Very Small Favor - The Big Sleep (1946)

[@richardpolichetti7757]

Does anyone notice how he first misses HER flirting with him and he has a “doh!” moment and changes his tune to the rye? That’s why this scene is ahead of its time- he’s dancing to Her tune!

[@theoriginalvideo-schmideoc905]

In roughly three minutes...Dorothy Malone steals the whole movie! Now, that's what you call a star!!!

[@japanjack62]

She should of won an Oscar for that scene alone....

[@IggyMontpellierPro]

Loved the way she pulled down the curtains.

[@jubalcalif9100]

She just ooozes sex appeal !!

[@anibalcesarnishizk2205]

Never underestimate a bookshop's female owner.

[@kilroy1976]

This is the greatest pick-up scene in the history of cinema.

[@michaelmiller2397]

who picked up whom though?

[@tommott2819]

The one in Red River is pretty great too. But yes.

[@artphon]

Certainly my fave.

[@Yowzoe]

she be working that pencil real hard...

[@davidsabo7610]

I. Agree very much Dorothy Malone is super

[@stevenbosch429]

IMDB lists Dorothy Malone as the prorprietress of the Book Shop. I am guessing this was an early appearance in a feature release. It is worth noting, I think, that she held her own with Bogart for the duration of the scene.

[@jubalcalif9100]

You speak the truth, Kemo Sabe ! For someone so young & just starting out, she's good....very good ! :-)

[@FrankIsAlwaysRight]

Held her own??? She owned this scene

[@hebneh]

In addition to the acting, the sets are amazing here - there's an entire street, with traffic, and realistic signs hand--lettered on the glass, and two complete store interiors inside. Plus it rains. And this is just one elaborate set of many in this film.

[@jubalcalif9100]

How true ! This classic noir overflows with elaborate indoor sets: the street where Geiger lives....the pier where the Sternwood limo has gone into the water....Eddie Mars nightclub/casino...Gen. Sternwood's home & greenhouse, etc...

[@stephenbartram6375]

And he pats the fire hydrant

[@anwaya]

@@stephenbartram6375 I had not noticed that detail.

[@jonathanwilkinson1461]

@@stephenbartram6375 A bit like Travis pats the Taxi after his interview..

[@laurabarber7438]

@@jubalcalif9100 Plus the music when he first arrives in the screen street.....

[@zodiacbluesbaby]

"You begin to interest me... vaguely". Great scene.

[@timtonner946]

I like her with the glasses on...

[@sroi8224]

Greatest one-night stand scene of any movie. He certainly had a pretty good rye in his pocket!

[@jmbonell]

Extraordinary scene of one of the greatest masterpieces in cinema

[@vidcreations]

One of the most seductive scenes in a Bogart movie.

[@jubalcalif9100]

I heartily concur ! If I was Bogie, I'd forget about Mrs Rutledge and beat it back to the bookstore. The bookstore owner is strictly from hubbahubbasville !!

[@TellyWatcher1997]

Really appreciate the whole scene reproduced here...the last part where they try to touch (as they part) is a brilliant bit of screen interplay.

[@anibalcesarnishizk2205]

Nothing like a cozy bookshop during a heavy rainfall with a charming bookseller and a tasty coffee.

[@jubalcalif9100]

and a shot of rye !!

[@garymeller6781]

And glasses.

[@franko8858]

Such a great scene. In just 3 small minutes, there is so much going on in this scene. This proves that you can be sexy without taking your clothes off, something today's films don't really get.

[@greenskull3393]

You're saying the same thing people said about films in their day that you're praising now.

[@happy_hour]

Agreed. Women really lost their class with time. Sickening, "OMG i can be sexy only if i post my bare ass on the instagram!!!"

[@greenskull3393]

Andrey Korsakov​ dude if you really think that women back then didn't have any ranchy pics to pass around then you really don't know Hollywood. It's nothing to do with class or time.

