The Big Sleep (1946)

Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family and before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love.

Classic detective thriller with a nearly incomprehensible plot, but highly ebtertaining due to prime direction, excellent star performances, a touch of Noir with a pinch of ironic humour, snappy dialogues and suspense.

Halliwell***: "Inextricably complicated, moody thriller from a novel whose author claimed that even he did not know 'who done it'. The film is nevertheless vastly enjoyable along the way for its slangy script, star performances and outbursts of violence, suspense and sheer fun."

Maltin****: "Classic mystery thriller...So convoluted even Chandler didn't know who committed one murder, but so incredibly entertaining that no has ever cared. Powerhouse direction; unforgettable dialogue..."

First Lines: William Faulkner - The Reivers

Grandfather said:
This is the kind of man Boon Hogganbeck was.

First Lines: William Faulkner - A Fable

Long before the first bugles sounded from the barracks within the city and the cantonments surrounding it, most of the city was already awake.

First Lines: William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying

Jewel and I come up from the field, following the path in single file.

First Lines: William Faulkner - Intruder in the Dust

It was just noon that Sunday morning when the sheriff reached the jail with Lucas Beauchamp though the whole town (the whole county too for that matter) had known since the night before that Lucas had killed a white man.

First Lines: William Faulkner - The Sound and the Fury

Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting.

First Lines: William Faulkner - Light in August

Sitting beside the road, watching the wagon mount the hill toward her, Lena thinks, 'I have come from Alabama: a fur piece. All the way from Alabama a-walking. A fur piece.'

Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to insure the impregnability of the tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.

Compared to the other epics of the time this is an above average effort. Howard Hawks maintains a good quality in all departments, still it is a bit wooden. Where William Faulkner (script) put his mark is beyond me.