2. Lauren Bacall's Violent Song In Howard Hawks's The Big Sleep
From one American classic to another, The Big Sleep is Bogie and Bacall at their most scintillating. Their famous repartee during a scene in which the two Hollywood stars and legends discuss horseback riding (hint: they're talking about doin' the nasty) and their will-they, won't-they chemistry are the driving force behind a film that is dark as noirs come. The movie's plot is complex and convoluted, as most Raymond Chandler stories are, but each part of the hard-boiled narrative is there. Humphrey Bogart plays Phillip Marlowe, a private detective working for the father of Lauren Bacall's character Vivian. The controversial nature of the narrative (which includes sly references to pornography and several murders) almost detracts from how bleak the film actually is. The respectable old guard, represented by Vivian's father the general, is dying out and the new guard of hedonistic and violent crooks is taking over. Bogart's detective isn't driven by morality (nor is he really driven by the more socially acceptable motivation of cold hard cash), figuring out the mystery is more important to him. But the ultimate result of all of the confusion isn't righteous indignation but a general apathy. Sure, we want to see Bogie and Bacall get together, but the fact that she was implicitly involved with a murder doesn't really matter in the brutal post-war world. When Bacall stands next to the piano and sings "He socked her in the choppers, such a sweet, sweet guy was he." Crying tears of blood after being the victim of domestic violence is something Megadeath would sing about. The cheerful facade of the party environment is undercut by the brutal lyrics, there is a darkness seeping underneath the surface of The Big Sleep.