Wednesday, June 13th @ 8:00pm (doors open at 7:00pm)
Los Angeles Theatre
615 S. Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles
The Big Sleep (1946)
Warner Bros., black/white, 116 minutes
MPAA rating: PG
Introduction by Film Historian and Author Alan Rode
Arguably the most iconic of all Raymond Chandler adaptations, The Big Sleep explodes off the screen with snappy one-liners and the electric chemistry of star couple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
Following classic Chandler form, Bogart stars as hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe, navigating his way through the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles with savvy aplomb. Director Howard Hawks’s young protégé Lauren Bacall portrays the archetypal femme fatale.
Produced and released under the Hays Code, the film lost some of the more tawdry elements of its original narrative but remained delightfully salty and salacious.
Additional scenes playing up Bogart and Bacall’s real-life relationship were added before the film’s release at the urging of the studio.
With a plot so notoriously complex that even the author himself had difficulty clarifying certain details, this classic film noir fully exemplifies the genre.
The screenplay was adapted by a writing team that included William Faulkner during his brief stint as Hollywood screenwriter.
Evening Sponsor: Warner Brothers
Tickets are now on sale to Conservancy members. General public ticket sales begin April 11 at 10 a.m. PDT.
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