The Big SleepDig too deep and you run the risk of saving your gravedigger the trouble. The Big Sleep is a film noir detective story about the sly and sharp "shamus" (private detective), Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart). After being commissioned to learn the secret motivations of a blackmailer, his investigation grows more and more intricate with every new clue, setting him on a path laden with murder and conspiracy. Helping and hindering him in equal measure is the lovely Vivian Sternwood Rutledge (Lauren Bacall), who matches Marlowe beat for beat with flirtation and wit, as Marlowe treads water in this quagmire of deception.
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The Big Sleep was adapted from the novel by acclaimed pulp detective author, Raymond Chandler, with a screenplay by a triumvirate of acclaimed writers--Jules Furthman, Leigh Brackett, and William Faulkner. With its pedigree, it should come as no surprise that a large part of the thrill of The Big Sleep is in the story and writing. Many characters have rich dialogue--especially Marlowe and Vivian Rutledge--layered with detective "cant" and innuendo. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall frequently occupy the center stage, and their interactions are the highlight of The Big Sleep. Directed by Howard Hawks, the movie has many thrilling scenes full of intrigue, from tense shootouts to Marlowe's clever way of using his smarts to disarm his opponents, and never feels stale. The Big Sleep is similar to another classic Bogart detective film: The Maltese Falcon. There are even parallels between the supporting characters in both movies, as if this were an alternate universe. Consider the part Elisha Cook, Jr. plays as an informant in The Big Sleep versus his role as a gunsel in The Maltese Falcon. On the surface, Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe appear to be cut from the same cloth. They possess a similar modus operandi of unwinding the investigative yarn, and their journeys are replete with sudden twists and turns. Marlowe is a shade more cynical than his counterpart; while Spade claimed to have no love for guns, Marlowe sneaks a couple under the dashboard of his car for when they are needed. While debatable, Marlowe exists in a more morally gray realm and is willing to bend or break the law when necessary, even though he keeps ties with the police and the office of his former employer, the district attorney. The plot of The Big Sleep is notoriously convoluted, to the point where it is clear that it is by design, and that the audience should be scratching their heads about the details not being wrapped up in a tidy bow by the end. This is not a result of "poor writing"; on the contrary, it conveys the confusion that Marlowe faces while sorting through what details really matter to him, and which in turn spurs his increasing attraction to Vivian.
The Big Sleep was released in 1946; the original film was completed a year earlier, but due to the burgeoning on-screen chemistry between "Bogey and Bacall", it had additional scenes added to accentuate this prior to its release. These scenes include the highly suggestive "race horse" dialogue between them, scandalous repartee peppered with provocative double entendre that conveys the sexual tension between Marlowe and Vivian. Many choice moments like this one in The Big Sleep resulted from the "Hayes Code", a censorship policy designed to restrict sexual or otherwise offensive content in movies. These changes include the lack of gore when characters are repeatedly shot as well as how Vivian's promiscuous younger sister, Carmen (Martha Vickers), is depicted. Consider when Marlowe bursts into a hacienda of a "vintage book collector", and discovers Carmen in a drugged stupor, wearing an unusual "Chinese dress". She just had some "photographs" taken of her, which are apparently so scandalous that it led to further blackmail of her and her father. There are several moments with erotically-charged undertones as Marlowe encounters numerous women while investigating the case. Take the scene where he is staking out a book store operated by the amateur pornographer blackmailing Carmen, while watching from across the street when it starts to rain. He flirtd with a bookish looking clerk, and Marlowe convinces her to close up shop early so they can share a bottle of rye whiskey he brought with him. She becomes quite the fox when she lets her hair down and takes off her glasses, and she flirts right back. Marlowe frequently comes on to other women in The Big Sleep, all of whom are attractive. A cab driver who teases him that he should call her in the evening and that she's "his girl", and the spoiled Carmen frequently tries to melt his resistance by calling him "cute". Marlowe's complicated case brings him to a tough, well-connected "gambler" named Eddie Mars (John Ridgely)--tall, imposing, and always with a couple of goons a whistle away, he is trouble from the first. Mars is into more than just gambling; he is a scion for the sleazy underbelly of vice in The Big Sleep. What kind of effect does Marlowe's descent into the depraved underworld of decadent criminals and ruthless killers have on him? Is Marlowe immune to the temptations of women like Vivian or the corruption of crooks like Mars? Does his attraction to Vivian come from a need to find some meaning in this constant series of twists and turns, or is there something more there? Audiences coming away from The Big Sleep will be left to savor the ambiguity of the plot, letting the audience fill in the answers to these questions with their own imaginations--a quality which has helped make The Big Sleep such an enduring film noir classic.
