Howard Hawks’ classic pass at Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe is one of the true champs of Hollywood detective pics, giving no sign of the two year struggle to get it on the screen. Dense & twisty in its details, it feels completely logical as you watch, and almost ridiculously entertaining with smart scenes & sassy dialogue constantly moving the characters and plot forward.* Humphrey Bogart, at his most resourceful & confident as Marlowe, solves the case between fending off passes from every attractive woman he comes into contact with; winding up (of course) with Lauren Bacall, the only one to give him any grief. (Off-screen, restarting their affair as Bogie’s first marriage died; wedded before reshoots.*) It’s hard to think of a crime Chandler missed sticking in here, and the film is unexpectedly violent, with corpses and compromised morals all over the place. Plus, many unexpected faces for a Warners supporting cast, all perfect . . . pretty much like the film.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman & an uncredited Philip Epstein (on the re-shoots) in what must be the all-time All-Star writers line-up.
DOUBLE-BILL/SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Coming on the heels of Bacall’s smash debut (with Hawks & Bogart in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT/’44), Jack Warner precipitously threw Bacall into CONFIDENTIAL AGENT/’45 and nearly killed her career before it got going. (It did kill the film career of B’way director Herman Shumlin on just his second pic.) Hence, reshoots to bump up the Bogie/Bacall relationship. (The drier early release now also available.)
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