All of that changes, as films noir suggests, when Harry Jones is poisoned within earshot of Marlowe. Harry is a pint-size fellow who’s not really in “the game.” To paraphrase McNulty from The Wire, although Jones has gotten mixed up in things, he’s really just a “citizen” – a regular person who got in this mess. When he’s killed, after being interrogated and giving up the information his interrogator works, Marlowe’s perspective changes, as does the tone of the film. This leads to the final death of the poisoner’s boss which, as films notes, is a brutal and vicious act.

So I would agree with films that, ultimately, this film goes to a very dark place, darker than Chandler intended. But most of its success, both at the time and to this day, is based on the dry humor and sexual tension that Daniel highlighted.

Come on boys, the gauntlet has been thrown down!

The actions of Marlowe in the final reel are disturbing. He is almost a proto-Dirty Harry. Clearly shaken by the death by poisoning while he stood by of the small-time hood who leads Marlowe to the final showdown, Marlowe responds with vengeful brutality in the shootout with the goon, Canino, and then in the final scene when he engineers the unnecessary killing of the crooked casino-operator, Eddie Mars. This final killing was not in Chandler’s book, and it is this dark twist that makes the movie a noir.

Thanks for those thoughts, Alexander. You are the teacher and I’m the student…

Also, Dorothy Malone as the bookstore proprietress is worth seeing all by itself. Thank you, Howard Hawks.

Daniel, without typing out an essay on the subject, I would say that The Big Sleep arguably–quite arguably, actually–helped to create the sometimes greater emphasis on style rather than substance, for lack of much better terminology. That isn’t to say there is no depth to The Big Sleep in the least. However, much of the film was reshaped between most of its principal photography, consumption of dailies by Hawks and the studio and what Hawks eventually turned out. Hawks was told that certain scenes he had shot, like one with Baccall’s character wearing a veil, for one, simply didn’t work–and that he hadn’t quite recaptured the dynamic “insolence” of the Bogart-Baccall repartees of 1944’s To Have and Have Not. So, some scenes were reshot, and Hawks placed greater emphasis on recapturing the “insolence,” especially of Baccall.

The Big Sleep was indeed a film marketed in a way that capitalized on the stars and the pulpy storyline and violence. The tagline was “The Violence-Screen’s All Time Rocker-Shocker!” and “The Picture They Were Born For!” (speaking of Bogart and Baccall).

One of my favorites is for the next year’s Out of the Past, “It’s like lightning kissing thunder when Mitchum makes love to a girl with a gun.”

Alba? McAdams? Nah, neither has the eyes or the voice. Scarlett Johannson?

I would pick Rachel McAdams.

Regarding the star rating, well if this isn’t a noir classic than I don’t know what is, but I tried to grade it a little more within a vacuum than within the context of noir, if that makes sense. It’s hard for me to forgive the messiness of the plot, even if it’s by design.

Haha, when I win a Pulitzer you’ll be the first person I thank, Miranda. And I should say, your vocabulary really is much better than most. I’m surprised “moat” doesn’t somehow make sense in that sentence…:-)

But it’s not THAT big.

These things happen when I’m tired. Unfortunate but true.

I much prefer that people think I’m perfection personified. I’ve all ready got everyone OFF the net fooled.

But now there’s a crack in my facade. Alas.

It would have to happen at your site, which is fab BTW.

Oh, well. I’ll live…

It’s only about 8:15 AM here.

Time for my nap…

You are the man, sweetie. Moat definitely.

I loved this. Crackling good read that cuts to the heart of the matter in righteously eloquent fashion.

When you win that Pulitzer, I’ll be there.

With bells on…

I really love this film…I should probably check it out again, soon.