The Big Sleep (1946) directed by Howard Hawks, starring Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall / Z-View
The Big Sleep (1946)
Director: Howard Hawks
Screenplay: William Faulkner & Leigh Brackett & Jules Furthman based on the novel by Raymond Chandler
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone, Bob Steele and Elisha Cook, Jr.
Tagline: The Violence-Screen’s All-Time Rocker-Shocker!
The Plot…
Private Eye, Phillip Marlowe [Bogart] is hired by a rich old man to stop his daughter Carmen from being blackmailed for gambling debts. The deeper Marlowe digs into the case the more seedy it becomes. Soon enough Marlowe is trying to sort out how Carmen is involved not only in gambling, but also pornography, murder and more.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Bogart was married, but his affair with co-star Lauren Bacall was on-going during filming. They were married three months after filming completed.
In the novel, the scene between Marlowe and the bookstore clerk was much tamer. Although only 19 years old, Dorothy Malone’s “mature sexuality” caused Howard Hawks to film the scene implying Marlowe and the clerk were going to have sex.
The Big Sleep is a classic.
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