Scoring a Certified Fresh 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, the Critics Consensus: "A perfect match of screenplay, director and leading man, THE BIG SLEEP stands as a towering achievement in film noir whose grim vitality remains undimmed."
Private investigator Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) is hired by General Sternwood to help resolve the gambling debts of his wild young daughter, Carmen (Martha Vickers). Sternwood's older daughter, Vivian (Lauren Bacall), provides assistance when she implies that the situation is more complex, and also involves casino owner (John Ridgely) and a recently disappeared family friend. As people linked to the Sternwoods star being murdered, Marlowe finds himself getting ever deeper into the case.
Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100%, the Critics Consensus: "Suspenseful, labrinthine, and brilliantly cast, THE MALTESE FALCON is one of the most influential noirs - as well as a showcase for Humphrey Bogart at his finest."
In this noir classic, detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) gets more than he bargained for when he takes a case brought to him by a beautiful but secretive woman (Mary Astor). As soon as Mis Wonderly shows up, trouble follows as Sam's partner is murdered and Sam is accosted by a man (Peter Lorre) demanding he locate a valuable statuette. Sam, entangled in a dangerous web of crime and intrigue, soon realizes he must find the one they they all seem to want: the bejeweled Maltese Falcon.
After collapsing, disoriented, in a Los Angeles diner, Louise (Joan Crawford) recounts the events of her life to a psychiatrist. While working as a nurse for the wife of wealthy Dean Graham (Raymond Massey), she falls in love with the Grahams' neighbor, David (Van Heflin), who rejects her affection. Following the death of Dean's wife, Louise becomes the new Mrs. Graham, but her dangerous fixation on David continues. She grows increasingly unstable as her obsession leads to madness and violence.
The quiet life of small-town gas station owner Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) is interrupted when a figure from his shady past, small-time crook Joe Stephanos (Paul Valentine), recognizes him. Stephanos' boss, crooked gambler Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas), has hired Jeff to track down Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer), a girlfriend who shot Whit and made off with $40,000 of his. Jeff and Kathie fell in love, but she left him to go back to Sterling, who now wants Jeff to settle a few old scores.
Directed by one of the all-time greats John Huston and starring Sterling Hayden this film explores the "best of the bad" in Film Noir with crime, treachery and murder at the core. An inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS that put him on the radar screen, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE involves a jewelry robbery that "goes south" and includes an early Marilyn Monroe appearance.
Scoring a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, the Critics Consensus: "The Asphalt Jungle is an expertly told crime story with attention paid to the crime and characters in equal measure."
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