The Big Sleep (1946)

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

William Faulkner (screenplay) &
Leigh Brackett (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

31 August 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The type of man she hated . . . was the type she wanted !

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Murder | General | Private Eye | Blackmail | Private Detective

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Philip Marlowe
Lauren Bacall	...	Vivian Rutledge
John Ridgely	...	Eddie Mars
Martha Vickers	...	Carmen Sternwood
Dorothy Malone	...	Acme Bookstore Proprietress
Peggy Knudsen	...	Mona Mars
Regis Toomey	...	Chief Inspector Bernie Ohls
Charles Waldron	...	General Sternwood
Charles D. Brown	...	Norris the Butler
Bob Steele	...	Lash Canino
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Harry Jones
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Joe Brody
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pat Clark	...	Mona Mars (scenes deleted)
James Flavin	...	Capt. Cronjager (scenes deleted)
Thomas E. Jackson	...	District Attorney White (scenes deleted)
Trevor Bardette	...	Art Huck (uncredited)
Joy Barlow	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Max Barwyn	...	Max - Head Waiter (uncredited)
Deannie Best	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Tanis Chandler	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Jack Chefe	...	Croupier (uncredited)
Joseph Crehan	...	Medical Examiner (uncredited)
Sonia Darrin	...	Agnes Lowzier (uncredited)
Carole Douglas	...	Librarian (uncredited)
Jay Eaton	...	Man in Casino (uncredited)
Tom Fadden	...	Sidney (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Woman with Bumped Man (uncredited)
Shep Houghton	...	Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Pete Kooy	...	Motorcycle Cop (uncredited)
Lorraine Miller	...	Hatcheck Girl (uncredited)
Forbes Murray	...	Furtive Man (uncredited)
Shelby Payne	...	Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Jack Perry	...	Silent Thug Beating Marlowe (uncredited)
Tommy Rafferty	...	Carol Lundgren (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan	...	Ed - Deputy Sheriff (uncredited)
Theodore von Eltz	...	Arthur Gwynn Geiger (uncredited)
Wally Walker	...	Mars' Thug (uncredited)
Dan Wallace	...	Owen Taylor (uncredited)
Paul Weber	...	Mars' Thug (uncredited)
Ben Welden	...	Pete (uncredited)

Directed by
Howard Hawks

Writing credits
William Faulkner		(screenplay) &
Leigh Brackett		(screenplay) &
Jules Furthman		(screenplay)
Raymond Chandler		(novel "The Big Sleep")

Produced by
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer
Howard Hawks	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Sidney Hickox		(as Sid Hickox)

Film Editing by
Christian Nyby

Art Direction by
Carl Jules Weyl
Max Parker		(supervising art director) (uncredited)

Set Decoration by
Fred M. MacLean

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Eric Stacey	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chuck Hansen	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Robert Vreeland	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robert B. Lee	....	sound
Gerald W. Alexander	....	sound effects mixer (uncredited)
Gerald W. Alexander	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
Robert G. Wayne	....	sound effects mixer (uncredited)
Robert G. Wayne	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Roy Davidson	....	special effects director (as E. Roy Davidson)
Warren Lynch	....	special effects (as Warren E. Lynch)
Robert Burks	....	special effects (uncredited)
William C. McGann	....	special effects (uncredited)
Willard Van Enger	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Michael P. Joyce	....	second camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Leah Rhodes	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Simon Bucharoff	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Charles David Forrest	....	music mixer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as Warner Bros.-First National Pictures Inc.)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1946) (USA) (theatrical) (as Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.)
• Dominant Pictures Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Sociedade Importadora de Filmes (SIF) (????) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1996) (Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Key Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

114 min | 116 min (pre-release version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | New Zealand:PG | Sweden:(Banned) (original rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Australia:PG (alternate rating) | Canada:14A (video rating) | Chile:18 | Finland:(Banned) (1947-1949) | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 (re-rating) (1961) | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #10625) | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

While working on the script, writers William Faulkner and Leigh Brackett couldn't figure out from the novel who murdered a particular character. So they phoned Raymond Chandler, who angrily told them the answer was right there in the book. They shrugged and returned to their work. Chandler soon phoned to say that he looked at the book himself and couldn't figure out who killed the character, so he left it up to them to decide. In the original cut, shown to the armed services, this question is resolved; in the film as released, it isn't.

