rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1946
Directed by Howard Hawks; produced by Howard Hawks; screenplay by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman
Starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone, Peggy Knudsen
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
Private investigator Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) finds himself in a
jigsaw puzzle where almost every piece can be put on multiple places. We
don't know things for sure, Marlowe doesn't know things for sure and as I
have heard even Humphrey Bogart, great director Howard Hawks and writer of
the novel Raymond Chandler didn't know things for sure. Although it is like
this in the end you know what you need to know. That is because the movie is
not about the plot. The plot will keep your attention so it is a nice device
to make sure the most important things are seen. One of those things is
Bogart, another one is Lauren Bacall, and another is them together. Bacall
plays the oldest daughter Vivian of General Sternwood (Charles Waldron). His
youngest daughter is a nymphomaniac named Carmen (Martha Vickers). The
General hires Philip Marlowe to stop some blackmailing done by a guy named
Geiger. Not much later Marlowe finds Geiger killed in his own home. Carmen
is there when he enters after a shooting and a guy runs off. It seems that a
picture has been taken, probably a picture from Carmen. Around here things
get confusing. Vivian thinks her father hired Marlowe to find a guy named
Sean Regan. He was hired by the General before Marlowe to stop another
blackmailing but after they became friends he disappeared. People think
Regan left with the wife of Eddie Mars (John Ridgely), who was the landlord
of the dead Geiger. Somewhere around this point the chauffeur for the
Sternwood family Owen Taylor is found dead in his car because it ended in
the Pacific. Was he killed or did he commit suicide? And then we still have
both Vivian and Carmen. They both turn up a lot, most of time when Marlowe
is around as well. What intentions do they have? And I haven't mentioned
Bernie (Regis Toomey) yet. He is Chief Inspector who kind of helps Marlowe.
If you think this is a little confusing already, try to see the movie and
follow the plot. In the end it didn't all really matter. The main things, I
guess, are solved and the movie was made for Bogart and Bacall anyway.
The plot is confusing but nice in its own ways. Other things are more
important to make this movie a real classic. Of course we have one of the
best actors in the history of the movies. Humphrey Bogart is very convincing
as the private investigator. He is clever and has some great lines. I really
loved the scene with a bookstore owner (the real beauty in this movie,
Dorothy Malone). In her bookstore they seduce each other, close the store
for the rest of the day and have a drink. The dialogue and body language is
great. This is probably my favorite scene in the movie but almost every
scene with Bogart and Bacall is great as well. The famous conversation about
horse racing is one of the best and most fun I have ever seen. The movie is
a lot of fun. Although most of the time we have to rethink who we are
dealing with again, the supporting characters are all doing a very fine job.
Martha Vickers, John Ridgely, Dorothy Malone, Regis Toomey and Charles
Waldron are great. The photography in black-and-white looks good and the
music from Max Steiner really adds something to the atmosphere. The
dialogues alone make this worth watching, fortunately there is a lot more.