Review of The Big Sleep (1946) by Lord N — 10 Mar 2011

I saw this one just today so I have seen all of the big Bogart detective films that I know of. My problem is going to be not comparing this to The Maltese Falcon.

Acting/Characters: Great characters. As with the Falcon, Bogart was the clear star of the movie. Bacall played second fiddle the whole movie to Bogart. But their screen chemistry was excellent I must say. It has to be because that particular pairing was quite famous. The rest of the characters weren't anything out of the ordinary for this kind of film. But They were all good. 10/10.

Plot: This was another plot that kept me interested the entire movie. Again though, I am having a hard time not comparing it to TMF. This film is inferior to the Maltese Falcon but that doesn't mean that this film isn't excellent. I loved the plot and I loved seeing where it went next. I wasn't disappointed with the overall resolution either which is always good. This was probably the best part of the film. 10/10.

Screenplay: Excellent stuff. No one liners that made the top 100 quotes list but if movies that made the best quotes list were the only ones with good screenplay then only 90ish films would have good screenplays. Anyways, I liked it. There was nothing in there that made me cringe and say "Oh Bogart, what the heck was that?" Bogart basically played the same character that he did in The Maltese Falcon, fast talking, smart, one step ahead of most, smooth detective. And he had the lines to go along with that. That part suited him well. I think that's why he won for The African Queen, it was outside his typecast. 10/10.

Likableness: This is a very likable film. I can see why it has stood the test of time and I certainly feel that it should be required viewing for anyone who fancies himself a film buff...and even if you don't, you still should see this one. It is quite excellent. 10/10.

Final Score: 40/40 100% (N).

TRIVIA TIME: 1. While working on the script, writers William Faulkner and Leigh Brackett couldn't figure out from the novel who murdered a particular character. So they phoned Raymond Chandler, who angrily told them the answer was right there in the book. They shrugged and returned to their work. Chandler soon phoned to say that he looked at the book himself and couldn't figure out who killed the character, so he left it up to them to decide.

2. Due to Humphrey Bogart's affair with co-star Lauren Bacall, his marital problems escalated during filming, and his drinking often resulted in his being unable to work. Three months after the film was finished, Bacall and Bogart were married. See, Brangelina wasn't the first time this happened. There was Bogacall too.

3. Raymond Chandler claimed that Martha Vickers gave such an intense performance as Carmen Sternwood that she completely overshadowed Lauren Bacall, and that much of Vickers' performance ended up on the cutting room floor as a result.

4. References are made by both sisters about Marlowe's height at the beginning of the film. Back then it was film convention for the male lead to be taller than the female and Humphrey Bogart was shorter than both leading actresses, a problem corrected on screen through giving Bogart platform shoes as well as trick photography.