No, yes and no in that order (IMNSHO).
The film was groundbreaking in its way and that alone set
it
aside from its contemporaries. It dallied with noir but I
dont
think it's a noir film as such - Howard Hawks was having much
to
much fun for that.
The differences between the book and film are interesting
but
they are two different things and comparison is a bit
pointless.
Hawks was buzzing on Laren Bacall and her blossoming
relationship with
Bogart fueled a lot of the films narrative - such as it is.
Its about
them as much as anything. The film does not stand up to
close
narrative inspection - why oh why does Bacall keep popping up
for
example - but it is great fun. Take the scene where Bacall
and Bogart
are on the phone to the police - brilliant - and the double
meanings
of the 'horse riding' scene (which was added at the expense
of a scene
explaining the plot). Good 'clean' fun. Couldn't and wouldn't
want to
see that in Chandler. Here is a quote from the excellent
David
Thompson in his BFI monograph on "The Big Sleep": "The Big
Sleep
inaugurates a post-modern, camp, satirical view of movies
being about
other movies that extends to the New Wave and 'Pulp Fiction'.
In that
sense it breaks fresh ground while sensing the ultimate dead
end of
the form" Couldn't have said it better myself ("The Big
Sleep" BFI
Film Classics, BFI publishing).
Peter
----------------------------------------------------
Crimetime. The best magazine of its kind.
Issue 2.2 out Oct 98
www.crimetime.demon.co.uk/
ct@crimetime.demon.co.uk
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