[@britischenadligen3760]

@@greenskull3393 Lol the funniest thing is that one of the films's main twists are Carmen's "suggestive" photos 😂 That was a real deal back then, kids! And you are talking about class?

[@anibalcesarnishizk2205]

Who said that books and sensuality don't go together?.

[@gtrrs71]

"You begin to interest me...vaguely." Great scene. Thank you Raymond Chandler. Thank you grubydoman for posting! Cheers.

[@syrenjean-louis]

The great Chandler!

[@lukeskywalker2116]

I love how they say everything without showing anything.

[@henrykujawa4427]

The Acme Book Store girl was my favorite girl in this movie by a mile. If I were Marlowe....when this case was wrapped up, I'd have come back to see HER.

[@vistaestrada]

Dorothy Malone is much more exciting in these 3 minutes than in the 90 minutes of her Oscar winning film!

[@SeeSomethingSayIt]

Yeah. What kind of private dick was Bogart-Marlowe, that he couldn't tell how stunning she was till she removed the almost invisible glasses. I guess that scene was meant to show how incredibly stupid men can be.

[@StereoSpace]

I was always a sucker for the sexy librarian.

[@IggyMontpellierPro]

SeeSomethingSayIt She was drop dead gorgeous with and without them, you're right. HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[@lemorab1]

In those days, there was a saying that "men never make passes at girls who wear glasses." It was a stereotype they were playing to. He already knew she was stunning, or he wouldn't have played along up to that point. Even Dear Abby advised, "Contact lenses catch more menses" in a book for teenage girls in about 1961. For years I kept my copy that my mom bought me. (I didn't take the advice and never had a problem.)

[@jubalcalif9100]

I agree 100 per cent !

[@vincentmoserblues]

Dorothy Malone ! This must be one of the most seductive scenes a woman ever played in a movie. And she looked so great with glasses.

[@willrothfuss8470]

I read they were going to cut this scene, but Dorothy and Bogie sizzled so much they left it in.

[@brookehanley3659]

Noir...crisp black and white, dark shadows and mystery. it Is noir. Dark Passage, Double indemnity, the 40's was ripe with these gems.

[@ItsFazsha]

Dorothy Malone saved her floundering career with this role. I just watched her in the Martin & Lewis comedy Artists and Models. You can't take your eyes off of her.

[@stephenjohn4837]

My local Barnes & Noble can't hold a candle to this little bookshop.

[@TheHelghast1138]

As a cyberpunk noir writer I love this masterpiece!! What a sensational film, and a truly marvelous scene this is :-)

[@stefanopiroddi2687]

CurbsideUnderwood hey mate, I am a writer and lover of cyberpunk and science fiction myself! I’d love to read some of your stuff if that sounds good to you

[@eguirald]

This is the best and most seductive cinematographic evocation of a cliché idiom that usually has a touch of double meaning...

[@roderickfemm8799]

When she says "Nobody would -- there isn't one" the precision of her enunciation and her vocal timbre remind me exactly of Marilyn Monroe in one of her movies, maybe where she's studying elocution. Uncanny really.

[@FlapperMama]

Yes, her voice is beautiful. ❤

[@billthestinker]

carries a bottle of rye in his pocket, what a gent!

[@jubalcalif9100]

Marlowe would rather have a bottle in front of him than a frontal lobotomy !!

[@Jusnzl]

Thought Dorothy Malone was the most natural and sexy actress in the film. Kinda looks like a young Alicia Silverstone at this age.

[@MatthewMcClellan]

Such a wonderful scene, when characters were great. Give me subtlety any day.

[@jubalcalif9100]

You got that right ! It's always better when what happens is left to the imagination of the viewer !!

[@stonethecrows25]

The first time I saw this, when I was about 23, I was really most impressed that it rained so hard in the movies. I thought this was the height of realism. Quite rightly so in many ways. It is not true that the sun always shines on TV.

[@stevecoombs6419]

In awe at the way they blatantly down the rye then bang six times on the desk before getting dressed again in time for Geiger's car to show up.

