A classic 'noir' adaptation of Raymond Chandler's much-filmed novel. Private detective Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) agrees to rid a wealthy family of a blackmailer who is threatening the younger daughter, but the man is killed before he can act. Drawn nevertheless into the Sternwood family's problems (not least because of his attraction to the elder sister, played by Lauren Bacall), Marlowe uncovers drugs, murder and more blackmail. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall made screen history together more than once, but they were never more popular than in this 1946 adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel, directed by Howard Hawks ( To Have and Have Not). Bogart plays private eye Philip Marlowe, who is hired by a wealthy socialite (Bacall) to look into troubles stirred up by her wild, young sister (Martha Vickers). Legendarily complicated (so much so that even Chandler had trouble following the plot), the film is nonetheless hugely entertaining and atmospheric, an electrifying plunge into the exotica of detective fiction. William Faulkner wrote the screenplay. -- Tom Keogh Synopsis Raymond Chandler?s legendary L.A. private eye Phillip Marlowe takes on a blackmail case...and a trail peopled with murderers, pornographers, nightclub rogues, the spoiled rich and more. Bogart and Bacall and atmosphere galore in this certified classic.