{"id":37058,"date":"2013-07-26T06:00:25","date_gmt":"2013-07-26T10:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=37058"},"modified":"2014-07-12T09:44:12","modified_gmt":"2014-07-12T13:44:12","slug":"the-big-sleep-scene-that-wakes-me-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=37058","title":{"rendered":"The Big Sleep Scene That Wakes Me Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, folks make a big to-do about the onscreen heat generated by the saucy repartee between Bogie and Bacall in Howard Hawks\u2019 timelessly brilliant\u2014and literally impossible to follow\u2014detective thriller The Big Sleep<\/a>. They\u2019re great together of course, but the scene that never fails to get my motor running is the one between Marlowe and the Acme Book Shop Proprietress, played by Dorothy Malone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This scene has me at the get-go. A bespectacled, beautiful bibliophile, surrounded by books\u2026with a thundering downpour outside and a handy bottle of rye? Yes please. The story goes that this exchange was previously meant more as a throwaway, and was expanded once Hawks got a gander at how delicious Bogart\u2019s ship-in-the-night confederate was to behold. Good man.<\/p>\n

After a suggestive toast\u2014\u201cHel-lo<\/i>\u201d\u2014we get one of those classic dissolves and the sensual, low-string underscore that encourages us to use our imagination and fill in the gaps.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a\u00a0pensive resignation as they part:<\/p>\n

If you ever want to buy a book\u2026?<\/em><\/p>\n

Ben-Hur, 1860?<\/em><\/p>\n

With duplications. So long.<\/em><\/p>\n

So long, pal.<\/em><\/p>\n

The characters know it\u2019s a moment they\u2019ll experience together just once, available to them later only as lingering memories. We\u2019re luckier. We can always return to the rain, the books, the rye, and the girl.<\/p>\n