A
film review by Michael Reuben for Blu-ray.com on Feb. 26, 2016.
The Big Sleep isn't just a
detective film; it's the detective film. The characters are genre archetypes
(cynical shamus, dodgy heiress, blackmailed rich man and assorted gamblers,
chiselers and goons), and its dialogue crackles with the peculiar mix of wit,
intrigue and sexual innuendo that defines hard-boiled.
The seedily corrupt atmosphere clings to everything, much like the fetid air of
the hothouse where the hero-detective meets his new client. So thoroughly does The Big Sleep cast its spell that it's
the rare film which gets away with having an incomprehensible plot. Event by
event, the film is so engrossing that you end up not caring who did what to
whom. The filmmakers themselves gave up trying to figure out the mystery.
During production, director Howard Hawks
and his trio of screenwriters famously realized that one of the story's murders
had no killer and cabled novelist Raymond
Chandler for assistance. As Chandler later said: They sent me a wire . . . , and dammit I didn't know either.
Much
of the film's magic derives from the re-teaming of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren
Bacall, whose marriage after Bacall's scorching debut in To Have and Have Not made the pair one
of Hollywood's best-known couples. Warner Brothers rushed The Big Sleep into production to capitalize on the Bogart/Bacall
chemistry, and the film was completed less than a year later, with scenes
clearly intended to echo Bacall's debut (e.g., having her sing with a jazz
band, as she did in To Have and Have Not).
The trailer proudly announced: That man
Bogart—and that woman Bacall—are that way again!
In
an unexpected twist, however, The Big
Sleep had to be delayed, because the studio wanted to get all of its
war-themed releases into theaters before the imminent conclusion of World War
II. While the film awaited its turn, Bacall's agent persuaded studio head Jack Warner to expand and enhance his
client's role. When The Big Sleep finally
reached theaters in August 1946, significant portions had been reshot. Not
until the 1990s was a copy of the film's original cut, often known as the Pre-release Version, discovered in
the studio archives, allowing scholars to analyze the extensive changes.
The
Warner Archive Collection (WAC) has now added The Big Sleep to its roster of beautifully restored black-and-white
classics. The film is presented on Blu-ray as it was released in 1946, with a
copy of the Pre-release Version included in the extras in standard definition.
A detailed comparison of the changes by film archivist Robert Gitt rounds out the extras.
The Big Sleep finds Bogart
stepping into the shoes of Raymond Chandler's famous detective Philip Marlowe,
previously played by Dick Powell in Murder,
My Sweet. Here Marlowe's client is the wealthy and ailing General Sternwood
(Charles Waldron), who receives his
guests in a humid orchid nursery where he watches them drink the brandy his
doctor no longer permits him. Aside from a loyal butler named Norris (Charles D. Brown), the General shares
his home with two wayward daughters, who bring him nothing but trouble. The
elder, Vivian (Bacall), goes by her married name of Mrs. Rutledge, even though
the marriage is over (or, in Marlowe's cynical phrase, it didn't take); Vivian's father describes her as spoiled, exacting, smart and ruthless - a
description that would pique Marlowe's interest even if Mrs. Rutledge weren't
already sniffing around her father's reason for hiring a private investigator
(P.I.). The younger daughter, Carmen (Martha
Vickers), combines the worst qualities of a drug addict and a nymphomaniac,
greeting every man she meets with her signature catchphrase, You're cute! Marlowe's description sums
her up dryly: She tried to sit in my lap
- while I was standing up. Carmen is the immediate cause of the General's
current predicament; he is being dunned for her alleged gambling debts by a man
named Geiger (Theodore von Eltz),
who purports to be a rare book dealer but whose real business is blackmail.
Marlowe's
efforts to clean up the General's domestic mess drop both the detective and the
viewer into a cauldron of intrigue peopled by dubious characters, including yet
another blackmailer, Joe Brody (Louis
Jean Heydt), a gambler named Eddie Mars (John Ridgely) and an assortment of small-time hoods and enforcers.
Aside from Carmen's gambling markers, the case includes incriminating photos, a
coded journal of secret information and a dead chauffeur fished from the ocean
in a car belonging to the Sternwood family. Meanwhile, a lot of people want to
learn the whereabouts of a former Irish freedom fighter and bootlegger named
Sean Regan, who used to work for General Sternwood but has now disappeared.
While
Marlowe trades notes with his police buddy, Bernie Ohls (Regis Toomey) - another genre staple - he keeps his eye firmly on
the elder Sternwood daughter, Vivian, whose intense interest in the
investigation marks her as more than just a bystander. Alternately cajoling,
insulting, seducing and exchanging wisecracks, Vivian is one of Bacall's most
memorable characters, one who is ideally suited to the actress's purring
delivery and sloe-eyed insinuations. Still, Vivian has plenty of competition
for the P.I.'s attention, because women literally throw themselves at Marlowe.
The bookstore clerk (Dorothy Malone)
who helps him stake out Geiger, the taxi driver (Joy Barlow) to whom the detective gives the time-honored
instruction to follow that car, and
even the cigarette girl (Shelby Payne)
at Eddie Mars's gambling establishment all light up in the investigator's
presence. Detective work may not be glamorous or lucrative, but Bogart gives
Marlowe a confident animal magnetism that anticipates James Bond. Even Agnes (Sonia Darrin), the girlfriend/assistant
of the despicable Geiger, ends up looking at Marlowe with longing in her eyes.
But
just as the trailer promised, it's Bacall's Vivian who has to be the ultimate
destination for Bogart's Marlowe, a result that seems predestined from the
pair's first encounter, where they survey each other warily, feinting and
dodging. The resourceful P.I. does ultimately fulfill his assignment,
extricating the Sternwood family from the clutches of assorted villains,
handing the cops a neatly packaged bundle and earning Vivian's undying
gratitude. Having walked together on the wild side, the couple is finally ready
to get serious, after the credits roll. [Reuben’s rating: ****½ out of 5 stars]
Blogger’s
comment: Despite glowing critical reviews, I was confused by the
incomprehensible plot, which frustrated the original novelist Raymond Chandler,
the screenwriters, director, producers, actors and viewers. I mean, really…
there’s a murder victim with no perpetrator?
Labels:
crime, film-noir, mystery, thriller
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