[@MrValiant61]

I must try this in Waterstones tomorrow.

[@jigglypufflove]

MrValiant61 7 years later I was thinking the exact same thing haha

[@tonyclifton265]

I tried it in Barnes & Noble and all I got was a police caution and an injunction. truly, double standards: one law for Humphrey Bogart and another for me

[@UtzChips2009]

I don't think this scene would have held the interest of the viewers without Dorothy.

[@morganfisherart]

Look at the way she tried to grab his arm just as he turned to go. He didn't even notice. Klutz!!!

[@davids8449]

I have to admit I would have gone back to the shop even if if was for a Haynes Manual

[@Aranjuez44]

EXCEPTIONAL scene!! I love it!! Always makes me feel like partaking of some "pretty good rye" on a rainy afternoon, in some old-fashioned little shop with a spunky, good looking dame to chat with & exchange flirts with!! ;~)

[@michaelmiller2397]

where the hell are there bookstores anymore!?

[@PaulGoodeK]

Tommygun, good story about Dorothy Malone. I think she was 20 or 21 when this scene was filmed. She more than holds her own.

[@jubalcalif9100]

Indubitably !!

[@gladtobeopenminded]

She is SO hot and so in control - Great actress

[@TerryUniGeezerPeterson]

Malone, Vickers and Bacall were each just around 20 at the time of filming. They sure don't make 'em like that anymore...and it's a damn shame.

[@ThreeRunHomer]

I just so happen to have a bottle of pretty good rye in my pocket.

[@Hiraghm]

I like this movie. The world was a better place back then.

[@None-zc5vg]

Hiraghm After 70 million dead in a war and many millions more with their lives wrecked...

[@RocketeerAndRoll]

Basically he is investigating a bookstore which is actually a front for pornography photos (which back then was illegal). The book and movie are both amazing.

[@louisliu5638]

even taking nude photos of YOUR WIFE was a federal FELONY in the UsA AND it was enforced. back decades ago a couple guys told me their story of a near miss with the Feds, in the early sixties.

[@stormyone]

Never forget the Boy Scout motto: “Be prepared” - always carry a bottle of “pretty good rye” in your pocket.

[@elSargent93]

Wooooooow. Definitely a new fantasy for me.

[@michaeldoucette943]

I watch this scene over & over❤❤❤❤

[@constantreader8760]

"So long, pal." And her shoulders slump. She's his match, but he won't be back.

[@halwasserman7905]

Best scene in the film.

[@kennyc388]

Bogey lost the game when he replied, " So long pal,"

[@JeffreyGlover65]

This scene is pure sexy. Nothing Hollywood makes today comes close.

[@catherinewells2480]

Dorothy Malone plus Bogart a great combo.

[@Primus54]

It is tragic that Dorothy Malone’s career in the ‘40s didn’t blossom in the way some of her contemporaries did (like Lauren Bacall’s or Veronica Lake’s). She was pure perfection in this scene and proved she could absolutely play the gorgeous & sexy equal to Hollywood’s leading men. Unfortunately she never got her due until she reinvented herself as a blonde in the ‘50s. She was much more stunning as a brunette, IMHO.

[@jimc6054]

She did great stuff in the 50s. Oscar for Written on the Wind. Too Much, Too Soon. Tarnished Angels.

[@Auntyalias2014]

RIP Dorothy Malone

[@StereoSpace]

I'd rather get wet in here...

[@IggyMontpellierPro]

Who wouldn't?

[@magnoliapugana]

Sex happened between fades. Films used to put our imagination to work.

[@marco27c1]

So, you just had sex with a woman, and you say goodbye by patting her on the shoulder and saying so long "pal". Never happened to me.

[@transvestosaurus878]

No it didn't. Marlowe is basically a modern knight. He's cynical but a perfect gentleman to ladies like this.

