The Big Sleep, playing this week at the Brattle, is one of the most confusing detective movies you'd ever hope to see. Humphrey Bogart stars as Philip Marlow, the ubiquitous private eye created by novelist Raymond Chandler and recreated by many an actor--though none so well as Bogart himself. Howard Hawks made this film in 1946, Betty Bacall and Dorothy Malone costar. William Faulkner took Chandler's novel, cleaned it up a bit and made its story even more obscure, and turned it into a screenplay. The L.A. shots are pretty good.

The Long Goodbye is another Raymond Chandler-Philip Marlow thriller that was turned into a movie, this one starring Elliot Gould and Nina van Pallandt. The movie is a cross between a straight detective movie and a spoof on the genre, and suffers because of the confusion. When it was first released it flopped, only later to gain popularity as a parody. At times it's rather funny, and the story isn't all that bad. Gould is excellent and his car is magnificent. The film, directed by Robert Altman, comes to the Welles on Sunday.

The Third Man is the co-feature on the Goodbye bill at the Welles, and this is one of the most wonderful mystery movies ever made. Orson Welles plays a blackmarket kingpin who is killed in an accident (or is he?) and Joseph Cotton plays the American writer who investigates the death. The story is hard to beat, the little touches (watch for the cat in the doorway) are brilliant, and Welles is Welles. The "Third Man Theme" is a catchy little accordian tune that tops off a great flick.

The 39 Steps, despite stiff competition, tops the list this week as the best movie in town (The Third Man is a very close second). Hitchcock's spy thriller is one of his most well constructed films and certainly the most enjoyable to watch. There are a whole bunch of terrific scenes in this movie; the neatest one is when Donat pretends to be a candidate for Parliament.