​More noir: four Bogarts

“The Big Sleep” (1946), Howard Hawks’ mystery-thriller starring Humphrey Bogart, is one of the best movie adaptations of Raymond Chandler’s detective Philip Marlowe, mainly thanks to Lauren Bacall figuring prominently in the cast and her obvious chemistry with Bogart. It’s packed with snappy, witty dialogue, sexual innuendoes with daring implications for the era (like the outrageously clever bookstore sequence), and a mystery so convoluted that the process of the investigation is more satisfying than learning what really did or didn’t happen (even the author confessed to not knowing who committed one of the murders).

Following noir tradition, there’s an overpowering dark atmosphere, corruption, blackmail, murder, and more, but there’s also a hard-boiled humor that engages the audience as much as trying to solve the mystery.

By the time “The Big Sleep” was madeas a follow-up to “To Have and Have Not,” Bogart and Bacall were married. During a delay in releasing the finished film, the studio decided to expand Bacall’s role, filming new scenes and reshooting others. The changes helped make it a beloved hit, although deletion of some scenes rendered certain plot threads even more confusing.

Picture quality, as usual for Warner Archive Blu-rays, is superb, and sound is likewise very strong. While it’s welcome to see the complete 1945 pre-release cut (running 116m) included for comparison, it’s somewhat disappointing that it is relegated to a standard-definition bonus feature instead of a co-feature in high-definition. Other extras include a brief introduction and a 36-minute comparison between the two alternate versions of the film.

THE BIG SLEEP on Blu-ray – Movie: A+ / Video: A+ / Audio: A / Extras: B+

Bogart and Bacall are also the big draw in “Dark Passage” (1947), a well done but not quite great murder mystery about an escaped convict condemned to death who must prove his innocence of killing his wife. Bacall plays an amateur artist who decides to help him.

The big distinction for “Dark Passage” is that Bogart is not shown for the first half-hour and his face is never seen for well over an hour into the plot. The story is told from his point of view for the first part of the movie, with the camera representing his eyes until after his character undergoes plastic surgery to change his appearance. This gives an intriguing if sometimes frustrating sense of mystery until the more conventionally presented last half of the film.

Bogart and Bacall play very well off of each other. Also prominent in the cast is Agnes Moorhead as an obnoxious mutual acquaintance of the two.

It’s sometimes considered the least of the four Bogart-Bacall pairings (all now on Blu-ray), although it’s certainly not a bad film and the order of preference is subjective and arguable.

Picture quality is outstanding on Warner’s Blu-ray, and the sound is also very good. Bonus features include a featurette on the film (in SD), a cartoon with a Bogart caricature (in HD), plus a trailer in HD.

DARK PASSAGE on Blu-ray – Movie: B+ / Video: A+ / Audio: A / Extras: C+

Richard Brooks wrote and directed “Deadline -- U.S.A.” (1952), a heartfelt newspaper drama with a crime reporting subplot and a strong film noir sensibility, although it’s not quite a standard film noir except for a few scenes.

At its core it’s an ode to the ideals of newspaper journalism, attempting to get the truth to the public amidst the sensationalism and scandal-mongering of rival papers, and without bowing to the pressure of advertisers. On top of all this, the heirs of the paper’s founder have decided to sell out to their leading rival, who plans to close it rather than run two papers.

Bogart gives a strong performance as the harried editor hoping he can use the power of the press to expose the involvement of a local mobster (Martin Gabel) with a murder that was designed to look like suicide. Meanwhile he’s also trying to win back the affections of his ex-wife (Kim Hunter) who grew tired of taking second-place to his career.

Ethel Barrymore adds dignity as the newspaper family matriarch, who unsuccessfully opposes her daughters’ desires to cash in on the paper’s market value for more lucrative investments, rather than keeping it going as a steady but smaller source of income.

Kino’s Blu-ray has a fine HD transfer with a mostly very sharp picture and decent sound. Bonus features include an interesting audio commentary by Eddie Muller and a trailer plus trailers two other noir films available from Kino on Blu-ray.

DEADLINE – U.S.A. on Blu-ray – Movie: A- / Video: A / Audio: A- / Extras: C+

“In a Lonely Place” (1950) is a murder mystery-romance starring Bogart as a short-tempered screenwriter who gets involved with his neighbor (Gloria Grahame) after she provides an alibi when he’s suspected of killing a girl he’d taken to his apartment to help him work on a script.

Bogart and Grahame are both at their best playing these complex characters who quickly become completely devoted to each other, yet develop more and more trust issues as events progress. Frank Lovejoy is a sympathetic police detective who warily tries to balance helping them with uncovering the truth.

Director Nicholas Ray invests the film with the sense of impending doom that pervades most noir films, as well as a cynical, anti-formulaic screenplay that Bogart’s character would approve of.

Picture quality on Criterion’s Blu-ray is excellent throughout, and the sound is also very good. As usual, Criterion includes a generous supplementary package with a pamphlet essay, a new audio commentary, a trailer, a documentary on director Ray, an interview with Grahame’s biographer, a featurette, and a 1948 radio adaptation of the novel.

IN A LONELY PLACE on Blu-ray – Movie: A- / Video: A+ / Audio: A / Extras: A