[@PlayIt4MeAgainSam]

There are so many tricks that were used like that one is the classic films; before they had CGI, etc. The backstage crew were so creative. This also brings about a tension between Bogart & Malone. Bacall has often talked about her first scene with Bogart; which was also her first on-screen shot ever ("Any body got a match?...Thanks."); how she had to hold her head to keep it from shaking, thus, "The Look" was born. Amazing.

[@louisliu5638]

not bad for a 19 year old, less than double the age of your post!!!

[@evoman1776]

Aah, Bogie you blew it, she was yours for the taking.

[@FrankSpada]

Cut the cackle, people, the Dorothy's performance is very exciting!

[@zodiacbluesbaby]

'So long, pal'.

[@thickmcrunfast15]

Hey Michael Bay, this is something called "subtlety". You should try it sometime.

[@ellibarasch2997]

Sexiest scene ever. "Hello..."

[@TOFKAS01]

0:01 ACME..A Company that makes everything...

[@ltlieu61]

read the book,,,,what do think they were doing for an hour or so.. then they smoked a cig,,,.great movie!

[@mat7083]

Smooth operator. Walks into the book store and the clerk doesn’t want him to leave

[@Del-yv1qy]

Dors Malone ,what a doll in this classic.

[@RowansWay]

Whoa...Bogart didn't even have to take his hat off to make love. That's class.

[@andreaskruenert8833]

Dorothy Malone is great!

[@s3tradingllcaaa671]

"Well, if I can get wet in here.." Jesus.

[@jackfrancis9445]

Dorothy Malone had to be one of the Hottest women in films.. She did more in those three mins than most have done in a lifetime of acting. It is a shame that mainstream movies have to show everything today, hell if you want to see people having sex watch porn...

[@steveleeart]

She almost feels like she’s his equal. Would’ve been nice to see them together investigating over the course of the film.

[@benleung6331]

What I found interesting about this scene is Marlowe is willing to share an afternoon and his pretty good rye with her *before* finding her attractive (after she took off her glasses). Up until that point all he knows about her is that she is knowledgeable about antique books and intrigued by detective work (You begin to interest me, vaguely). That shows you what kind of women Marlowe likes to keep his company.

[@dmsosa08]

You begin to interest me, vaguely....Hello.. Hello.. and so long.. oh my... just a work of art....and still awakens a cascade of hormones... 🍷

[@tonyclifton265]

Dorothy Malone.. hubba hubba.. "hello..!"

[@Philmod68]

WOW Dorothy! ::SIGH::

[@IggyMontpellierPro]

***** And that voice...

[@brookehanley3659]

She played Katherine Trimells friend in Basic Instinct.

[@MrValiant61]

@carliboy908 Dammit!.....You beat me to it. I was going to make some half-assed ,so-called humourous comment about Waterstones as well.

[@ItsMefromSnuffys]

Looks like we're closed for the rest of the afternoon

[@MrValiant61]

Oh, i forgot to mention. Great scene.

[@leftcoaster67]

How come I can't find hot bookstore owners like this? Bogey gets them, and Eastwood in Magnum Force just has to come home to his apartment and he get's some. Some guys have all the luck.

[@None-zc5vg]

leftcoaster67 -" ...some guys have all the "....." "

[@michaelmiller2397]

be a MAN and you won't be able to keep them away.

[@borisklapwald7775]

Mario, Soooo delicious !!! thanks. B.

[@Yowzoe]

she be workin that pencil real hard...

[@AceLM92]

The original pretty librarian

[@tonyclifton265]

is that a bottle of rye in your pocket or are you just pleased to see Dorothy Malone?

[@kachunski]

eva green reminds me a little of her

[@jubalcalif9100]

Great scene from a truly iconic film. Gadzooks....at one point it's raining cats & dogs ! Marlowe better be careful or he may step in a "poodle"....

[@JK-vp2ux]

Pal?!

