The Big Sleep

Tags

1940's, Charles Waldron, Crime, Dorothy Malone, Elisha Cook Jr, Film Noir, Howard Hawks, Humphrey Bogart, John Ridgely, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers, The Big Sleep, Thriller

Film Title

The Big Sleep

Director

Howard Hawks

Starring

• Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe
• Lauren Bacall as Vivian Rutledge
• John Ridgely as Eddie Mars
• Martha Vickers as Carmen Sternwood
• Charles Waldron as General Sternwood
• Dorothy Malone as Book Shop Girl
• Elisha Cook Jr. as Harry Jones

A film noir thriller at its most complex and convoluted, The Big Sleep is cryptic but endlessly entertaining stuff. With a real feel for the dark material shown by director Howard Hawks and the sultry chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, The Big Sleep keeps you glued.

World weary and intelligent private detective Philip Marlowe is summoned to the home of the old General Sternwood. The elderly and frail man is concerned about his youngest daughter Carmen, who has a reputation for being loose. She has had compromising photos taken of herself and someone is using the sordid images to blackmail Sternwood. The person that appears to be behind the blackmailing is a man named Geiger, whose book store doubles as a crime racket. The General also wants Marlowe to locate Shawn Regan, a confidante close to the family who has disappeared strangely. While at the house, Marlowe also encounters older sister Vivian, a more cool and collected lady who knows how to flirt with him, yet keep something of a distance. Investigating further into muddy waters, he finds that the blackmailing crime racket ties with the missing Shawn Regan, though Marlowe is bewildered by how they could possibly do so. Just as he gets close, Geiger is murdered, complicating matters even more. Yet it also transpires that Vivian may also have some involvement in the sinister activities as nearby shady casino owner Eddie Mars appears to have a strange hold on her that she desperately attempts to remain hidden. Quickly, Marlowe is sucked into a seedy world of corruption and double crosses where he is desperate to find answers, as everything is spun in a web of underhand tricks and cloak and dagger activities.

Howard Hawks majestically gets the hard-boiled aura of this Raymond Chandler adaptation, coating everything in a shadowy and seedy vibe as Marlowe journeys into a corrupt underworld of suspicion and classic noir. The black and white cinematography is employed in a pretty amazing way with chiaroscuro taking precedent here and making the atmosphere tangible to the audience from the smoky opening titles. Now I must talk about the plot of The Big Sleep, as it is one mystifying and at times very confusing puzzle. This is actually far from a criticism of this film noir thriller, because it grasps the attention, gets you to pay attention and often moves at such a blistering pace, you won’t realise certain things that don’t add up. Sure everything is pretty cryptic and has you scratching your head, but oh what fun there is to be gained from this movie because of its pace and sexual tension, that are kept on high from start to end. What really brings a film like The Big Sleep to life is the scintillating screenplay, that practically bursts with repartee and innuendo that is some of the most sexual dialogue to be found in a movie from the 40’s, when the censors where usually on full patrol to eliminate anything suggestive . The script takes full advantage of the Bogart/Bacall relationship on and off-screen and serves up some double entendre laden exchanges that push the boat out on risqué (be sure to check the scene between Marlowe and Vivian in which she uses horse-riding and saddles as a reference to another physical activity.) As dark and mysterious as the film is, heck it brings new meaning to the word confounding, there is a playful spirit tone gleaned among all the dodgy dealings, blackmail and sleazy events that are usually hinted at rather than shown. Max Steiner is on score duties and transfers every ounce of tension and stunning sexiness to the viewer, matching the dark yet enticing underbelly The Big Sleep has to offer.

Humphrey Bogart heads up things with a fine performance as the iconic detective Philip Marlowe. Bogart impressively injects the part with cynicism, a quick talking attitude and weariness from all the years on the job. You couldn’t have asked for anyone better than Bogart to essay this part, which he plays with charm, dashes of dry humour and smarts that tell him to keep looking for the outcome of a most baffling case. He is simply on point during the whole run of this movie and makes it look effortless. Lauren Bacall practically oozes confidence and enigmatic sexuality as Vivian, whose feisty encounters and suspicious behaviour form a lot of the proceedings, particularly as Marlowe finds himself falling for her. Bacall was only in her early 20’s in this film, yet she has the innate ability to project the impression of a young woman who has seen a lot, seems to be in control and is adept at being secretive. Having already showed their undeniable chemistry in To Have and Have Not, Bogart and Bacall pretty much set the screen ablaze here, as they once more trade innuendos and tantalizing dialogue that flows from their lips like vintage whiskey. You simply couldn’t have asked for a better pairing than Bogart and Bacall, as they where exceptional together, both on film and in reality. John Ridgely has enough slimy energy and enigmatic ways to keep the shady Eddie Mars memorable in the long run. Martha Vickers features as the childlike and coy sister whose extracurricular activities are the start of Marlowe’s investigation into the unknown. A stately presence is to be found in the work of Charles Waldron as the old General calling upon the skills of Marlowe to eliminate the scandal surrounding his daughter. Popping up in small but still memorable parts, there is Dorothy Malone as a coquettish book shop worker and Elisha Cook Jr. as a very tragic fall guy who comes off badly within the darkness in doomed fashion.

