Philip Marlowe, protagonist of Raymond Chandler’s novels and the most iconic character of hard-boiled detective fiction, was embodied by many big stars throughout decades of screen adaptations. Among those stars the greatest is Humphrey Bogart, which shouldn’t be too surprising because the iconic actor built much of his stardom on characters that, like Marlowe, belonged to the world of film noir. It is Bogart’s performance in the role of Marlowe that, among other things, made The Big Sleep, a 1946 film directed by Howard Hawks, into one of the classics of the genre.
The film is based on Chandler’s eponymous 1939 novel. The plot begins when Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe is summoned to the estate of General Sternwood (played by Charles Waldron), a paralysed old man who hires him to handle the delicate matter of his emotionally unstable daughter Carmen (played by Martha Vickers) having to settle debts to a bookseller, A. G. Geiger (played by Theodore von Eltz). Marlowe also meets Carmen’s older and beautiful sister Vivian (played by Lauren Bacall) who inquires whether her father wants to solve the mysterious disappearance of his protégé, Sean Reagan. His investigation gets complicated when Geiger is killed and Marlowe learns that Carmen was the subject of blackmail. Geiger’s death is only the first in a series that involves various shady characters connected to Eddie Mars (played by John Ridgely), owner of a casino which Vivian apparently likes to frequent.
The Big Sleep runs for almost two hours and such length is quite justified considering the extremely convoluted plot and large number of characters. The film is actually somewhat notorious for not having all of its subplots explained or properly resolved, despite a screenwriting team that included such names as William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman. Viewers who aren’t hair-splitting perfectionists are, on the other hand, likely to enjoy a very good genre piece directed by Howard Hawks, an experienced and talented film-maker at the top of his game. Hawks puts the resources of Warner Bros. to good use, and that also includes atmospheric black-and-white cinematography by Sidney Hickox and a music soundtrack by Max Steiner.
But it is the cast that elevates this film to a higher level of quality. Humphrey Bogart, who was at the zenith of his popularity, obviously enjoyed playing Marlowe, finding a lot of similarity between him and other characters of tough, cynical, world-weary but ultimately resourceful men that had earned him such fame in the 1940s. He was also fortunate to be paired with Lauren Bacall, a young actress with whom he had started a famed relationship in front of and outside the cameras during his previous film To Have and Have Not. The chemistry between the two, which would make them into the most iconic supercouple of Classic Hollywood, is quite palpable. The film was originally to be released in 1945, but Bacall’s popularity and the publicity of her marriage to Bogart led to the film being reshot and re-edited one year later in order to have more scenes with Bacall and her character, which might explain some problems with the plot.
The rest of the cast is very good, with Martha Vickers as a crazy yet attractive young woman almost stealing the show from Bacall. Veteran character actor Charles Waldron is good in his last role, while Elisha Cook Jr., who had played young killer Wilmer Cook in The Maltese Falcon provides a small but memorable role of a petty criminal who gets more than he bargained for while getting involved in the shady dealings.
The Big Sleep is a very good film, but it is far from perfect. Most of its flaws can be related to omissions. The most noticeable is the lack of voice-over that makes this film less “noirish” than its reputation and Chandleresque credentials would indicate. Another omission, although the one the film’s authors had least to do with, is due to adherence to the strict censorship standards of the MPAA Production Code. In order to win the approval of the Hays Office, scriptwriters had to remove any references to pornography, drugs and homosexuality that had made key plot points in the original novel. The Big Sleep instead had to rely on the audience being intelligent and “sophisticated” enough to understand what certain plot elements and character motivations were without each of them being explicit. On the other hand, the script very indirectly suggested the somewhat looser morals of Chandler’s Los Angeles through a few scenes in which the protagonist is either flirting or being pursued by a small legion of women and in a manner that makes the film resemble a sex comedy.
Hawks, fortunately, wraps everything up in an exciting and action-packed finale that compensates for a lot of flaws. The Big Sleep was extremely popular at the box office and was greeted very well by critics. Its reputation as a classic grew through time and was confirmed by the 1978 British remake that, despite more graphic content including explicit violence and nudity, looked much inferior to the 1946 version.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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