250 films, 250 reviews. This is a pretty crazy idea, but who doesn’t love a challenge? Here at Cultured Vultures we’ll be counting down the IMDb Top 250 with a review for each from one of our dedicated film writers. Everything from Goodfellas to Casablanca will be covered over the next year or so for you film lovers to enjoy. So you can’t say we don’t spoil you, you lovely lot. – Ashley, Project Lead
Those are harsh words to throw at a man, especially when he’s walking out of your bedroom.
Howard Hawks’ The Big Sleep is based on the 1939 novel of the same name by mystery icon Raymond Chandler. Chandler’s works, especially with his signature character Philip Marlowe, were a game changer for the literary community, changing the way detective stories were executed. Later noir and crime writers, such as Elmore Leonard and Nic Pizzolatto, owe a large debt to Chandler’s work.
The dark atmosphere of Chandler’s novel makes it a perfect fit for film even if its plot is complicated beyond what most two hour films can contain. While the film does end up struggling to keep the various characters and their allegiances straight, the impact of the film comes from the characters. It is because of these characters, especially Humphrey Bogart’s Philip Marlowe, that the film became both popular in its time and in film history. The plot is secondary, a vehicle that allows us to watch the film’s cast interact.
The Marlowe of the film and the Marlowe of the book are similar, but Bogart definitely brings his own style to the character. There’s the crisp, tough dialogue from Chandler’s novels, sure, but there’s also an extra layer of humor, sometimes at Marlowe’s expense, especially in terms of his height. Bogart’s Marlowe knows he isn’t the most imposing force nor the most respectable one; therefore, he intends to be the smartest one. Bogart sells this by giving the dialogue a playful quality. Lines such as “Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains” are mixed with philosophy and whimsy.
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The film is also aware of the detective genre it’s in and has Lauren Bacall’s Vivian Sternwood outright mock it by saying, “So you’re a private detective. I didn’t know they existed, except in books, or else they were greasy little men snooping around hotel corridors.” These jokes at the genre’s expense risk cheapening the film, yet the direction and performances prevent that from happening, resulting in a rare case where a film can point at its own ridiculousness and still have the audience at the edge of its seat. Hawks does an adept job at mixing humor and suspense, sometimes within the same scene. A perfect example comes halfway through the film when Marlowe enters the apartment of an armed Joe Brody. Marlowe snatches Brody’s gun and quickly talks circles around him and his assistant Agnes. Before the film becomes too comical, though, Brody is killed and Hawks cuts to a foot chase. Had Marlowe’s mocking of Brody and Agnes lasted any longer, the film would have veered too far in the comical direction. Hawks knew exactly when to veer back into a noir tone.
The dialogue is what drives the film, but it would be a mistake to concentrate only on the more playful lines. Some lines are quite memorable thanks to the viciousness in them. General Sternwood’s description of orchids near the start of the film nicely sets a nasty tone: “Their flesh is too much like the flesh of men, and their perfume has the rotten sweetness of corruption.” The script, by William Faulkner (yes, that William Faulkner), Leigh Brackett, and Jules Furthman, makes sure the dialogue always serves more than one purpose, sometimes acting as both exposition and characterization or as both atmosphere and foreshadowing. Every piece of dialogue feels as if it has been picked over five or six times until it was at its best (it is worth giving credit to Chandler, too, as some of it comes from his pages).
The film also has a sense of gleefulness to it when it attempts to skirt the censors with innuendo that is as close as one can get to text. The viewer can easily pick up on how the film is trying to incorporate ideas that might not have been seen as acceptable and this serves to make the film feel more daring and more suspenseful; there’s a feeling the film really can get away with whatever it wants.
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The success of The Big Sleep is reflected in how many films it influenced. There’s a reason the detectives in David Fincher’s Seven dress like Marlowe and there’s a reason Fincher’s film has a retro vibe to it, placing the viewer in the same headspace as The Big Sleep. When taking a look at the IMDB list, the surprise is not The Big Sleep’s appearance on it, but that it doesn’t rank even better. This is a film that even those who find themselves allergic to black and white will become immersed in.
Note: the IMDb Top 250 Cultured Vultures are using is based on the standings from the 16th of November. Inconsistencies may apply.
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