The Big Sleep

Raymond Chandler's dark look at the seedy Los Angeles of the 1930's and 1940's is a loving ode to a place he once called home while writing and adapting screenplays. LA was and is rife with corruption, money and lust-- a trio of favorites for any writer.

Rich imagery with creative metaphors were part of Chandlers's hard boiled style. Luckily, the genre of Film Noir was at its height when Hollywood came calling. "Farewell, My Lovely" translated to "Murder, My Sweet". Possibly, the best detective/Noir filmed.

Then came Bogey and Bacall in "The Big Sleep" in which they debate the ability to ride in the saddle. It never mattered that the plot was disjointed and only a few of the murders were solved. Their chemistry was far more important than a mere story.

Of the modern living writers, only James Ellroy has more love for Los Angeles than Chandler. Ellroy's best novels "The Black Dahlia" & "LA Confidential" are both set in LA during the 1940's.


LA evoked a gritty glamour filled with world weary bleached blond femme fatales, richly contented fat cats with everything to lose and a hard at heels hero with nothing to gain. Perhaps, we mourn for the loss of the heady days of Hollywood where stars did walk on Sunset Boulevard and the halo was only a little crooked for benign mischief rather than the rampant conspicuous greed seen today.