The Big Sleep (1946)

Howard Hawks

USA

114 min (116 in 1944 pre-release), black and white, English

Marlowe: Hmm.
Sternwood: What does that mean?
Marlowe: It means "hmm."

The first Chandler novel goes to the big screen with Humphrey Bogart perhaps the quintessential Marlowe, the hard-boiled shamus. The film has a curious story, being shot in 1944 and not released until two years later with 18 minutes of footage reshot or altogether deleted. The Warner DVD features a short documentary with comparisons between the two versions, which are themselves both included. The reason for the delay? When Bacall's career nearly tanked after the scathing reviews of her 1945 Confidential Agent, Warner decided to make her character Vivian a bit more risque and sharp so she could stand up to Bogart's Marlowe, an effort to capture their earlier chemistry in To Have and Have Not. The result is a clearly superior version, as anyone who compares the two would see. Unfortunately, the changes eliminated several key scenes that made the plot a bit more comprehensible, thereby earning the film the reputation of having a confusing storyline.

She tried to sit in my lap while I was standing up. I cry over my manners on long winter evenings.

By Chandler standards, the story line is straight as a hetero. My yardstick is whether I need a chalk board to track characters and connections. I got by with scribbling on the back of a box of matches. Although I still don't know who killed the driver, everyone else is pretty much guilty as charged. The plot follows Marlowe's own investigation and so we never know more than he does, which makes for a nice mystery. Of course, the mystery itself is only half the film.

My, you are a mess, aren't you? What do these look like, grapefruit?

The other half is very pretty, sultry, tempting, and witty. I don't mean Bogart who isn't sultry. I mean the bevy of women who must all be in NOW's hall of fame. Although some of them are quite peripheral to the plot (e.g. Dorothy Malone, the bookstore girl, or Joy Barlow, the taxi driver), the function just like the beauties in a Bond film, showing the main character's freedom to choose. This probably makes his falling for Vivian (Lauren Bacall) all the more meaningful. Or something. Maybe they are just lollipops to allow Marlowe some tongue exercises.

Do you sell books? If you were higher, you'd be a kite.

In The Big Sleep, Marlowe is hired by General Sternwood (Charles Waldron) to stop the blackmailing occasioned by the bawdy behavior of his daughter Carmen (Martha Vickers). Pretty soon people start turning up dead (sometimes vanishing after the fact), and Marlowe finds the the general's other daughter, Vivian, is both helping him and discouraging him in his investigations. Eventually, Marlowe's curiosity gets the best of him and he continues to pry on his own even after the case has ostensibly been closed.

You wouldn't like it. The pay's too small. A lot depends on who's in the saddle.

The signature Chandleresque rapid-fire delivery of clever one-liners keeps the pace up, and the chemistry between the two leads is undeniable. The crime story itself is not very inspiring, but the film is quite entertaining even if the "risque" scenes are not even PG by today's standards. In the classic noir tradition, all men are hard boiled, the women loose and fatal, and the environs gritty, rainy, and dark. For some reason everyone is witty too.

Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains. Maybe I wanted to hold your hand.

While Bacall is a bit wooden (the 1946 scenes are so much better, perhaps because she married Bogart in the interim), she does perform adequately even if not at the level of Malone (whose bookstore scene gives "four-eyes" a new meaning). Bogart is just Bogart, they don't come cooler than this. The direction by Hawks is steady and lets the characters find their ways through incessant talking, much like the chatty Chandler novels. There is no action to speak of (one "working over" was done in seconds and Marlowe recovers within an hour), and so the film's attraction comes mostly from the performances.

I liked that. I'd like more. He'll beat my teeth out, then kick me for mumbling.

The Warner DVD is decent, although not spectacular. Some additional restoration work could have added a bit more detail to the picture; the lack of detail is especially evident in the highlights of most scenes. However, including both the 1944 pre-release version and the commonly known 1946 theatrical release was inspired: for once we can see how studio meddling for marketing reasons can actually improve a film. Apart from the documentary, there is a trailer and talent files. Get it, this film is so much better than the 1978 remake.

August 1, 2004


She tried to sit in my lap while I was standing up.	I cry over my manners on long winter evenings.


My, you are a mess, aren't you?	What do these look like, grapefruit?


You wouldn't like it. The pay's too small.	A lot depends on who's in the saddle.


Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains.	Maybe I wanted to hold your hand.


I liked that. I'd like more.	He'll beat my teeth out, then kick me for mumbling.