As mystifying and mysterious as it all is, The Big Sleep earns its status as a classic noir due to the hard-boiled style and the iconic partnership of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Written on the Wind

Tags

1950's, Dorothy Malone, Douglas Sirk, Lauren Bacall, Melodrama, Robert Stack, Rock Hudson, Written on the Wind

Film Title

Written on the Wind

Director

Douglas Sirk

Cast

• Rock Hudson as Mitch Wayne
• Lauren Bacall as Lucy Moore Hadley
• Robert Stack as Kyle Hadley
• Dorothy Malone as Marylee Hadley
• Robert Keith as Jasper Hadley

Douglas Sirk creates a withering indictment on the hollow lifestyles of the rich and a critical look at family in 1950’s America in the magnificent melodrama Written on the Wind. Douglas Sirk, often thought of as the king of melodramas, draws excellent performances from his cast whilst binding this story of a perverse and deeply messed up family in the trappings of a lurid soap opera that helps sow the seed for shows such as Dallas and Dynasty. But rather than turning the material into overheated tosh, in Sirk’s hands the film becomes a scathing and ironic satire with hidden depths on the nature of familial ties and the ways in which they sever.

The story concerns the lives of four characters caught in a paranoid web of anger, frustration and deceit. Mitch Wayne is a well-meaning worker for Jasper Hadley, a prosperous oil baron from Texas. He looks up to the man as he has been friends with his kids since childhood. Kyle Hadley, the insecure and alcoholic son of Jasper, is Mitch’s best friend and longtime confidante. Problems arise in their friendship when Kyle impulsively marries the intelligent and hard-working secretary Lucy Moore after a brief courtship. Since Mitch first met Lucy, he has carried an earnest longing for her, but out of respect for his friend has never acted upon his feelings. Rounding out the quintet is Kyle’s sister Marylee; a manipulative, frustrated nymphomaniac who will stop at nothing to sink her talons into Mitch even if it means driving a wedge between her brother and his long-standing best friend. Prepare for electric arguments, sexual frustration and the plaguing of inner demons as the four characters each bring out unforseen and tragic circumstances in each other in this frothy melodrama from Douglas Sirk that burns with a luminous intensity and critically views the trappings of being rich but unhappy.

The first thing that should be praised in Written on the Wind is the visual palette. Sirk’s longtime cinematographer Russell Metty bathes the scenes in a gaudy and vulgar brightness to highlight the pains that lie just beneath the material surface of the Hadley family. The costume design is perfectly chosen, especially in the trashy and flashy outfits sported by the bitchy Marylee as she weasels her way around her longstanding object of desire Mitch. The music is stunningly scored, capturing the dramatic resentment and intensity that will eventually implode the relationships of the quintet. Assembling a talented cast, Sirk lets them create convincing portraits of rich anguish, especially the supporting players. As the well-meaning Mitch who eventually begins to see his friendship sour with Kyle, Rock Hudson creates an earnest character who silently burns with a secret love for a women he knows he can’t have. Lauren Bacall is ideally cast as Lucy, who becomes a steadying influence on her husband as he descends into the depths of alcoholism but who ultimately can’t save him from the tormented feelings he holds inside. As the wayward playboy and tormented son of Hadley, Robert Stack boils with barely concealed rage as he becomes paranoid that his family and friends are turning against him. The real showstopper of the piece is Dorothy Malone in an Oscar-winning performance; who creates an indelible portrait of a scheming bitch burnt by rejection who sets in motion a series of tragic events. Whether flaunting her body by the lake, attempting to seduce Mitch at a family party or sending her old father to his grave with her feral ways, Malone imbues Marylee with a deliciously venomous streak and boundless seductive energy that radiates off the screen with a malicious glee. In a brief but memorable role, Robert Keith shows us the effects that his wayward children have had on him and created a weariness around him.

The story may sound like the same thing you’ve seen a million times on prime time soaps, but don’t let that put you off seeing Written on the Wind as it becomes a magnificently scintillating masterwork from Douglas Sirk. Even if the plotline doesn’t interest you one bit, the full-blooded performances, devilishly crafted screenplay and exceptional mood and setting may entice you into watching this scathing look at the frailties of the rich and resentment and tightly coiled emotions that eventually amount to shocking circumstances.