The Big Sleep
A FILM BY: Howard Hawks
WRITTEN BY: William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman
STARRING: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers
Without a doubt, one of the greatest PI noir films of all time, Howard Hawks' THE BIG SLEEP begins with Philip Marlowe (Bogart), a private dick hired by a wealthy family to deal with a blackmailer. But before Marlow can do his job, the blackmailer is dead and gangsters, chauffeurs, femme fatales, and henchman twist this narrative into a decidedly labyrinthine tale far more concerned with tone than plot, devoting ample focus to the inimitable magnetism between Bogie & Bacall, and the pull of Los Angeles' seedy underbelly.
Based on the legendary pulp author Raymond Chandler's novel of the same name, the film was adapted by none other than the powerhouse threesome of William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, and Jules Furthman. Famously, the filmmakers sent a wire to Chandler, asking for some clarity on whether or not a character was murdered or committed suicide, and his response was this: "They sent me a wire...asking me, and dammit, I didn't know either."
Technical Information
Production Year: 1946
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Run Time: 114 mins
Format: 35mm
Dark Passage
A FILM BY: Delmer Daves
WRITTEN BY: Delmer Daves
STARRING: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett, Agnes Moorehead
Vincent Parry (Bogie), imprisoned after being accused of murdering his ex-wife, escapes and in an effort to disguise himself, gets reconstructive plastic surgery. This bandage-wrapped refuge sets the tone (and POV--for the first half hour of the film, we don't even see Bogie) for DARK PASSAGE, the least loved (undeservedly so!) of Bogie & Bacall's four collaborations. Three of the four could be said to be markedly similar in their plot machinations and insistence in leaning upon the palpable tension between the stars, but Delmer Daves (3:10 TO YUMA, TASK FORCE) had a difference approach with DARK PASSAGE, which, more than any of its meddling noir fascinations, is truly concerned with a different, tender strain of Bogie & Bacall's relationship, in this absurdist, esoteric, and and stubbornly rewarding oddity.
Technical Information
Production Year: 1947
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Run Time: 106 mins
Format: 35mm
Key Largo
A FILM BY: John Huston
WRITTEN BY: John Huston, Richard Brooks
STARRING: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, Lionel Barrymore
Directed by John Huston (THE MALTESE FALCON, THE AFRICAN QUEEN) and co-written with Richard Brooks (BLACKBOARD JUNGLE) based on the Maxwell Anderson (THE BAD SEED, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT) play, KEY LARGO stirs up trouble where it is most easily found—Florida. Rounding out the quartet of noir movies starring real life married couple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, KEY LARGO lets nature take its course showing both literal and figurative destruction. Disillusioned postwar ex-Major Frank McCloud (Bogart) finds an old war buddies young widow Nora Temple (Bacall) at the pit stop Largo Hotel. Instead of the romance that usually follows in noirs, Bogart and Bacall find themselves held hostage along with James Temple (Lionel Barrymore) by 1940's America's worst nightmare, Cuban gangsters. What follows is in many ways a classic gangster shoot em up, but also a unique portrait of postwar America.
Technical Information
Production Year: 1948
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Run Time: 100 mins
Format: 35mm
To Have and Have Not
A FILM BY: Howard Hawks
WRITTEN BY: Jules Furthman, William Faulkner
STARRING: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan, Dolores Moran
Humphrey Bogart (having just come off the success of CASABLANCA and THE MALTESE FALCON) couldn't have been a bigger star at the time, and finding a co-star for him seemed an impossible task--that is, until 19 year-old Lauren Bacall arrived on the scene. Howard Hawks was no stranger to sensual, tension-fueled on-screen relationships (HIS GIRL FRIDAY, BRINGING UP BABY), but even he wasn't prepared for the smoldering, tangible, visceral sexuality between the wildly seductive gaze of Bacall and the cool, calm confidence of Bogart.
Bogart plays the captain of a fishing boat during WWII. Taking a break after a day of disappointments, he sees Bacall (who, is referred to as Slim throughout the film, as she was by Bogie in real life) crooning in a local lounge. After their eyes lock, what follows is one of the steamiest films ever committed to celluloid. Although it snowballs into a geo-political romance of a decidedly Casablancian sort, Hawks is only truly interested in the cat and mouse flirtation of Bogie & Bacall, building tension via blocking, perfectly placed close-ups, music, and heaps of loaded dialogue from none other than William Faulkner.
Technical Information
Production Year: 1944
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Run Time: 100 mins
Format: 35mm