There’s a legend about the making of The Big Sleep that the filmmakers contacted author Raymond Chandler
to ask who had killed the chauffeur in his Philip Marlowe detective tale. He
replied that he had no idea. The story, true or not, illustrates the
mind-bendingly complex plotting of this classic film noir that has enough plot
twists, double crosses, and murders to fill three or four movies.
Humphrey Bogart is Marlowe, the private detective hired
by the wealthy patriarch of the Sternwood family to deal with a blackmail
scheme involving Carmen (Martha Vickers), the younger of his two daughters. Vivian
Rutledge, the elder daughter played by Lauren Bacall, involves herself, setting
off a tension-filled relationship between her and Marlow for the remainder of
the film. To try to recount the plot or even the basic story would result in a
senseless explanation. As directed by Howard Hawks, The Big Sleep is an exercise in style. This is one of the great classic
noirs, though it does lack a number of the genres hallmarks.
Marlowe is not a hapless dupe. He’s a witty and
intelligent hero who usually manages to maintain a position a step ahead of his
adversaries. Bacall is not a femme fatale, but a strong-willed woman caught up
in over her head with a nasty crowd. Even thinking through the film after the
fact, what I recall more than anything is the crackling dialogue that Hawks’
films were often known for, although this screenplay was written by William
Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, and Jules Furthman, and the great murky atmosphere generated
by the production design and lighting scheme by cinematographer Sidney Hickox.
The title refers to death, which pervades the entire
story. Just about everyone Marlowe comes into contact with meets an untimely
demise, all in various attempts by the one setting everything in motion to tie
up loose ends. The great pleasure of watching The Big Sleep is in the dialogue. With a screenplay rather faithfully
adapted from Chandler’s novel, this is snappy and witty writing of a first-rate
variety. Bogart’s delivery is emblematic of the persona he was known for – that
of the man with a sharp tongue, quick with, tough shell, and eyes that
constantly size up his conversation partner, whether it’s General Sternwood, Vivian,
Carmen, or any of a number of thugs and brutes that try to get the better of
him.
The history of the film is somewhat complicated. There is
an original 1945 version that the studio ordered recut to incorporate more
interaction between Bogart and Bacall like what worked so well in To Have and Have Not. The resulting 1946
version is what’s come down to us, although the original cut was unearthed in
the late 90s and offers an interesting comparison piece to see how minor
changes can affect the overall tone and flow of a film. As a result of the Hays
Production Code at the time, certain story elements more explicit in Chandler’s
novel had to be made almost imperceptible through subtlety or else cut
altogether. These include references to drug use, engagement in pornography,
nymphomania, and homosexuality. So the film becomes an exercise in reading
between the lines, which is an added challenge on top of the indecipherable
plot.
With The Big Sleep,
the best course of action is to go along for the ride, enjoying Hawks’ tight
and racy direction and the wonderful interplay between its two stars. Bogart
and Bacall were very much in love off screen, a fact that translates
instantaneously on screen when the two are present in a scene. You’ll also want
to watch for a great scene between Marlowe and a curious book shop clerk played
by the Dorothy Malone, who would later go on to win an Oscar ten years later.
The film is not exactly style over substance, because there is some meat to
this story. It plays into the larger film culture of the post-war period of
hard stories of desperation and crime with a bleak point of view. The film noir
genre was an offshoot of the kind of crime novels that Chandler wrote and The Big Sleep is a classic example. The Maltese Falcon kicked off this style
of storytelling and filmmaking a few years earlier and then Hawks set the bar
against which others are now judged.
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