he sees: Can they help him and private eye Philip Marlowe "find my Velma?" (He always says "Have you found my Velma?" never "Have you found Velma?" She's MY Velma even if he was in prison for seven years and she hasn't written for six.

When Moose isn't thinking about his Velma -- which seems to be all the time -- he is sizing up whoever he sees and usually he is pushing them out of the way or beating them up or killing them with his bare hands. Mitchum immediately plays the comedy of having been hired by a big, blank-face man who manhandles the private eye without malice..its just how Moose communicates.

And yet...Marlowe wants to help Moose. He wants Moose to be happy with his Velma. When Marlowe realizes just what a chump Moose has been played for by Velma(even as Velma orders Moose to kill Marlowe)...he's sad.

He liked Moose.

Because of Jack O'Halloran's great performance AS Moose.