Yes, the plot is incredibly convoluted, but so was the source material. In fact, they say that Hawks contacted Chandler directly to find out who killed Owen Taylor, the Sternwoods' chauffeur, and even Chandler couldn't figure it out. I am convinced that it was Joe Brody.
I will not repeat what the other commentators have said, but I think that the best scene of all has been largely overlooked. Bogart grilling Joe Brody (Louis Jean Heydt) about his activities during the evening of Arthur Gwynn Geiger's murder. Brody squirming in his seat desperately trying to avoid eye contact with Marlowe as Marlowe follows him around the couch saying "Try looking at me, Joe."
A couple of great lines were also omitted from the list of great lines at the beginning of the thread.
Eddie Mars pulls a gun on Marlowe and says, "Do you mind?" Marlowe: "No, I'm used to it."
Mars to Marlowe: "Open the door." Marlowe: "Open it yourself. I've already got a client."
Brody to Marlowe: "I guess you think I'm dumb, huh?" Marlowe: "Just average for a grafter."
Plus the traditional Hawks overlapping dialogue in which Agnes twice says, "He gives me a pain in my ---," and each time she is interrupted before she can finish the sentence.
There are two ways to make more sense of the incomprehensible plot. One is to read the novel; the other is to see the far inferior remake. For example, both explain what happened to Sean Regan ("Rusty Regan" in the book) while this version does not.
In the book, Carmen sneaks into Marlowe's apartment and is waiting in his bed in the raw when he returns. However, he resists her offer and throws her out causing her to become unhinged. Marlowe figures out that the same thing happened when Regan refused her advances and that she killed him because Carmen does not like being told "no". This is impossible to figure out from the 1945 version, probably because of the Code that was in effect at the time.
I agree that Bogart's Marlowe and Spade are totally different characters. Sam Spade was a pure reflection of John Houston. Tough, hardboiled, sardonic, dismissive of women, totally in charge, and laden with a sense of vague morality at best.
By contrast. Bogart's Marlowe is a far more realistic, less glamorized, version of the private eye: Ex-DA investigator; knowledgeable about things that only cops know; a lone wolf with his own code of morality; and the desire to do the right thing barely hidden under a veneer of cynicism and world weariness.
Also, even though only 3 years elapsed between the making of the "Falcon" and "The Big Sleep," Bogie aged dramatically in those three years.
This movie truly has it all: vintage 40's noir; the Bogart-Bacall mystique; superb supporting performers; an engrossing mystery populated with intriguing characters; and a marvelous capturing of the feel of old L.A.
This one should be firmly ensconced in everyone's all time Top 10.
I will not repeat what the other commentators have said, but I think that the best scene of all has been largely overlooked. Bogart grilling Joe Brody (Louis Jean Heydt) about his activities during the evening of Arthur Gwynn Geiger's murder. Brody squirming in his seat desperately trying to avoid eye contact with Marlowe as Marlowe follows him around the couch saying "Try looking at me, Joe."
A couple of great lines were also omitted from the list of great lines at the beginning of the thread.
Eddie Mars pulls a gun on Marlowe and says, "Do you mind?" Marlowe: "No, I'm used to it."
Mars to Marlowe: "Open the door." Marlowe: "Open it yourself. I've already got a client."
Brody to Marlowe: "I guess you think I'm dumb, huh?" Marlowe: "Just average for a grafter."
Plus the traditional Hawks overlapping dialogue in which Agnes twice says, "He gives me a pain in my ---," and each time she is interrupted before she can finish the sentence.
There are two ways to make more sense of the incomprehensible plot. One is to read the novel; the other is to see the far inferior remake. For example, both explain what happened to Sean Regan ("Rusty Regan" in the book) while this version does not.
In the book, Carmen sneaks into Marlowe's apartment and is waiting in his bed in the raw when he returns. However, he resists her offer and throws her out causing her to become unhinged. Marlowe figures out that the same thing happened when Regan refused her advances and that she killed him because Carmen does not like being told "no". This is impossible to figure out from the 1945 version, probably because of the Code that was in effect at the time.
I agree that Bogart's Marlowe and Spade are totally different characters. Sam Spade was a pure reflection of John Houston. Tough, hardboiled, sardonic, dismissive of women, totally in charge, and laden with a sense of vague morality at best.
By contrast. Bogart's Marlowe is a far more realistic, less glamorized, version of the private eye: Ex-DA investigator; knowledgeable about things that only cops know; a lone wolf with his own code of morality; and the desire to do the right thing barely hidden under a veneer of cynicism and world weariness.
Also, even though only 3 years elapsed between the making of the "Falcon" and "The Big Sleep," Bogie aged dramatically in those three years.
This movie truly has it all: vintage 40's noir; the Bogart-Bacall mystique; superb supporting performers; an engrossing mystery populated with intriguing characters; and a marvelous capturing of the feel of old L.A.
This one should be firmly ensconced in everyone's all time Top 10.