I guess you could say my love for Humphrey Bogart began with the film noir The Maltese Falcon, one of my favorite movies. I just love film noir. It's so dark and hopeless, it's hard to believe it came out of Hollywood at the same time they were producing The Wizard of Oz and Singing in the Rain.

Anyways, my experience with film noir is restricted to The Maltese Falcon and the film I'm blogging about today, The Big Sleep. I want to venture out, but the thought of leaving Bogie is kind of scary. I watched The Big Sleep a few years ago (on an excellent date, by the way) and I have to say I was not a fan. It's such a convoluted story with many twists and turns and even more plot holes. Like most older movies, you have to pay near perfect attention to understand the story (and the first time I saw it I have to admit my attention was elsewhere).

So when I got this movie the second time around, I was sure to eliminate all distractions. The story follows a set up very similar to The Maltese Falcon: Bogart is Philip Marlowe, a private dick that plays by his own rules. It's great to see Bogart in a cocky role like this, fending off the likes of Lauren Bacall and various other loose women.

That's the thing I love about old movies. The women are so beautiful and they are often legends in their own right, not like nowadays when any flakey teen star gets spotlighted. Bacall plays a conflicted Vivian Rutledge, out to protect her deranged sister and rout out the sly Marlowe. They've got such great chemistry on screen, it's no wonder they hooked up so well off the screen.

I have to say I enjoy The Maltese Falcon better. William Faulkner actually helped write the screenplay, which might explain why the plot is so complex. The Maltese Falcon is so much easier to understand and it's got action throughout. The Big Sleep sort of hits a climax when Marlowe busts Joe Brody for blackmail, but then it sort of meanders as you wonder what the real story is. It took a few years and a second viewing for me to finally get it, but it was a film I really enjoyed in the end.

I'm not sure what's next on my list of film noir. Ever since I got Netflix, I have been watching movies I have always wanted to see: Arsenic and Old Lace, Casablanca, All About Eve, Bringing Up Baby, Rear Window and Singing in the Rain, among others. My favorite classic Hollywood actors would have to be Bogie, of course, Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe. I don't know what it is about Monroe, but when I saw her in Some Like it Hot, I was instantly in love. Also, I haven't seen a Hitchcock film I didn't love.

I'll be sure to share my thoughts on film as they appear to me. This week, I'm watching Metropolis, a silent film from 1927. We'll see how that goes. In the meantime, if you haven't seen a film noir, pick up The Maltese Falcon (or if you're willing, The Big Sleep) and let me know what you think.

"My, my, my! Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains! You know, you're the second guy I've met today that seems to think a gat in the hand means the world by the tail." ~ Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe, The Big Sleep