Is it just me, or is Hollywood almost cartoonish these days in painting a man's virility? An action hero or even Sherlock Holmes isn't worth beans unless he has muscles bigger than his head and a colossal weapon that puts big holes in nameless henchmen. Usually a leading man's endeavors include spectacular car accidents or blowing up buildings.

But I humbly offer this question: Is all that needed to make a man impressive?

I don't think so.

The other night I took in a classic film noir, "The Big Sleep," with Humphrey Bogart playing a shrewd detective.

As the mystery of a blackmailed family unfurled, one thought kept running through my mind: There's something so simply manly about Humphrey Bogart.

A hat slanted across the forehead, shadowing his eyes, a cigarette teetering on the brim on his lips as he mutters through it without letting it fall.

His voice is a bored monotone, yet there's a keen focus in his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed in eternal skepticism.

As he slowly cracks the case, Bogart doesn't total Corvettes or get creative with C4, but that's not the point. He's a private eye, after all, he's all about being wily and cagey and keeping a low profile.

And I'll tell you, the subtlety of the character enhances the testosterone in everything he does.

The only moderately-built actor has but two action scenes in the film - each roughly half a second long - one where he kicks a guy in the face, another where he whacks him with a fist.

Both instances were, well, a little graceless. Bogart is not a terribly physical guy.

But no matter. It's not the punch itself, but Bogart's attitude that sells it - the nonchalance in his voice when he mutters, "I don't like people who play games. Tell your boss when you wake up."

It's the same attitude in the romance scenes, now that I think about it.

He gives Lauren Bacall a brief kiss, then announces, "All right, then, that's enough," and it's back to the case.

Manly.

And don't forget about the guns. In this movie, they aren't massive beasts that require two brawny arms to manage. They're tiny, palm-sized pistols, drawn smoothly and quietly out of the pocket. No one makes a big show of it, either - they hold the guns casually by the hip like a wine cooler at a picnic.

It's still scary, though, because the potentially fatal posture is so breezy.

Yeah, people really knew how to pull a pistol back then.

I guess it's just the whole film noir genre I miss, not just the urbane leading men.

Every character in "The Big Sleep" is classy and cool and husky-voiced, so slick they seem bored by love and death alike.

Bacall sounds just about disgusted when she admits to Bogart, "I guess I'm in love with you."

He replies with an equally blase, "I'm guess I'm in love with you." Do they kiss? Heck no. It's back to the case. These people don't get distracted.

There's probably little we can do to bring this kind of style back to the movies, except maybe put a cap on how many special effects are allowed per film.

Otherwise, I'll just have to keep my eye out for understated guys who wear Fedoras and can make drinking brandy in the afternoon look good.

Manly.

Alecia Warren is a reporter at the Coeur d'Alene Press who isn't afraid of viewing black and white films. Contact her via e-mail at awarren@cdapress.com.