As the above title should indicate, I do not overly care much for Raymond Chandler. "The Big Sleep" is the only novel of his that I have been able to make it through and even that was an uphill struggle against crippling boredom. The effect was not unlike what I would imagine being pumped full of tranquilizers and being made to run the New York Marathon would be like. A big sleep, indeed...
Thankfully, because Howard Hawks did take the time to listen to his audience before releasing the version known best to later generations, he managed to hammer the movie version into something that never gets dull, not for a minute. Granted, you're not sure who's who, what just happened, or when the next dead body is going to hit the ground (this particular mystery has the highest body count of any I've seen in recent memory outside of "L.A. Confidential"), but the razor-sharp dialogue keeps things entertaining throughout.
Bogie could call himself Phil Marlowe, Sam Spade, Rick Blaine, or Howdy Doody for that matter, but Chandler, when asked about his performance in "The Big Sleep", probably said it best, "Bogart is always superb playing Bogart." Here, he plays that role probably the best that I have ever seen him do it. He takes more of a beating this time out than usual, worked over a couple of times and none too gently, either. The sense one gets is that he's a man trying to get a handle on a situation that keeps threatening to spin out of control. The miracle is that Bogie is able to keep track of the plotline better than the audience (including myself).
Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention a certain lady by the professional name of Lauren Bacall. She provides the film with it's other stable axis. She comes off as mysterious, tough, over her head in trouble, and head over heels in love. The moment where she and Bogie clicked into place for me was the phone "conversation" with the police line they dialed up. I get the impression that she didn't want Bogie to probe any deeper because she knew that he'd land in the spot she was in. Of course, getting info from her is like trying to pry open Fort Knox with a crowbar. She keeps her cards as close to her chest, if not closer, than Bogie. You never know where she's going to pop up next, but you know it's going to be interesting.
Now, to answer the all-important question of who killed Regan,...watch the movie again. Failing that, read the novel (if you can). The answer to that burning question IS there, but, like everything else in this film, it's tossed out so fast that if you blink, you miss it. Failing that, just enjoy it, I say. Bogie and Bacall pairings don't get any better than this.
Thankfully, because Howard Hawks did take the time to listen to his audience before releasing the version known best to later generations, he managed to hammer the movie version into something that never gets dull, not for a minute. Granted, you're not sure who's who, what just happened, or when the next dead body is going to hit the ground (this particular mystery has the highest body count of any I've seen in recent memory outside of "L.A. Confidential"), but the razor-sharp dialogue keeps things entertaining throughout.
Bogie could call himself Phil Marlowe, Sam Spade, Rick Blaine, or Howdy Doody for that matter, but Chandler, when asked about his performance in "The Big Sleep", probably said it best, "Bogart is always superb playing Bogart." Here, he plays that role probably the best that I have ever seen him do it. He takes more of a beating this time out than usual, worked over a couple of times and none too gently, either. The sense one gets is that he's a man trying to get a handle on a situation that keeps threatening to spin out of control. The miracle is that Bogie is able to keep track of the plotline better than the audience (including myself).
Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention a certain lady by the professional name of Lauren Bacall. She provides the film with it's other stable axis. She comes off as mysterious, tough, over her head in trouble, and head over heels in love. The moment where she and Bogie clicked into place for me was the phone "conversation" with the police line they dialed up. I get the impression that she didn't want Bogie to probe any deeper because she knew that he'd land in the spot she was in. Of course, getting info from her is like trying to pry open Fort Knox with a crowbar. She keeps her cards as close to her chest, if not closer, than Bogie. You never know where she's going to pop up next, but you know it's going to be interesting.
Now, to answer the all-important question of who killed Regan,...watch the movie again. Failing that, read the novel (if you can). The answer to that burning question IS there, but, like everything else in this film, it's tossed out so fast that if you blink, you miss it. Failing that, just enjoy it, I say. Bogie and Bacall pairings don't get any better than this.