The Big Sleep (film)

The Big Sleep is a classic film based on the novel by Raymond Chandler, directed and produced by Howard Hawks, and starring Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe, a private detective. It also starred Lauren Bacall, who was married to Bogart by the time this film was released. Several other actors with smaller roles were: Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone, Regis Toomey, and Elisha Cook Jr.

I have a hard time reviewing a film that I have watched many, many times. I have always liked films of this era and Bogart and Bacall are among my favorite actors, so I always get a lot of pleasure out of watching this movie. The story is set in Los Angeles, and there is murder, blackmail, sex, homosexuality, drugs, and pornography.

Philip Marlowe is working for a wealthy man, General Sternwood, with two beautiful daughters, and he can buy just about anything he wants. Most of the people in the story are corrupt. It is the story of a moral man working in a corrupt society.

The plot of the movie is just as complex as the plot of the book. Maybe more complex. But like the book, the movie is more about the characters and the setting, and doesn't have to make a lot of sense.  A lot of the dialogue sounds like it is straight out of the book.  The plot of the movie sticks fairly close to the plot of the book, but some characters are different. The oldest daughter of General Sternwood is played by Lauren Bacall, and she has a much greater role in the movie. Other than that, I won't go into details. If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, I don't want to spoil it for you.

This film was completed in 1944 but not released until 1946. The release of the film was initially delayed because the war was ending and Warner Brothers wanted to get films related to the war out before the end of the war. There were also concerns related to the scenes shot with Lauren Bacall in the early version. Since the film had been delayed already, her agent lobbied for Howard Hawks to re-shoot some scenes to enhance her role.

The DVD version I watched had both the 1946 theatrical version of film and the original pre-release version. I have not watched the original version, and don't know if I want to. The disc also includes a short documentary with Robert Gitt of UCLA, who provided the information on the differences between the two versions of the movie, along with other background on the movie.

The screenwriters for the film are William Faulkner, Jules Furthman, and Leigh Brackett. William Faulkner is very well known for his novels and short stories and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Jules Furthman wrote screenplays for many, many other films, including  Mutiny on the Bounty, Only Angels Have Wings, To Have and Have Not, and Rio Bravo. But the most interesting story is that Howard Hawks hired Leigh Brackett based on the dialogue in her first novel, No Good from a Corpse, and, based on her name, he thought she was a man. Leigh Brackett is well known for writing many science fiction novels and short stories, and wrote a few other mystery novels. In the late 50s and early 60s, she wrote screenplays for several other Howard Hawks films. Robert Altman also hired her to write the screenplay for The Long Goodbye (1973), based on another Raymond Chandler book.

This is the third movie I have watched and reported on for the Book to Movie Challenge 2013, hosted by Doing Dewey.

Devil in a Blue Dress (film)

Walter Mosley published Devil in a Blue Dress, his first novel, in 1990. In 1995, a film adaptation was made of the novel, directed by Carl Franklin, starring Denzel Washington as Easy Rawlins. The movie was critically acclaimed when it was released, but did not do well financially.

The last time I saw Devil in a Blue Dress was in 1999, so it is amazing how much I remembered about the movie. Most films or books that I watched or read that long ago are just a hazy memory. Perhaps it was the setting, Los Angeles in the late 1940's, or perhaps it was the fine acting by Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle, who played the role of Mouse, Easy's friend.

Ezekial "Easy" Rawlins is a black man who has come back from serving in the military in World War II and was able to purchase a house in Los Angeles, California. At the beginning of the story, Easy has lost his job and is desperate for a new one to pay his mortgage. A white man pays Easy a very large sum to find a beautiful white woman, Daphne Monet. Easy is suspicious of the offer of such a large sum, but he is desperate for money. The more he gets involved with Daphne and her problems, the more dangerous his situation becomes. My review of the book is here.

This article by Andrew Pulver at the Guardian (from 2004) has a good overview of the movie as a book adaptation. I especially liked these comments, which summarize one of the main reasons I liked both the book and the movie:

Though indebted to classic LA noir, Franklin's film is as much a nostalgic treatment of African-American life in the immediate post-war years, examining the fledgling suburban communities of South Central and Compton that later became riot-torn, rundown and violent.

The film was shot in and around Los Angeles for the most part. Per the liner notes for the DVD:

For the film's largest exterior scene, a four-block section of downtown L.A.'s Main Street was transformed into 1948 Central Avenue. 200 extras, 100 period vehicles, and an authentic red car trolley were recruited to complete the illusion.

