The Big Sleep
Along with horror and Westerns, film noir is one of my very favorite genres (if you can truly describe it as a genre). It has been a number of years since I last watched this classic, and at that time I probably couldn't see past The Maltese Falcon. But as I rewatched the film, I realized that this may actually be a superior film. Humphrey Bogart plays Philip Marlowe, the tough guy PI from the Raymond Chandler novel. There would be no point in trying to give a plot synopsis because it is complex and unscrutable. So much so, in fact, that by the time it was all said and done, even Bogart, director, Howard Hawks, and Chandler himself were left scratching their heads. But that's not the point. In fact, Bogart plays Marlowe with such assurance, that even when I'm not entirely sure how A led to B, I'm always convinced that he does. William Faulkner and Leigh Brackett contributed to the script (among others) which is one of the genres finest. The dialogue crackling, witty, and delivered at break-neck pace (as Hawks was fond of doing). Dialogue in a Howard Hawks film is like David Mament today. There are all sorts of shady characters in this seedy world, blackmailers, murderers, theives, pornographers, nymphomaniacs and the like. The screenplay is filled with innuendo that makes you want to laugh outloud because it's so clever and well delivered. The conversation about race horses between Bogart and his love interest, Lauren Bacall is classic. Hawks was never afraid of a dark story, but he always gave it a sense of respectablility.
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