Phillip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) arrives at the Sternwood Estate and is met by Camilla Sternwood. She thinks he's cute but short. She hits on him. Though amused, he declines and meets with General Sternwood. It happens that Sternwood has received a large bill attributed to Camilla. He'd like Marlowe to deal with it. Marlowe agrees. On the way out the door, he is summoned to meet Sternwood's other daughter, Vivian Rutledge (Lauren Bacall). She grills him to find out what her father wants him to do and proposes that he is meant to find Sean Regan. While digging into Camilla's troubles - which becomes littered with corpses - Marlowe continual gets questions about Sean Regan. The rumor is that he ran away with a casino owner's wife. Why do all roads lead to Sean Regan?
Though the plot is generally inscrutable, the repartee is awesome. The banter between Bogart and basically everyone is a joy to watch. That every woman he meets is immediately in love with him is hilarious. Again, the dialogue is terrific and his sharp replies and keen observations show real talent from the screenwriter. As with To Have and Have Not, this was directed by Howard Hawks and had William Faulkner among the screenwriters.
Of the three versions of Marlowe I have watched, this is by far the best. Robert Mitchum was too old and the setting wrong in the 1978 version of The Big Sleep. Of course, that one was more willing to expose the dark features of the story that are left to the imagination here. Elliot Gould was horrendous in the astonishingly bad The Long Goodbye. Liam Neeson will take on the role later this year in Marlowe; I doubt he can match Bogart, but I'll be interested to see.
Highly recommended.
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