In Los Angeles, the private investigator Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) is invited by the wealthy General Sternwood (Charles Waldron) to a meeting at his house. General Sternwood, who lives with his pretty and wild daughters Vivian Rutledge (Lauren Bacall) and Carmen Sternwood (Martha Vickers), explains that he has been blackmailed by the bookseller Arthur Geiger on Carmen debts in gambling. The general also tells that he had been blackmailed in the past by the scum Joe Brody (Louis Jean Heydt), but his Irish friend and shamus Sean Reagan resolved the situation. Then Sean decided to leave L. A. with Mona Mars (Peggy Knudsen), the wife of casino owner Eddie Mars (John Ridgely), but now Sean has gone missing. Vivian meets Marlowe when he is leaving the house and tells that she had borrowed money from Eddie Mars to pay for photos of Carmen.
Marlowe follows Geiger from his bookstore home and when he hears Carmen screaming, he discovers that Geiger is dead, Carmen is doped and also a hidden camera missing the film with photos of Carmen. Marlowe brings Carmen home and when he returns, Geiger's body is vanished. Then Chief Inspector Bernie Ohls (Regis Toomey) invites his friend Marlowe to go with him to see a body of the general's driver in a Packard that has been withdrawn from the pier. Marlowe connects the dots and is evolved by a complex network of blackmails and deaths while Vivian and he fall in love with each other.
"The Big Sleep" is a splendid film-noir, actually one of the best I have ever seen, directed by Howard Hawks with a magnificent story of blackmail and deaths and stunning performances. Lauren Bacall is the perfect femme fatale and Humphrey Bogart, my favorite actor ever, has another top-notch performance. The plot has many details and sleazy characters and I intend to see this movie again in a near future to "catch" details that might have gone missing. Last but not the least, I found the explanation of the title in Google that means "death" and is explained in the novel. My vote is nine.
Title (Brazil): "À Beira do Abismo" ("On the Edge of the Abyss")
Marlowe follows Geiger from his bookstore home and when he hears Carmen screaming, he discovers that Geiger is dead, Carmen is doped and also a hidden camera missing the film with photos of Carmen. Marlowe brings Carmen home and when he returns, Geiger's body is vanished. Then Chief Inspector Bernie Ohls (Regis Toomey) invites his friend Marlowe to go with him to see a body of the general's driver in a Packard that has been withdrawn from the pier. Marlowe connects the dots and is evolved by a complex network of blackmails and deaths while Vivian and he fall in love with each other.
"The Big Sleep" is a splendid film-noir, actually one of the best I have ever seen, directed by Howard Hawks with a magnificent story of blackmail and deaths and stunning performances. Lauren Bacall is the perfect femme fatale and Humphrey Bogart, my favorite actor ever, has another top-notch performance. The plot has many details and sleazy characters and I intend to see this movie again in a near future to "catch" details that might have gone missing. Last but not the least, I found the explanation of the title in Google that means "death" and is explained in the novel. My vote is nine.
Title (Brazil): "À Beira do Abismo" ("On the Edge of the Abyss")