The Big Sleep by Howard Hawks - Essay Example

Carmen Sternwood is found naked at Geiger’s house, but she is too high to recognize her nakedness.

Geiger’s death is followed by a trail of other people’s deaths in connection with Carmen’s scandalous pictures. Taylor, the general’s chauffeur is found dead. Marlowe figures out that Taylor was in love with Carmen. He also thinks that Taylor might be responsible for Geiger’s death due to the naughty pictures. However, the blackmail trial continues when Marlowe thinks of a possible solution without success. Initially, the general thought that his Irish friend, Reagan had solved the problem. Reagan had escaped with another man’s wife. The events in the film unfold when Marlowe and Vivian Sternwood fall in love.

Towards the end, Marlowe realizes that Reagan had been killed. Marlowe knows about it when Carmen points a gun at him and attempts to kill him. Carmen killed Reagan at the beginning of the film. Marlowe gets the wind of it and together with Vivian decides not to tell their father because it could break his heart. Marlowe allows Vivian to go as long as she helps Carmen alleviate her insanity. The thoughts of death as ‘the big sleep’ revolve around the mind of Marlowe towards the end of the film.

“The Long Goodbye” by Robert Altman

Just like the film “The Big Sleep”, “The Long Goodbye” justifies that killing can cause people to go forever. “The Long Goodbye” implies one cannot play around with death as it makes people disappear from the face of the earth forever. In this film, Terry Lennox runs to Marlowe’s home to seek. Lennox tells Marlowe to drive him to Mexico but does not realize that Lennox is wanted for the murder of his wife. Marlowe gets arrested as an accomplice of the murderer and released after three days. Marlowe wins his freedom after Lennox commits suicide in a hotel.

Sometimes later, Marlowe is hired by Eileen Wade to find her missing husband. The missing husband had disappeared several times but ended up in rehab institutions due to his drinking problem. However, Eileen has not been able to find her husband in any institution. In his investigative encounters, Marlowe locates and recovers Roger Wade. Marlowe learns that the Wades family had a close relationship with the Lennoxes and suspected something to do with Lennox’s and Sylvia’s death.

Towards the end of the film, Marlowe realizes that corrupt officials in Mexico faked Lennox’s death. Back at Wade’s house, there is an argument over Roger’s unpaid bill for the rehab clinic. He walks towards the ocean where he drowns before anyone could save him. Eileen confesses that her husband had an affair with Sylvia and that he might be involved in her death. After revealing Sylvia’s murder to the police, the police ignore the claims. He goes back to Mexico where he meets Lennox. Lennox confesses to Marlowe that he killed Sylvia, has an affair with Eileen, and boosts that Marlowe is a loser. Marlowe then kills Lennox by shooting him with his gun. Read More