[@python_7179]

that ending was so depressing lol. guy had no clue how good he had it. this girl > Lauren Bacall

[@Bumeo]

I hate she isn't bigger in this. I liked her best of all the girls

[@thunderbird1921]

Malone actually went on to do a bunch of westerns after this. From librarian to cowgirl-type, pretty big jump. I think she starred with Randolph Scott among others.

[@FrankSpada]

Today no rain, Marlowe!

[@MrBillcale]

they were very much in love dont be so sure

[@hebneh]

This is a fantastic movie, even though it's incomprehensible. It LOOKS so good, and the acting's so good, that you don't really mind that you can't ever understand what happened. This scene comes right after Bogie pretends to be a fussy gay man at the rare book store. He goes across the street to this bookstore and makes it clear in his interaction with this woman that he's definitely not gay - although, of course, it's all just implied. Still, we know something sexy happens.

[@oldcougar65]

hebneh: my wife insists she knows what happened, which is amazing because Raymond Chandler couldn't figure out the plot and he wrote the damn thing.

[@AR-cp5dz]

2:48 damn!

[@ropeburnsrussell]

Yeah, i get that from dames all the time. Its exhausting.

[@CountArtha]

Now I know what it was like to be the only man in Hollywood during World War II. Damn; I was born too late!

[@willrothfuss8470]

Except this was made after the war.

[@jubalcalif9100]

@@willrothfuss8470 Most of the movie was filmed in 1944, when WWII was still going on. The studio (Warner Bros) later added additional scenes but held up release due to a backlog of other films. It was finally released in 1946.

[@tintinquarantino2896]

1944 D-day onwards meant that wa r-theme movies, stockpiled, had to be released first, while they were relevant. The first version was only released to US soldiers ovetseas. Lauren Bacall's next movie bombed. One more flop and her career would be over. Martha Vickers was stealing the movie in the first version of The Big Sleep. Cue reshoots of 30 minutes of film to beef up Bogart interplay with Bacall, and leave much of Carmen on the cutting room floor. The real Carmen would have gunned down Jack Warner.

[@TheRealGnolti]

FDR on the wall, rye in your pocket, and a pretty girl.

[@HappilyPeculiar7]

I enjoy this movie. . Dorothy Malone was lovely here. @tommygun264 I heard that story from bts video in Bogie/Bacall collection Its also rumored Hawks had a fling with Malone Old hollywood rumors. This movie contians three of my favorite actors Dorothy Malone,Humphrey Bogart(the chairman of the real rat pack), Lauren Bacall

[@mariedewitt5033]

Love Dorothy malone and Jane Greer. Great noir dames

[@davepaisley7675]

No offense to bogie, but I kinda like smart with glasses and buttoned up proper.😉

[@Piecesof8]

@Jujuman2003 One of those hot women, Lauren Bacall, married the guy. Charisma and confidence go a long way, and he had those in spades (no pun intended, Maltese Falcon fans).

[@TheWizardYeof]

I’m from the, ehh, Confidential Committee on Moral Abuses

[@bestforyouall]

This two had chemistry but I am sorry he was so obvious with Lauren that he was smitten with her 🤔

[@michaelmiller2397]

she was 19. Malone in this was 20.

[@MOTOPAC]

He forgot his coat at the end.

[@MOTOPAC]

I stand corrected. He wasn't wearing one.

[@factnotfictionpeople1313]

2-09: I bet she would too! LOL

[@josephcarpenter6921]

Hollywood the Heat

[@grit1]

It's funny how this scene plays out. It doesn't even come close to this, at all. Marlowe just goes in and asks for some information and leaves. It's interesting to see how much they changed not only this, but the entire movie. I wonder if Bogart had any influence in it.

[@jesimpson0529]

Supposedly, Hawks originally shot the scene that way: Marlowe asks questions, gets answers, leaves. But when he saw Bogart and Malone on camera together, he decided to drag it out a lot longer -- even adding the torrential rain in the street, to keep them "cooped up" all afternoon. Love it!