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."

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.

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.

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.