(A Little Spoilers Included)
For readers of Raymond Chandler, to enjoy this noir adaptation, the first hurdle to conquer may be to forget Philip Marlowe in Chandler's novels and to accept Marlowe performed by Humphrey Bogart. Chandler portrays Marlowe as a private eye with professional ethics and pride, not a womanizer like Bogart Marlowe, who falls for a daughter of his client. In addition, even understanding the values in the 40s, it is hard to believe that Bogart Marlowe can easily attract many women.
The original story is too complicated to be adapted to a film; as a result, the plot highly relies on explanatory dialogues and is difficult to follow. For example, the viewers come to know that someone is tailing Marlowe when he asks Eddie Mars (John Ridgely) if Mars has someone follow him; this information should be given by a picture. The conclusion is abrupt; Marlowe figures out what happened to missing Shaun Regan completely out of the blue (He does so in the original novel, too, but the abruptness is less).
Aside from these problems, the film is a well-stylized enjoyable noir piece. As a prototypical femme fatale, Vivian Sternwood (Lauren Bacall) appears everywhere as if she was a criminal mastermind behind the scene, and develops a romance with Marlowe, while in the novel she does neither of them. These factors make the plot less convincing, but enhance the noir aesthetics. Mars' wife Mona (Peggy Knudsen) looks too plain as a mysterious woman in villains' den; the 1945 prerelease version has a more suitable actress (Pat Clark). The stunning last shot of Bogart and Bacall smoking represents what the film is all about.
For readers of Raymond Chandler, to enjoy this noir adaptation, the first hurdle to conquer may be to forget Philip Marlowe in Chandler's novels and to accept Marlowe performed by Humphrey Bogart. Chandler portrays Marlowe as a private eye with professional ethics and pride, not a womanizer like Bogart Marlowe, who falls for a daughter of his client. In addition, even understanding the values in the 40s, it is hard to believe that Bogart Marlowe can easily attract many women.
The original story is too complicated to be adapted to a film; as a result, the plot highly relies on explanatory dialogues and is difficult to follow. For example, the viewers come to know that someone is tailing Marlowe when he asks Eddie Mars (John Ridgely) if Mars has someone follow him; this information should be given by a picture. The conclusion is abrupt; Marlowe figures out what happened to missing Shaun Regan completely out of the blue (He does so in the original novel, too, but the abruptness is less).
Aside from these problems, the film is a well-stylized enjoyable noir piece. As a prototypical femme fatale, Vivian Sternwood (Lauren Bacall) appears everywhere as if she was a criminal mastermind behind the scene, and develops a romance with Marlowe, while in the novel she does neither of them. These factors make the plot less convincing, but enhance the noir aesthetics. Mars' wife Mona (Peggy Knudsen) looks too plain as a mysterious woman in villains' den; the 1945 prerelease version has a more suitable actress (Pat Clark). The stunning last shot of Bogart and Bacall smoking represents what the film is all about.