Review of The Big Sleep (1946) by Rainer K — 11 Nov 2012

What I love most about film noir is, that the genre's greatest all have such terrific scripts. Chinatown for example has imo still the best script strictly in terms of composition, plot structure and finesse.

The Big Sleep is not much worse either though. A refreshingly twisted and even complicated plot (I mean it as a compliment) and typical Howard Hawks rapidfire dialogues make it a very pleasant movie experience.

Humphrey Bogart alone is coolness in person but the suave dialogue and a congenious screen partner like Lauren Bacall make him a league of his own.

The scenes between the two are for the ages, although, admittedly, dialogue is only a secondary feature of the movie.

The Big Sleep is, what I call a "plot-movie". A film where the main emphasis lies on the story, the process and the final twist(s) that catch us completely by surprise.

After watching it, I'm not surprised that the screenwriters and producers wired Raymond Chandler (the author of the novel it's based on) to ask him for details - and he couldn't answer it either.

It's a tour de force for Humphrey Bogart's Philip Marlowe a PI who's hired to uncover a blackmail scandal involving wealth General Sternwood and his two promiscuous daughters. Soon, Marlowe has to realize that there's way more than only blackmailing and he subsequently ends at gunpoint numerous times and also encounters a bunch of dead bodies on his way.

As I said, the film manages to leave us in the dark about details and plot points although I never got the feeling that I couldn't follow - Hawks does it quite smartly.

One of the most suspenseful noirs I've ever seen and a great Bogey performance - a must-see!