I felt like the movie was true to the book and a very good retelling of that story. There were some changes to the plot and the characters, but they were minor. There was a scene between Daphne and Easy towards the end of the book that did not show up in the movie. I did not like that element of the book anyway, so I did not miss it. According to the liner notes, all adjustments that Franklin made were approved by Mosley.

I liked all of the performances, and especially Denzel Washington as Easy; Don Cheadle as his friend Mouse; Tom Sizemore as Dewitt Albright, the white man trying to find Daphne; and Jennifer Beals as Daphne. Other reviewers commented negatively about Beals portrayal of Daphne, but I thought it was fine. Maybe I was swayed because I liked her in the short-lived TV series, The Chicago Code.

The music was also very good. The original score for the film was written by Elmer Bernstein. The soundtrack included selections from the time that the movie was set.

Racial themes are dealt with but they do not overpower the plot. In this case I liked the book and the movie equally. The book allows the reader to understand Easy's motivations and the racial tensions of the times in more depth, but the movie is atmospheric and conveys the mood of the times very well.

This article at Turner Classic Movies is a very good resource on the film.

This is the second movie I have watched and reported on for the Book to Movie Challenge 2013, hosted by Doing Dewey.

To Kill a Mockingbird (film)

To Kill a Mockingbird is a movie adaptation of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. The movie covers one year in the life of two children, Jem and Scout, who live in a small town in Alabama in the 1930's. Their father is a lawyer and is defending a black man against the charge of rape. (My review of the book is here.)

There are differences between the book and the movie. One is fairly minor. The book covers three years; Scout is six and Jem, her older brother, is ten at the beginning of the novel. Both she and Jem mature throughout the book and Jem has moved into puberty at the end, which changes their relationship. The other is that Aunt Alexandra does not appear in the movie. In the book, Aunt Alexandra moves in with Atticus and the children to provide a strong female influence on Scout. She  introduces the emphasis in the South on living within the constrictions of the social mores and one's station in life.

This does not detract from the movie. It just means that the movie looks more at the racial aspects of the South and less at other areas of Southern life. The trial and the build up to the trial are the focus of the movie. I can understand why this decision was made. You can't always include every element of a book and still have a good movie.

 

I think I would have enjoyed the movie more if I had put more distance between it and reading the book. I kept making direct comparisons and noting differences that would not have occurred to me otherwise.

Nevertheless, I preferred the movie. This was because of my personal reaction to the book and the way the happenings in the book resonated with my own childhood and my personal experiences in that environment, and is no reflection on the quality of the book. The movie presented some of the same ideas, but did not impact me in the same way.

The book concentrated more on racism and its side effects for all involved, and the trial that threatened to tear apart the community. The story in the book focuses more on Scout's thoughts and interior life, her problems with school and having to deal with the concern for appearances in the South.

Neither of the two young actors who played Scout and Jem had had previous roles in movies. They were both from Birmingham, Alabama. I preferred the actor who played Jem (Phillip Alford), although it seems that the role of Scout (Mary Badham) gets more attention. Gregory Peck was, of course, perfect as Atticus Finch.

The DVD set I have includes a feature-length documentary on the making of the film, titled Fearful Symmetry. It was filmed in the late 1990's and provides interesting information. Several actors discuss their experience of working on this film. The screenwriter, Horton Foote, also shares insights about his process of adapting the book to the screen.

In the documentary, residents of the town where Harper Lee grew up reminisce about life in the town (and how much things have changed). The town in the book and the movie is called Maycomb and is based on Harper Lee's hometown, Monroeville, Alabama. The movie was filmed on the Universal backlot in Hollywood because Monroeville in 1962 no longer looked like a Southern town from the 1930's. The Monroe County Courthouse has become a museum. The interior of courthouse used in the film was recreated to look much like that building.

Book to Movie Challenge 2013

Another new challenge. With a difference. This ones involves not just reading, but also watching movies. Coincidentally, there were some books that have been made into movies already on my list to read in 2013, and I planned to watch the movies too.

So I am joining the Book to Movie Challenge in 2013. As described at the Doing Dewey blog, the goal is "to review books and the movies which they’ve been made into." It is that simple.

There are four levels:

Movie Fan - read 3 books and watch their movies
Movie Devotee - read 6 books and watch their movies
Movie Lover - read 9 books and watch their movies
Movie Aficionado - read 12 books and watch their movies

Go HERE to check out the rules and sign up if you are interested.

I am participating at the Movie Fan level, read 3 books and watch their movies.

These are the books I plan to read...

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

A fourth possibility is The Maltese Falcon, but I will wait and see if I want to move up to a higher level.