I slowly come to the end of classic Noire movies’ primary list and tonight I watched one of the American critics’ favorite - The big sleep. And admit I am slightly stumbled but more about that below.

So, we have screening a Raymond Chandler’s novel about of course the private detective adventures. His name is Philip Marlowe. The movie is famous first of all because three months after the shootings two of its main actors Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall married. That was probably the cause of some family squabbles so Bogart was on a bender during the entire shooting period. In those rare moments when he was able to appear on the set, I suspect camera lens steamed from his morning-after breath. But the film is not about that, of course.

OK, back to the story. One rich paralytic has two pretty daughters who are blackmailed and there is the detective hired to investigate this bad case. Investigation seems to become rather complicated and soon we have already a whole stack of bodies except that who is the killer and for what he kills is almost impossible to understand.
Making the screenplay writers (among them was the famous William Faulkner!) even decided to call the author of novels with the question: «Look, we read your story and don’t understand who the killer in the end is?» Enraged Chandler first advised writers to read the book once again, but then call back with the apology: «You know guys I now look through my own novel, and don’t understand who the killer is. So decide whatever you want». Not bad, right?

As a result, there are two versions of the film: one with a long detailed explanation of where, who, whom, when and why, and a simple version with kisses and exchanges. Movie critics loved more a second with approximately such phrase: «Well, and no matter the story is not understandable! Look at the atmosphere! It’s totally awesome!» Exactly this version is known to mass viewer and kept some place in the ranking IMDB.

It is a pity that this happened, but this is the first of Noire with the participation of Humphrey Bogart that I have not impressed. All is in the place but movie lacks a hard and evil spine. Continuous rain flowing from the wide-brimmed hats and shots in the dark make pleasure for eyes and tickle ears, but don’t nail the viewer to the couch as in Noire via John Huston, Julius Dassin, Billy Wilder and say nothing of Orson Welles.

But what worth seeing are the actors. Now I have finally convinced that it was Bogart who becomes the role model for Sean Connery’s James Bond ten years later.

http://cinemahall.org/2009/06/26/the-big-sleep-1946/

Article Source: THE BIG SLEEP (1946)