Tote schlafen fest (1946)

Tote schlafen fest: Directed by Howard Hawks. With Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers. Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he’s seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love.

“The Big Sleep (1946)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEven hardened film noir and Humphrey Bogart fans admit that this is one confusing movie. It makes sense, but it is edited down to such essentials, and it barrels along with the intensity of a bullet in a smoky canyon using overlapping dialog e and a shower of names, half of whom end up dead, itu0026#39;s really an impossible job for a mortal viewer.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd thatu0026#39;s where itu0026#39;s aura, and magic, and legend, lie. Itu0026#39;s a great film, and if itu0026#39;s flawed by its excessive velocity, itu0026#39;s defined by it, too. Enjoy Bogart as such, and Lauren Bacall for her sporadic appearances, and for Elisha Cook Jr. for a brief, wonderful splash. All the side characters, even the ones who are clearly only characters, are dripping with criminal drama. The photography is dark but never obscure, the action is fast but never unreasonable, and the lines are classic noir.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn fact, the dialog, if you are paying attention, is one of the gems of 1940s movies–really witty and cutting, and cunning. The movie is brilliant top to bottom, if only you could keep track of what was going on. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSuggestions: Read the plot in the Wikipedia entry before you watch the movie a second time. (The first time, just dive and and get lost. Itu0026#39;s too much fun to care, if you can let go.) Watch Bogartu0026#39;s delivery, his physical presence, his wherewithal. Listen to Bacall sing (pretty darned good). Watch the amazing light and camera work (Sydney Hickox) with itu0026#39;s constantly moving perspective and layers of action. Follow the score (Max Steiner) which is appropriately restrained, turning just slightly when Bogart and Bacall are in scenes together. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHoward Hawks pulls of a quirky masterpiece here. You get to the end and frankly donu0026#39;t care too much, perhaps, about the outcome, about who survives and what their futures might hold. But thatu0026#39;s fine, too. It might just make you want to watch it again. Good filmmaking does that.”