Noir November: The Big Sleep (1946)

Directed by Howard Hawks, and with a cast that includes Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers and Elisha Cook Jr, The Big Sleep is a movie that I'm sure many could automatically rate as an outright classic. And it is one. Having said that, it's not perfect, with the main weakness seeming to stem from the source material (by Raymond Chandler). Perhaps I'm being slightly blasphemous, but there's never any real sense of danger here, or even anything that crops up in the second half of the film that causes you to care any more about how things will turn out. Of course, that's partly because everything is set up so brilliantly in the first half, with great characters given great dialogue.

Bogart is Philip Marlowe, that most famous of American private detectives. He starts to get himself into trouble, as usual, when hired by an elderly man (General Sternwood, played by Charles Waldron) to investigate a case of blackmail. The old man has two daughters, one a bit of a wild child (Vickers) and the other a real tough cookie (Bacall). Marlowe wants to ensure that neither one ends up being the focus of any unwanted attention, but he soon ends up with a corpse or two added to the mix, at least one missing person he wants to track down, and some heavies intent on stopping him from sticking his nose where it doesn't belong.

Hawks is a good director, as fans of classic cinema already know, but it's hard to appreciate his craft when the leads are stealing your attention throughout the movie. The script, by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman, absolutely crackles during every exchange of dialogue. I can't think of one major scene that doesn't have some eminently quotable lines in there. It's just a shame that it can't remain as pitch perfect when it comes to the twists and turns of the plot, and the resolution. The climax, in particular, feels a bit rushed and, well, anti-climactic. Perhaps that's because the case itself doesn't have too much to interest the viewer, or perhaps it's inevitable after so many great scenes filling up the rest of the runtime.

Bogart is brilliant for every second that he's onscreen, as he so often was with this type of role. Tough, verbally dextrous, smart, and cynical. Bacall matches him almost every step of the way, although her character does have weaker moments, as the plot demands. Everyone should know by now that the two have a chemistry together you can't manufacture so the real surprise comes from seeing how much fun occurs when Bogart shares scenes with Vickers (who is wonderful), the gorgeous Dorothy Malone (not in it for long, but long enough to make an impression), or Sonia Darrin. Waldron is very good in his relatively small role, Elisha Cook Jr. pops up for a few scenes, and John Ridgely makes for a decent antagonist (but is he a villain or a red herring?).

It's not a perfect film, not to me, but it comes close. Very close.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/TCM-Greatest-Classic-Films-Collection/dp/B002945DUM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1416317112&sr=8-6&keywords=the+big+sleep

Noir November: Nightmare Alley (1947)

Based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham, Nightmare Alley is a film that feels better suited to the likes of Tod Browning and Samuel Fuller than to any of the bigger names to have dabbled in film noir. It's a con movie that, like many con movies, ends up ultimately conning the audience, this time with a suave male star (Tyrone Power) and relatively light first half leading viewers by the hand down a darker and scarier path.

Power is a conman who works at a carnival, charming those around him while also trying to figure out the big trick that will get him fame and fortune. Thanks to an experienced phony fortune-teller (Joan Blondell), he eventually gets what he's after, looking poised to take the world by storm with the lovely Molly (Coleen Gray) by his side. But such trickery and manipulation rarely ends well for those lacking any empathy for the people they use, and it's not long until cracks start to appear in the polished mask that Power shows to the world. His desire for even more fame and money continue to grow with each success, making him increasingly desperate whenever he encounters any minor setback.

Directed by Edmund Goulding, this truly lives up to its title at times, especially in the final scenes. Power acquired the rights to the novel, securing himself a role that could take him away from his typecasting, and it's clear that everyone involved tried to stick as close as possible to the black heart beating away at the centre of events. This is a film that sets out to prove one thing - spend too long looking at showbusiness lights and when you turn your head you can still see nothing else. The glare remains imprinted on the eyes, leaving even the darkest recesses of the world nothing more than smudges of grey. And it's in those grey smudges that these central characters work, rest and play.

The leading man is excellent, as charming as he is repellent, and the ladies who share the screen with him (Blondell, Gray, and Helen Walker, who plays a psychologist) all do well by their characters. Gray may be playing a bit of a damp squib, but her beauty and innocence are absolutely necessary to avoid making the whole movie an unbearable feat of endurance.

Full of interesting characters, some choice dialogue, a few minor con tricks on the way to a big payday, and a constant sense of falling down the rabbit hole, Nightmare Alley is a film for those with a strong stomach and love of darkness. It's a powerful piece of work, one that puts on the finest silk gloves before delivering a no-less-painful punch to the gut.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Alley-Fox-Film-Noir/dp/B0007ZEO8C/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1413839791&sr=1-1&keywords=nightmare+alley

You know how you can show your appreciation for bloggers? If you share and share then every additional reader helps. Connect through Google or Blogger or any way you can, and rest easy in the knowledge that you've made little ol' me a very happy man.

And/or you could also buy my e-book, that has almost every review I've written over the past 5 years. It's very reasonably priced for the sheer amount of content.

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.