31. The Big Sleep
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31. The Big Sleep (1946) - Howard HawksPrivate detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love. Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep is easily one of my favourite film noir movies, yet in principle there are lots of elements from the genre missing. For a start the movie isn't all that dark in truth and there ain't no abstract camera angles like The Third Man. The use of flashbacks is absent, and our lead protagnist is not a drunk womanzier. But there is something about The Big Sleep that keeps drawing me back into the movie, over more "classic" film noir's like D.O.A, The Maltease Falcon and Double Indemnity.