THE BIG SLEEP

Starring HUMPHREY BOGART and LAUREN BACALL

(1946, Howard Hawks) Hired by a hothouse-ensconced retired general to investigate his nympho daughter’s gambling debts, Humphrey Bogart, as Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, finds the dames keep throwing themselves at him, even as corpses keep dropping, while he and Lauren Bacall take time for memorable double entendres. Co-scripted  by William Faulkner. The pre-release version screens Saturday. Approx. 114 min. 35mm.
FRI, DEC 12 2:50,7:00
SAT, DEC 13 5:10, 9:45
Also screening as a single feature on Wednesday, December 17.

“ONE OF THE GREAT FILM NOIRS, A BLACK-AND-WHITE SYMPHONY which exactly reproduces Chandler's tone of voice that keeps its distance, and yet is wry and humorous and cares.”
– Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“AN UNSENTIMENTAL, SURREALIST EXCITEMENT… about all which there is a fantastic quality. Witty and sinister, and in an odd way is a realistic portrayal of big-city life with Arabian Nights overtones.” 
– Manny Farber, The New Republic

 “By far the best Raymond Chandler adaptation.” 
– Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

THE BLUE DAHLIA

Starring ALAN LADD, WILLIAM BENDIX and VERONICA LAKE

(1946, George Marshall) Guess who’s the suspect when war vet Alan Ladd’s sluttish wife turns up dead? (Alternate choice: steel-plate-headed buddy William Bendix.) Meanwhile, cucumber-cool club owner’s moll Veronica Lake starts playing the field. Chandler’s only original screenplay was based on an unfinished Philip Marlowe novel. Approx. 96 min. 35mm.
FRI, DEC 12 1:00, 5:10, 9:30
SAT, DEC 13 3:10, 7:30

“A honey of a rough-'em-up romance… An air of deepening mystery overhangs this tempestuous tale which shall render it none the less intriguing to those lovers of the brutal and bizarre… it makes a brisk, exciting show.” 
– Bosley Crowther, The New York Times

“A fine hardboiled thriller for all that, with excellent dialogue and performances, and much more apt direction from Marshall than one might expect.” 
– Tom Milne, Time Out (London)

“Performance has a warm appeal, while Ladd has a cold, steel-like quality that is potent. Fight scenes are stark and brutal, and tremendously effective…” 
– Variety