Goofs:

Continuity: The guns hidden in Marlowe's car: first he chooses the one on the left and later when he shoots Canino he picks the same gun, but the other is missing.

Quotes:

General Sternwood: How do you like your brandy, sir?
Philip Marlowe: In a glass.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bogart: The Untold Story (1996) (TV)

Soundtrack:

And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine

"My, my, my, such a lot of guns around town and so few brains."

Starting out, I must advise that my review here is for the 1945 pre-release version of "The Big Sleep", which had quite a few scenes redone prior to it's release to general audiences in October 1946. With filming already completed by Spring of 1945, there were two main reasons for the year and a half delay; first, with World War II underway, Warner Brothers felt compelled to get it's war related films into theaters while they were still timely. Secondly, Producer/Director Howard Hawks was convinced he had to re-shoot some scenes involving Lauren Bacall, who was critically panned in her latest film, "Confidential Agent" with Charles Boyer. In the original print, Bacall is presented in a few scenes wearing a distracting veil, and it's her more glamorous side that the studio needed to capitalize on.

Much has been made of the complexity of the "The Big Sleep", and deservedly so. On my latest viewing, I took pen in hand to keep track of the characters and situations. That only helped so much. For example, Humprey Bogart's character, private detective Philip Marlowe is tailing rare book dealer Arthur Gwynne Geiger for his client General Sternwood; Geiger allegedly holds gambling debts involving a few thousand dollars on Sternwood's daughter Carmen (Martha Vickers). Following Geiger's auto to his residence, Marlowe studies his surroundings, and then hears a woman's scream and gunshots, followed immediately by two cars careening out of the driveway. Entering the house, he discovers the lifeless body of Geiger, and a spaced out Carmen Sternwood. Out of this scenario are offered two, maybe three possibilities. First, General Sternwood's chauffeur Owen Taylor is implicated, as he had fallen in love with Carmen and wanted to defend her from blackmail. Secondly, a shady Geiger accomplice Joe Brody may have done it, OR may have chased the guilty Taylor from the crime scene either to retrieve some incriminating blackmail film or to remove him as a potential witness. OR, the spaced out Carmen could have killed Geiger herself, and although this wasn't offered as a possibility in the film, she WAS present, and may have been entirely coherent when the murder was committed.

And this is how the story proceeds. Even more characters are introduced to spin off the original plot, and Marlowe is off investigating the proprietor of a gambling house named Eddie Mars, Brody's accomplice Agnes Lozier, the salesgirl at the rare bookstore, and Harry Jones (Elisha Cook Jr.), a tail on Marlowe who gets rubbed out after setting up a meeting with Agnes that might provide more information to go on.

All of the intrigue aside, it's the chemistry once again between Bogey and by now, Mrs. Bogey, Lauren Bacall that propels this movie forward. Whether just sizing each other up at the beginning of the film, or as unwilling accomplices and possible lovers by film's end, it's the snappy banter and smoldering tension between the two that put the sizzle into this edgy noir thriller.

As if to prove how great an actor Bogart was, this film offers us a glimpse at his incredible range. Of course I'm referring to the bookstore scene in which Bogey portrays a nerdy client seeking information on a non existent rare book. With a mere upturn of his hat's brim and a cleverly positioned pair of glasses, Bogart completely transforms into an almost unrecognizable comic character who befuddles and infuriates the store's proprietress. He follows that up with a walk across the street, and a double entendre filled conversation with a disarmingly seductive Dorothy Malone in a scene that could have lingered into X-rated territory if not for the task at hand.

One could go on and on about "The Big Sleep", and others have, but to appreciate the film's mystery, darkness and noir complexity you'll have to view it. But don't try to solve the case, you won't want to hurt yourself.