This was the second film Humphrey Bogart made with Lauren Bacall (after To Have and Have Not) and it's a gem. Based on the hard-boiled detective novel by Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep has one of the most convoluted and confusing plots in cinematic history.

Nevertheless, there are so many great lines of dialogue (the screenplay was written by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman and Howard Hawks), and such incredible charm, that The Big Sleep is a movie you can watch over and over with complete enjoyment.

Bogie plays Philip Marlowe, a tough-guy detective who is 38, went to college, and can speak English properly when required to. He is hired by an invalid millionaire, General Sternwood (Charles Waldron), to handle a blackmailer. General Sternwood has two daughters: out-of-control Carmen (Martha Vickers) and wonderful Vivian (Lauren Bacall).

Although Marlowe's job is specifically to deal with the blackmailer, there is also a mysterious disappearance that he is determined to solve.

Bogie must have enjoyed playing this character. All of the women in the film flirt with him, including a book shop proprietress (Dorothy Malone), a female taxi driver (Joy Barlowe), a hat-check girl (Lorraine Miller) and a cigarette girl (Shelby Payne).

When Marlowe kisses Vivian, she says, I like that. I'd like more. Even Carmen thinks he's cute; when Marlowe asks her if she knows a man named Eddie Mars (John Ridgely), Carmen replies, No. Is he as cute as you? Marlowe answers, Nobody is.

Bridge fans will enjoy the scene where Harry Jones (Elisha Cook, Jr.) approaches Marlowe after Marlowe's been beaten up. Marlowe wants to know why Harry, who watched the whole thing, didn't help him. Harry explains indignantly, I'm no kibitzer.