Recommended for: Fans of a rich and complex detective story, starring the archetypal private eye, Humphrey Bogart, opposite his future wife, Lauren Bacall, with both engaging in some of the most electric romantic dialogue in any film noir. The Big Sleep is a thrilling mystery and suspense film that isn't afraid to be coy with its audience's expectations, as if it were flirting with us like Marlowe and Vivian do with each other.
The Big Sleep was released in 1946; the original film was completed a year earlier, but due to the burgeoning on-screen chemistry between "Bogey and Bacall", it had additional scenes added to accentuate this prior to its release. These scenes include the highly suggestive "race horse" dialogue between them, scandalous repartee peppered with provocative double entendre that conveys the sexual tension between Marlowe and Vivian. Many choice moments like this one in The Big Sleep resulted from the "Hayes Code", a censorship policy designed to restrict sexual or otherwise offensive content in movies. These changes include the lack of gore when characters are repeatedly shot as well as how Vivian's promiscuous younger sister, Carmen (Martha Vickers), is depicted. Consider when Marlowe bursts into a hacienda of a "vintage book collector", and discovers Carmen in a drugged stupor, wearing an unusual "Chinese dress". She just had some "photographs" taken of her, which are apparently so scandalous that it led to further blackmail of her and her father. There are several moments with erotically-charged undertones as Marlowe encounters numerous women while investigating the case. Take the scene where he is staking out a book store operated by the amateur pornographer blackmailing Carmen, while watching from across the street when it starts to rain. He flirtd with a bookish looking clerk, and Marlowe convinces her to close up shop early so they can share a bottle of rye whiskey he brought with him. She becomes quite the fox when she lets her hair down and takes off her glasses, and she flirts right back. Marlowe frequently comes on to other women in The Big Sleep, all of whom are attractive. A cab driver who teases him that he should call her in the evening and that she's "his girl", and the spoiled Carmen frequently tries to melt his resistance by calling him "cute". Marlowe's complicated case brings him to a tough, well-connected "gambler" named Eddie Mars (John Ridgely)--tall, imposing, and always with a couple of goons a whistle away, he is trouble from the first. Mars is into more than just gambling; he is a scion for the sleazy underbelly of vice in The Big Sleep. What kind of effect does Marlowe's descent into the depraved underworld of decadent criminals and ruthless killers have on him? Is Marlowe immune to the temptations of women like Vivian or the corruption of crooks like Mars? Does his attraction to Vivian come from a need to find some meaning in this constant series of twists and turns, or is there something more there? Audiences coming away from The Big Sleep will be left to savor the ambiguity of the plot, letting the audience fill in the answers to these questions with their own imaginations--a quality which has helped make The Big Sleep such an enduring film noir classic.
Recommended for: Fans of a rich and complex detective story, starring the archetypal private eye, Humphrey Bogart, opposite his future wife, Lauren Bacall, with both engaging in some of the most electric romantic dialogue in any film noir. The Big Sleep is a thrilling mystery and suspense film that isn't afraid to be coy with its audience's expectations, as if it were flirting with us like Marlowe and Vivian do with each other.