I've seen this at least 50 times. and each time I still have fun with it.
Bacall's remark to Bogart (carrying a passed-out Dolores Moran): "What are you doing? Trying to guess her weight?" always cracks me up.
Bacall was only this good again once, in THE BIG SLEEP.
I've a question. I am not new to old films or anything but due to their greater emphasis on the suggestion as opposed to directness when it comes to spicy and sexy dialogue I am not exactly sure about the quote in this film in which the Bacall character asks the rhetorical question about the detective being able to whistle . Is it considered to be a a sexy quote because of the "wolf whistle" only ? Or is it actually suggestive of oral sex meaning that she asks him if he can use his lips and whistle because supposedly she sure can and could teach him or something?
I just don't know if it's something that could have been used in that context back then.
While watching the movie I found myself pondering this same question. Bogart's whistling out the catcall after she leaves softens its context, but the dialogue between Bogart and Bacall is so ambiguous leading up to the line that the audience starts falling all over themselves trying to figure out exactly what she's talking about, and, in the end, she could be talking about anything... That's what makes it memorable. That's why you're asking a question about it, and that's why I'm trying hard, and mostly failing, to answer.
I don't think anybody knows what the line means specifically, except perhaps its originator, and maybe not even that person. Faulkner, who co-wrote the script, obfuscates his language frequently in his novels. My suggestion is to simply think up the raunchiest reference your naughty little mind can summon, and go with it.
Cutting and pasting my own post from the "The famous quotation..." thread:
It doesn't make sense, either in and of itself, or in the context of the scene.
I think she means all he has to do to make her happy is whistle at her--which he hasn't done at any other point, so it just seems so random.
Well, I finally saw all of it, and I can't say that I'm too impressed. I guess people were hard up for sex back then, so Becall's lines carry a little more weight than they do now.
I don't buy the whole US government didn't want a film that looked like it was assisting the rebels in Cuba.
The dialogue and chemistry between Bogart and Bacall make this film go.
Mesmerising chemistry indeed. Bogart's reaction to Bacall's whistling line was priceless. Plus the narrative was also entertaining in its tense, thriller moments.
I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.
Fantastic film, full of great lines.
Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down and a Wagging Finger of Shame