The film stars humphrey bogart as private detective philip marlowe and lauren bacall as vivian rutledge in a story about the process of a criminal investigation, not its results. Its an aggressive cinematic force of charming apathy. In raymond chandlers the big sleep, private investigator philip marlowe goes to the wealthy general sternwoods home on a job. Two of the names mentioned most often in howard hawks the big sleep 1946 are owen taylor and sean regan. The big sleep is the best scripted, best directed, best acted, and least comprehensible film noir ever made. Film noir conventions in the big sleep bears film journal. It is, above all, a style, and hollywoods greatest stylist, howard hawks, made one of the. On this day in 1946, the classic private eye film starring humphrey bogart and lauren bacall premiered in new york. The film i saw, however, wasnt the 1946 bogartbacall classic which i.
I liked it and i felt it, but i dont think i really analyzed it as i might do now, but i was. Even without the curiosity of the 1944 version, the big sleep remains one of hollywoods most intriguing and enduring examples of film noir. The big sleep is such a great novel, but hawks treats his adaptation of it like a game an excuse to reteam bogart and lauren bacall, who hed introduced on 1945s equally essential to have and have not and who had subsequently married. The big sleep 1946 film study guide contains a biography of director howard.
To be sure, the big sleep is a masterpiece of style and another victory for director howard hawks ear for ratatattat dialogue. As what many argue is the first noir film, john hustons falcon made. Finally, the big sleep is invariably described as a film noir, a term coined by french critic nino frank in 1945 when a flood of dark hollywood thrillers made during the war eventually arrived on. Raymond chandler, who wrote the novel it is based on, allegedly claimed that not even.
An unseen guest, soon to be revealed as the films protagonist, humphrey bogart, is greeted by a butler at the front door of a mansion. Ad just two years prior, dick powell originated the role of marlowe in edward dmtryks noir. The big sleep 1946 is one of raymond chandlers best hardboiled detective mysteries transformed into a film noir, private detective film classic. The big sleep film noir characteristic by harles pengeston. This could be the very reason why for many of us, hawks version of marlowe and the big sleep is still so comfortable a vision, the smoothest and most serpentine of noir experiences. The big sleep howard hawks, 1946 begins with an entirely classic film noir thrust. The big sleep, is widely considered one of the best film noir, but is it really noir. Finally, the big sleep is invariably described as a film noir, a term coined by french critic nino frank in 1945 when a flood of dark hollywood. Film criticism also shifted in the 40s and 50s to include more artful analysis of movies suggestion. Sternwood is being blackmailed by the local bookseller. The big sleep is a 1946 film noir directed by howard hawks, the first film version of the 1939 novel of the same name by raymond chandler. The big sleep is a 1946 film noir directed by howard hawks, an adaptation of the. Humphrey bogart and lauren bacall star in what raymond chandler considered the definitive movie marlowe. The movie stars humphrey bogart as chandlers iconic herodetective philip marlowe and lauren bacall as vivian rutledge.
This successful adaptation of chandlers 1939 novel was from his first philip marlowe novel. The big sleep title card that followed, much like the plot of the movie. Seventy years since howard hawks electrifying film noir. A dream project with a dream cast and the result is a nightmare. As david thomson notes in his bfi film classic volume on the film, hawks achieves this triumphant dreamsense for marlowe by positioning him in a world where he is literally drowning in sexual opportunity.
The result purports to be a mystery thriller it would later be called a film noir, but its also a featurelength excuse to have bogart and bacall bat innuendo back and forth at each other with such relish that youre amazed such talk got past. Two cuts of howard hawkss the big sleep the new yorker. And since the whole idea of film noir was to live through unspeakable experiences and keep. One is the chauffeur for the wealthy sternwood family. However, 1946s the big sleep was not the first time the detective made the jump to the big screen. Take a look at the guardian and observer critics list of the best 10 noirs and youll realise things arent. The big sleep is a 1946 film noir directed by howard hawks, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by raymond chandler. What makes the big sleep a good example of film noir, and its elements. It was a rainy afternoon in london and i needed to kill a couple of hours, so i went to see a showing of the big sleep. A perfect match of screenplay, director, and leading man, the big sleep stands as a towering achievement in film noir whose grim vitality remains undimmed.
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