The Big Sleep

Director Howard Hawks' unqualified noir masterpiece, the first film version of a Raymond Chandler novel, stars Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe, a private detective hired to investigate a series of troubles plaguing an affluent family. Wicked wit and lushly atmospheric visuals replaced plot coherence in a brilliant film that sought to capitalize on Bogart and Lauren Bacall's natural, sizzling chemistry.

"The real strength of 'The Big Sleep' is its dialogue. From Marlowe's first exchange with Carmen ('You're not very tall, are you?', 'Well, I try to be') through the still-shocking innuendo of the racing-related flirtation between the leads ('a lot depends on who's in the saddle') to scene after scene of crackling, hard-boiled trash-talk ('Get up, angel, you look like a Pekinese'), this is arguably the high-water mark of Hollywood's love affair with the infinitely slippery possibilities of the English language."