The Big Sleep (1946)

My youngest son is taking a film noir class, and while we have not been able to watch about half of the films that he has been watching because they are not available wither at our library or streaming, this was one that we could see.  And it is a classic well worth viewing, and not too dark for the genre, if that is a bit of a turn off for you.

It has the classic pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, which is a good reason to watch a movie in and of itself.  Bogart was not a handsome man, but there was something about him that attracted Bacall as a lifetime partner, and that draw is well evident in this film.  Bogart plays a private detective who is brought in by a wealthy man trying to protect his wayward daughters, without realizing just how bad what they are into is, and that it won't be something that money can easily buy their way out of.  Bogart manages the client, his daughters, their pursuers, and various other bad guys with a deftness that borders on choreography, all with the Bogart rough touch.  It iswell worth an evening of watching to see one of films great noir movies.