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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2021 1:23:04 GMT
One of the few movies that I can watch half a dozen times and still not understand half of what’s happening.  Still love it though. One of my top ten film noirs. |
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Post by petrolino on Nov 13, 2021 1:29:24 GMT
Mysterious movie. Featuring the great Martha Vickers before Mickey Rooney finally got to her.
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Post by london777 on Nov 13, 2021 1:38:06 GMT
One of my top ten film noirs. For sure, maybe Top Five. But I have never accepted the oft-repeated claim that the story-line is confusing. It is like Enid Blyton compared with most neo-noirs. As far as I know, only one plot thread is unresolved: Who killed the chauffeur? But that is incidental to the main story arc and not the protagonist's responsibility to resolve.
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Post by wmcclain on Nov 13, 2021 1:39:14 GMT
The Big Sleep (1946), directed by Howard Hawks. Weary of waiting for a Blu-ray (of which I have heard no rumors) I hope that my rewatching the ancient flipper DVD will move the Warner gods to produce an edition as fine as their Casablanca (1942) disc. [Later: the Blu-ray appeared]. Because this is one of my essential, must-have titles. There are two scenes where Bogart is driving at night and Bacall just leans back and watches him, thinking her mysterious thoughts. I think these are among the sexiest moments in classic cinema. I don't know why, unless it is that famous sideways look she uses to cloud men's minds:  You see complaints that the plot is incomprehensible, and that even author Raymond Chandler confessed he couldn't figure out who killed one character. He may have meant it, or he may have been joking or drunk. Everything is explained in the book, and although the movie is altered from the text, it does makes sense, although perhaps only if you already know what is going on. You have to mentally introduce the pornographic bookstore, recognize the gay characters, and imagine kid sister Carmen naked in Marlowe's bed. The movie amps up Marlowe as a ladies man, and really turns up the romance with Vivian. Chandler did apologize for the plot complexity, and for the high body count. It was his first novel, pasted together from earlier short stories. In all the books, I remember Marlowe killing only one man: Canino. It helps to see the movie split almost evenly into two halves, each with its own mystery: - How many people have to die for the blackmail racket being run from the pornographic bookstore? (Carmen modeled for the owner in exchange for drugs).
- What happened to Sean Regan? (Carmen again; she's a psycho).
Misc notes: - Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade are completely different characters, and yet Bogart is both. Isn't that amazing?
- Martha Vickers as Carmen looks a lot like later actress Rene Russo.
- I'm certain I heard an electric guitar at the gambling club. I'll have to pay more attention: when did they start appearing in soundtracks?
- Bogart shot Bob Steele in another film: The Enforcer (1951).
- That odd performance in the bookstore: he's supposed to be gay.
- Chandler wrote that the porn in the bookstore was "indescribable filth". Ordinary hard-core stuff by today's standards, I suppose.
Max Steiner score. 
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2021 1:43:30 GMT
Mysterious movie. Featuring the great Martha Vickers before Mickey Rooney finally got to her.
What did Mickey Rooney do to her?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2021 1:45:22 GMT
One of my top ten film noirs. For sure, maybe Top Five. But I have never accepted the oft-repeated claim that the story-line is confusing. It is like Enid Blyton compared with most neo-noirs. As far as I know, only one plot thread is unresolved: Who killed the chauffeur? But that is incidental to the main story arc and not the protagonist's responsibility to resolve It’s just really hard to follow. The dialogue features so much fast moving exposition and speculation that it’s easy to lose track of who might have done what and why. I admit I kind of just tune out the plot when I rewatch it and just enjoy the noiry noirness of it all.
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Post by petrolino on Nov 13, 2021 1:46:13 GMT
Mysterious movie. Featuring the great Martha Vickers before Mickey Rooney finally got to her.
What did Mickey Rooney do to her?
He married her and then casually discarded her within a couple of years, as was his wanton will.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2021 1:47:46 GMT
What did Mickey Rooney do to her?
He married her and then casually discarded her within a couple of years, as was his wanton will.
Oh. He wasn’t very tall was he? 
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Post by petrolino on Nov 13, 2021 1:48:53 GMT
He married her and then casually discarded her within a couple of years, as was his wanton will.
Oh. He wasn’t very tall was he?
He stood tall, wide and high when it came to wooing.
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Post by Isapop on Nov 13, 2021 2:21:41 GMT
One of the few movies that I can watch half a dozen times and still not understand half of what’s happening. Don't feel bad. Howard Hawks: We made a picture that worked pretty well called [The] Big Sleep, and I never figured out what was going on, but I thought that the basic thing had great scenes in it and it was good entertainment. After that got by, I said, ‘I’m never going to worry about being logical again.’www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/interviews/audience-howard-hawks-1971
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Post by politicidal on Nov 13, 2021 2:25:45 GMT
Middle-tier one for me but it's still worth a look.
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Post by jervistetch on Nov 13, 2021 2:43:44 GMT
Still hoping for a moment like this whenever I visit a bookstore.  |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 13, 2021 5:02:02 GMT
Still hoping for a moment like this whenever I visit a bookstore. Then you'd best be prepared: never go into a bookstore without a bottle of pretty good rye in your pocket (and wait until it rains).
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Post by phantomparticle on Nov 13, 2021 12:42:45 GMT
Big fan of this movie.
As for the "incomprehensible" plot, whether by design or pure accident, it puts us squarely in Marlowe's shoes. Most films give the audience clues that keep them a step ahead of the hero. Here, we don't know anything before hand and are forced to do just as much speculative detective work as our confused protagonist.
It's Chinatown, Bogie.
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Post by mikef6 on Nov 13, 2021 15:48:22 GMT
I reread Chandler’s novel this last summer. The movie follows the book’s plot pretty closely meaning that one is just as complicated as the other. Happily, the screenwriters didn’t try to smooth out the mystery story into an easy to swallow pill.
One difference between the two media comes in the opening pages/scene (and it made me laugh). Marlowe is described as over six feet tall. Bogie was 5’8” (my height). So, the exchange between Marlowe and Carmen goes like this:
Book:
Carmen: You’re awfully tall aren’t you?
Marlowe: It’s not my fault.
Movie:
Carmen: You’re not very tall are you?
Marlowe: I try to be taller.
Good for Bogart to take a joke on himself.
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Post by Seto on Nov 14, 2021 13:18:13 GMT
It’s a very good movie. Bogart and Hawks really make it a classic, although I wouldn’t call this film-noir. Our lead characters are too white-washed and the tacked on happy ending is anything but film-noir.
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Post by timshelboy on Nov 14, 2021 14:52:19 GMT
He married her and then casually discarded her within a couple of years, as was his wanton will.
Oh. He wasn’t very tall was he? i believe his lap was adequately proportioned..... 
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Post by timshelboy on Nov 27, 2021 15:43:39 GMT
THE BIG SLEEP just aced the competition to be voted Best Film of 1946 in the just announced results of the ICM Forum best of year poll - slim margin but a clear winner!
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