MovieChat Forums > The Big Sleep (1946) Discussion > The Dames

The Dames

posted 16 years ago by schappe1
9 replies | jump to latest

This film has an amazing number of beautiful women in it in every consiveable role: Lauren Bacall and Martha Vickers as the two Sternwood sisters, the mysterious and amazingly beautiful Sonia Darren and future star Dorothy Malone as the book store clerks, blonde bombshell Carole Douglas as the libarian, Pat Clark and Peggy Knudsen in the two versions as Eddie Mars' wife, Deanie Best and Tanis Chandler as the waitresses in the diner, (I thought they were the same person), Lorraine Miller and Shelby Pain as the cigarette and hat check girls at Mars' club and finally Joy Barlow, (I thought she was Jane Meadows) as the cab driver.

They were all gorgeous, all in their late teens or early 20's and all except Bacall and Malone had rather limtied careers, (this is Douglas's only film per the IMDB and Darren, one of the most beautiful women ever to grace the screen and a competent actress to boot, seems to have simply vanished after 1950).

One wonders why the film is so packed with beauty and why so many of their careers just never panned out. One wonders if it was a case of studio and sexual politics, (Hawks was a famous letch). Perhaps they were supposed to "co-operate" to get the higher-ups to advance their careers and some of them didn't. Or maybe they just got sick of it and opted for marriage. It seems amazing to have so many "starlets" who had such little success on the same film.

[–] gnolti 16 years ago

Martha Vickers continued working, but yeah, I agree that TBS is exceptional for its time in having a sharp eye for timeless hotties, Dorothy Malone in particular. You can only speculate on the reasons for this, but while I'm sure some sexual politics was involved, each of the women was at least a decent actress, so talent had to be a factor as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2BU8-7kQLI

[–] schappe1 9 years ago

Firstly, this is the last post on the message board and is thus about to disappear so i decided to rescue it. Secondly I now know how to do links, so i thought I'd put links in to the lesser-known actresses mentioned above.

Martha Vickers (last credit in 1960):
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0896015/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Sonia Darrin (last credit 1950):
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0201650/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Carole Douglas, (The Big Sleep is her only acting credit):
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0234982/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Pat Clark (last credit in 1947):
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0164347/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Peggy Knudsen (last credit 1965):
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0461739/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Deanie Best (last credit 1948):
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0078921/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Tanis Chandler (last credit 1952):
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151473/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Joy Barlow (last credit 1952):
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0055257/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

The past is a series of presents. The present is living history we are privileged to witness

[–] kenny-164 9 years ago

My recollection regarding Peggy Knudsen is that she had health problems. Having said that her career was probably not going anywhere before those problems became debilitating, but they certainly prevented any career development once they did.

As for the general point regarding beautiful women, yes, this film is full of them.

[–] DracTarashV 9 years ago

It would have been great to see them do bigger things, but at least they left a mark in a Hollywood classic (to many of us). Anyhow, we were certainly treated to some eye candy galore in this film. Martha Vickers in particular always wows me in that first scene (same with Dorothy Malone).

Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!

[–] pawtrax67 8 years ago

What I want to know is were women that forward in 1946? I know its set during the war, but to have a cute female cabbie is rare enough. The fact she gave her business card and said pretty much said call me after work!

I know it's just a movie but wow.

[–] doug65oh 8 years ago

Well, the book was published in '39 so I'm guessing if the cab driver had made such a remark Marlowe might have slugged him.  (Only one cab ride mentioned in the book and the driver is male.)

What's the difference between a female cab driver and a book store clerk anyway? (Might as well figure pre-autumn 1945 for the film. The female cab driver makes more sense that way.)

She was a cute girl who liked to tease, obviously. It's not like somebody was going to jump out and yell "Stop! Officer, I want that little strumpet carted off to the convent immediately!" Know what I mean?

[–] huwdj (4562) 6 years ago

I think it's the fate of most young actresses and actors to go absolutely nowhere. I agree there are an exceptional number of beautiful young women in this film but I suspect if you randomly picked eight or so similar actresses from other films thier careers would have a similar trajectories.

[–] Popcorngal (4321) 2 years ago

It is possible they held other interest besides acting.

[–] huwdj (4562) 2 years ago

This is true. I can think of several who became artists, therapists, teachers etc and acting was just something they did when younger.