Weekend Buff

The Big Sleep (1946)

I always like to read the book first. I find that having watched the movie, reading the book leaves less to the imagination. Characters and scenes are already set in the mind. I find myself just remembering the movie rather than enjoying the book.

Occasionally, after watching the movie, the book is enhanced in some ways. Most times the film destroys my perception of the book – crumbling the world that I had built in my mind’s eye. But every so often an actor’s portrayal of a character is indistinguishable from the author’s description and development. It’s like that actor was born to play that character.

That’s the impression I got when watching The Big Sleep (1946), with Humprey Bogart. Last week I read and reviewed the book by Raymond Chandler. This week I watched the movie directed by Hollywood legend Howard Hawks (Scarface, Rio Bravo, His Girl Friday). Humphrey Bogart plays Phillip Marlowe, the iconic character of Chandler’s creation.

Bogart and Marlowe were made for each other. The sarcastic wit, quick biting lines, and a face made for film noir made Humprey Bogart the perfect actor to portray Phillip Marlowe, the down on his luck but brilliant private eye. Bogart became the idol of wannabe detectives, and quite a few real ones too! I’ve worked with plenty of Detective Bureau types who had modeled themselves off Bogey’s Marlowe.

Bogart is joined on the silver screen by his wife, Lauren Bacall, who is excellent as the elegant but dangerous Vivian Rutledge. Bogart and Bacall were married just after the film was shot, and their on-screen chemistry is at its height here. John Ridgely and Martha Vickers round out the supporting cast, but Bogart and Bacall dominate the screen time. After their Hollywood-hyped marriage, Hawks went back and shot more scenes to give Bacall a greater role in the final product.

The final product is one of the quintessential examples of film noir. It is a model for later noir films and detective stories. It portrays dark, sleazy Los Angeles, a world of moral ambiguity, cigarette smoke, and dark shadows. The flawed hero character of Marlowe is the perfect noir protagonist.

The movie itself is vague in a way. Not all the mysteries are solved, Marlowe is focused on his case, and some homicides are more important than others. This adds to the moral ambiguity and leaves the audience hanging and wondering. It gives the movie more depth in a way.

The Big Sleep runs almost two hours. It can be rented on most streaming services for the usual $4. You have to pay attention watching The Big Sleep, as the bodies build up and the angles are dissected by Marlowe. But this is a great mystery movie, and that comes with the territory. Enjoy one of the greatest films of all time and a classic American character portrayed one of America’s greatest actors.

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