--- Nathan Cain <
IndieCrime@gmail.com> wrote:
> I recently saw the first version of the film, and
I
> was pretty
> surprised at how explicit they were with
their
> sexual intimacy. Spade
> and Brigid kiss, and then the camera cuts to
a
> skipping record, the
> needle bouncing back and forth in steady
rhythm.
> Huston didn't dare
> pull anything like that. Overall, I think the
first
> version of the
> movie may well have been more true to the spirit
of
> the book than the
> more famous one. In the final scenes of the
first
> version, when Brigid
> asks Sam if he loves her and he says he thinks so
he
> sounds, as he has
> throughout the film, entirely insincere.
Bogart's
> performance on the
> other hand, makes it seem as if he really is
torn
> about his choice to
> turn Brigid in to the authorities.
***************************************************** The
first version had the advantage of no Hayes office
censorship. Otherwise, to me, it's miscast. Bogart plays the
the final scene with Astor passionately but the whole point
of the story is that Spade is ahead of all of us in
understanding what's really going on. When Bogart says
"You're taking the fall," the viewer knows there's no
argument. The final jail house scene in the original film was
anti-climactic, too. Houston's elevator cage closing on Astor
was perfect!
Nathan, I sense that you've fallen under the spell of Brigid
O'Shaughnessy a little bit, yourself. I'm a big fan of 48
Hour Mystery on Saturday evenings just to see how these types
of relationships play out in real life.
Patrick King
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 23 May 2008 EDT