The Big Sleep (1946)

You'll like what you hear in The Big Sleep even if what you see leaves you a little confused.

This 1946 crime film from director Howard Hawks offers plenty of great lines and a cast chock full of Hollywood greats and character actor veterans.

General Sternwood (Charles Waldron in his last screen credit) wants private eye Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) to clean up the latest mess left by his youngest daughter. Sternwood, crippled and dying, knows said child, Carmen (Martha Vickers) and Vivian (Lauren Bacall) are "pretty and pretty wild."

Marlowe is soon up to his neck in a trail of blackmail, murder and cover-ups. Sternwood's daughters live up to their reputation rubbing shoulders with gamblers, pornographers and henchmen.

Sparks fly between Marlowe and Vivian. Heck, sparks fly between Marlowe and just about every woman he meets including a cab driver (the only time I can ever remember seeing a 20-something shapely lady behind the wheel of a taxi) and a book store owner (Dorothy Malone, still alive at 88).

I keep notes when I'm watching films, but tracking this storyline is a doozy. If you can understand it all in one viewing, my hat's off to you. Well done. Instead, I'll highlight some of this film's best lines:

Marlowe: "I don't know how much trouble you're used to, but I hope you've had plenty of practice dodging it."

Eddie Mars (John Ridgely): "I could make your business mine."
Marlowe: "You wouldn't like it. The pay's too small."

Marlowe: "My, my, my. Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains."

As an added bonus, Elisha Cook - the hapless goon who tracked Bogart's Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon is back for a small role. Here he's Harry Jones, a hood trying to cash in on some information. Cook, it's good to see you again after your great work in John Huston's directorial debut.

I'll spend some more time trying to figure out the plot. Give this film a go. It's a Hollywood classic.

RATING: 9/10

Born to Kill (1947)

RATING: 3/10

Born to Kill is a deadly waste of time.

This 1947 film noir from director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music, West Side Story) starts with plenty of promise.

TWO GUYS, ONE GIRL, A BIG PROBLEM

Laury Palmer (Izabel Jewell) is playing two boyfriends off each other. That approach to man management turns out badly when fella No. 1, Sam Wild (Lawrence Tierney), spots Laury with fella No.2 at a casino. Sam's a bit of a loose cannon, the type of man who snaps and acts violently before he thinks.

See some symbolism here? He's wild. The three find themselves in a casino, taking their chances.

Wild murders Palmer and her other beau in a tense scene in the kitchen of the boarding house where she lives. This is Born to Kill's best scene. Wild is a brutal killer.

Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) is a short-term resident of the same building. She's in Reno to get a divorce. We don't learn much about her former better half, but we learn early on she doesn't think much of most men. They're turnips, a term this movie-goer has not heard before, suggesting they are useless or not wanted.

ON THE ROAD TO SAN FRANCSICO

Brent spotted Wild at the casino. There's more symbolism as she places bets for, and against, him as he throws the dice. She finds the two dead bodies, considers calling police, but doesn't. Brent was already due to head back to San Francisco where she lives with her very well-off foster sister, Georgia Staples (Audrey Long).

Wild's buddy, Marty Waterman (Elisha Cook, Jr.) suggests he clear out of town and head to San Francisco while he tracks the police investigation into the murders.

He and Brent meet up on the same train. There are sparks between them.

Born to Kill is a very entertaining film up to this point. But, boy, do the wheels fall off the bus quickly. I appreciate things move along a little faster on the screen than in real time, but come on. Within about five minutes of screen time Staples and Wild are married.

HEY LANDLADY, DID YOU MISS THE CLUE?

Brent still has the hots for Wild. Wild is cold to Staples. With all those romantic entanglements going on, boarding house landlady Mrs. Kraft (Esther Howard) has hired private eye Matthew Albert Arnett (Walter Slezak) to find Laury's killer. Maybe all that beer drinking has affected Mrs. Kraft's short-term memory. Laury did make mention of her physically impressive boyfriend who appeared likely to get very angry if he was double-crossed.

Born to Kill's best moments come from the supporting cast. Cook is the eager-to-help friend who has no qualms covering the tracks of a murderer, including doing some killing on his own, if needed. Howard is a weary older woman who wants justice for the young woman she admired. Slezak is a private eye with ethics that are hard to see. He's eager to look the other way for a price. "I am a man of integrity, but I'm always willing to listen to an interesting offer," he says. "Obstructing the wheels of justice is a costly affair."

OH, BROTHER

The last five minutes of Born to Kill rank as the most ludicrous 300 seconds of film I have watched in some time. I jotted "Oh, brother" in my notepad upon the first viewing. The second time around I sat slack-jawed at how silly things became.

There are many better film noirs to watch. Leave this one in the dark.