The Big Sleep (1946)
Country: US
Technical: bw 114m
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Dorothy Malone, Elisha Cook Jnr
Synopsis:
Philip Marlowe is employed by Colonel Sternwood to trace the blackmailer of his errant daughter, but is drawn by her attractive elder sister into a richer web of murder and deception.
Review:
For many, the archetypal Marlowe adaptation, partly for Bogart's spot-on incarnation, partly because the material fits the Hawks world view pretty well: tough-talking guys, strong dames, and a pacy but rambling approach to narrative in which plot is character, or vice versa. To be sure, the plot of this one had most people foxed, including the director, and it takes a deuced amount of concentration not to be put off by all the bit players. The rather racy dialogue seems a little coy at times now, but this was post-war and very much a star vehicle, so don't be fooled.
Country: US
Technical: bw 114m
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Dorothy Malone, Elisha Cook Jnr
Synopsis:
Philip Marlowe is employed by Colonel Sternwood to trace the blackmailer of his errant daughter, but is drawn by her attractive elder sister into a richer web of murder and deception.
Review:
For many, the archetypal Marlowe adaptation, partly for Bogart's spot-on incarnation, partly because the material fits the Hawks world view pretty well: tough-talking guys, strong dames, and a pacy but rambling approach to narrative in which plot is character, or vice versa. To be sure, the plot of this one had most people foxed, including the director, and it takes a deuced amount of concentration not to be put off by all the bit players. The rather racy dialogue seems a little coy at times now, but this was post-war and very much a star vehicle, so don't be fooled.
Country: US
Technical: bw 114m
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Dorothy Malone, Elisha Cook Jnr
Synopsis:
Philip Marlowe is employed by Colonel Sternwood to trace the blackmailer of his errant daughter, but is drawn by her attractive elder sister into a richer web of murder and deception.
Review:
For many, the archetypal Marlowe adaptation, partly for Bogart's spot-on incarnation, partly because the material fits the Hawks world view pretty well: tough-talking guys, strong dames, and a pacy but rambling approach to narrative in which plot is character, or vice versa. To be sure, the plot of this one had most people foxed, including the director, and it takes a deuced amount of concentration not to be put off by all the bit players. The rather racy dialogue seems a little coy at times now, but this was post-war and very much a star vehicle, so don't be fooled.