THE BIG SLEEP (1946) *** Definitive film noire, but before we get into it let me introduce the band. On sandy lead vocals, fists, and fast-paced repartee of all kinds...Humphrey Bogart! Humphrey Bogart, man of the people, just doesn't like 'em or wanna be one himself. On rhthym guitar, discordant harmonics, lipstick ad and nightgown-Lauren Bacall. Ain't she purdy, purdy like a rattlesnake! Rhythm section and other dark things by John Ridgely and Bob Steele. Background vocals and peripheral appearances of note by Sonia Darrin, Martha Vickers, and Theodore Von Eltz. This has been a Howard Hawks presentation, incidental keyboards by Max Steiner. All songs written by Raymond Chandler, as interpreted by William Faulkner. Yes, the William Faulkner. Some bands are so good that it doesn't matter what they play, and reading just a few reviews of the film leads you to quickly realize that, while no one's entirely sure what they like about it, and many don't know what happened, they're all desperate to find an imperfection. It's difficult to follow, they say, or the plot isn't entirely realized, or there's no closure on one of the dead characters. What appears to be a convoluted plot is really more like one of those knots that you can practically shake out, no plot is ever completely realized, and dead people automatically have closure. So there are either no problems, or you can't help but have problems, neither of which is a problem, or either of which can be utilized by exteriors to postulate problems. If you followed that to any extent, you won't have a problem with the plot-if you ignored it altogether, you're ready for the film. It's fun to follow, rather than difficult; the dialogue is flashy and full of itself, rather than a clinical formula; and the actors spend so much time being themselves, rather than their characters, that Bogey and Bacall carried their romance right on home with them. How much more do you want from a film than that?
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