Charles Waldron

The testimony of an ambitious reporter helps to convict a young man of murder, but the newspaper man has second thoughts about his contribution when he finds himself in the dock while a homicidal maniac is on the loose.

Complicated but sultry and witty, this film noir is the definitive Bogart/Bacall movie. Bogart is private eye Philip Marlowe who's hired to deal with the blackmailer of a general's daughter. Bacall is the protective older sister. There's murder, dark dealings and a sexual electricity between the two stars.

When Lee Leander is caught stealing a bracelet just before the holidays, Assistant District Attorney John "Jack" Sargent gets her sent off to jail but suffers a crisis of conscience and bails her out. When he invites her to join him and his family for Christmas, it begins a relationship that strains—but ultimately redeems—all parties.