Amazon.com Essentials:
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall made screen history together
more than once, but they were never more popular than in this 1946
adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel, directed by Howard Hawks
(To Have and Have Not). Bogart plays private eye Philip
Marlowe, who is hired by a wealthy socialite (Bacall) to look into
troubles stirred up by her wild, young sister (Martha
Vickers). Legendarily complicated (so much so that even Chandler had
trouble following the plot), the film is nonetheless hugely
entertaining and atmospheric, an electrifying plunge into the exotica
of detective fiction. William Faulkner wrote the screenplay. --Tom
Keogh
