The Big Sleep

10 Pages 2549 Words

by Warner Brothers in 1941. Same Spade, played by Bogart, is employed to recover a statue of a falcon garnished in jewels. Spade was a new type of detective hero and he influences every film noir detective made after the The Maltese Falcon.
However, Spade is a jaded hero who lacks compassion which is found in the later hard boiled detective films. When his partner Archer dies he is only concerned because of a detective code of ethics which doesn’t mesh with unfinished business. Spade heroism lies in his integrity, personal loyalties and professional responsibilities. Emotional attachments are liability in his environment which is cruel and unforgiving. In order to serve in such a world the hero must remain cool and never let anybody know what is on his mind.
The Big Sleep is based on the 1938 novel by Raymond Chandler by the same name. Philip Marlowe, Chandler’s detective hero, is always involved in complex plot lines, with numerous characters and often have endings that aren’t entirely fulfilling. The Howard Hawks 1946 version is considered to have one of the most confusing plots in film history. There are five murders which take place during the film and Owen Taylor and Sean Regan who are constantly mentioned are barely in the film.
Hawk’s epitomizes the trademarks of film noir in The Big Sleep. High contrast lighting, which mixes harsh highlights with deep black shadows, obscure and low angle camera setups and the deep focus, a relatively new technology that allowed for a wider depth of field, were all masterfully executed in this film. The imagery in the film creates a dark, clastrobhopic, disorienting world which matches it’s confusing plot line. Elements of the subject matter where inappropriate according to the Production Code so Hawk’s had to visually imply aspects of the plot such as pornography and narcotics. Hawks creates an exotic, mysterious world befitting of the film noir genre through his...