First effort as a director fails miserably
"Chandler" is a film with a terrific cast - Warren Oates, Charles McGraw, Gloria Grahame, Royal Dano, Scatman Crothers, Richard Loo, Mitch Ryan - but it never gets off the ground. Director Paul Magwood (1943) complained that MGM re-cut the film and changed the music, but that's only half the problem. The other problem is that the scenes themselves are dull and lackluster, regardless of how you cut them, and regardless of the heavy handed music score that was not uncommon for early 70s action films.BTW - Magwood was married to co-star Leslie Caron. This was Magwood's first film and only film as a director. His later career was built around work on TV as an assistant director for B TV movies and series ("Nero Wolfe", Mike Hammer", "Father Dowling Mysteries").Those of you, like me, who love Warren Oates films ("The Wild Bunch", "Badlands", "Ride the High Country", "Dillinger", "Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia") will be disappointed.