The Big Sleep (1946) | |
| Director(s) | Howard Hawks |
| Producer(s) | Jack L. Warner (executive), Howard Hawks (uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Crime, Film Adaptation, Film Noir, Mystery, Thriller/Suspense |
| Top Topics | Book-Based |
Featured Cast:
The Big Sleep Overview:
The Big Sleep (1946) was a Crime - Film Noir Film directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Howard Hawks and Jack L. Warner.
The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Raymond Chandler published in 1939.
SYNOPSIS
Chandler's first novel introduced private detective Philip Marlowe, and The Big Sleep set the standard for private detective movies. Down-at-the-heels private eye Marlowe gets the assignment to clean up after the daughters of a dying millionaire, but dead people have a nasty habit of trailing in their wake. The famously tortuous storyline (Hawks supposedly asked Chandler to clarify a plot point about the murder of the family chauffeur; the novelist hadn't a clue as to who did the deed) seems beside the point when Bogart and Bacall are on-screen. The final release was recut to include more of their scenes together. A must! Remade in 1978.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.The Big Sleep was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1997.
BlogHub Articles:
3 Fun Facts about The Big Sleep (1946)
By Annmarie Gatti on Aug 31, 2026 From Classic Movie Hub Blog3 Fun Facts about The Big Sleep Released on August 31, 1946, The Big Sleep stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in one of classic Hollywood’s most famous film noirs. Murder, mystery ? and one famously complicated plot! Here are three fun facts about The Big Sleep… 1. Even... Read full article
Robert Mitchum as a Contemporary Marlowe in The Big Sleep
By Rick29 on Nov 4, 2019 From Classic Film & TV CafeRobert Mitchum as Marlowe. The biggest knock against Michael Winner's 1978 adaptation of The Big Sleep was his decision to transplant the story to contemporary England. It was surely an odd choice, especially since Raymond Chandler's novels paint a rich, vibrant portrait of urban California life in... Read full article
The Big Sleep (1946, Howard Hawks)
By Andrew Wickliffe on Sep 14, 2018 From The Stop ButtonA lot goes unspoken in The Big Sleep. It?s very much set in a wartime Los Angeles, but there?s never much said about wartime conditions or Los Angeles. When private detective Humphrey Bogart goes around the city, investigating, he?s only ever encountering women (beautiful women at that, because dire... Read full article
Thoughts on The Big Sleep (1946)
By Carol Martinheira on Apr 29, 2018 From The Old Hollywood GardenThoughts on The Big Sleep (1946) On April 29, 2018 By CarolIn Uncategorized I like to say I have a love-hate relationship with The Big Sleep. I don?t. I love The Big Sleep. And it grows on me every time I watch it. Maybe because I understand it a little bit better each... Read full article
The Big Sleep (1946) (2) (2)
on Sep 6, 2017 From Journeys in Classic FilmBy 1946 actor Humphrey Bogart fit into the role of detective Philip Marlowe so perfectly it might as well have been his favorite pair of shoes. Though this was Bogie’s own time playing the detective, The Big Sleep was simply a culmination of his past films coming together in perfect unison. He... Read full article
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Quotes from
Harry Jones: Yeah, the name's Jones. Harry Jones. I want to see you.
Philip Marlowe: Swell. Did you want to see those guys jump me?
Harry Jones: I didn't care one way or the other.
Philip Marlowe: You could've yelled for help.
Harry Jones: If a guy's playing a hand, I let him play it. I'm no kibitzer.
Philip Marlowe: You got brains
Carmen Sternwood: You're not very tall are you?
Philip Marlowe: Well, I, uh, I try to be.
General Sternwood: If I seem a bit sinister as a parent, Mr. Marlowe, it's because my hold on life is too slight to include any Victorian hypocrisy. I need hardly add that any man who has lived as I have and indulges for the first time in parenthood at my age deserves all he gets.
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Facts about
Many of the cars in the film have a "B" sticker in the lower-right corner of their windshields. This is a reflection of the wartime rationing of gasoline. Gas was rationed primarily to save rubber, because Japan had occupied Indochina, Malaysia, and Indonesia. (There was a shortage of gas on the East Coast until a pipeline from Texas was constructed to replace the transport of crude oil by sea.) The B sticker was the second lowest category, entitling the holder to only 8 gallons of gas a week. Marlowe seems to use more than one week's allotment during a 72-hour period, which may be intended to reflect a black market in ration books. However, since Marlowe still has a deputy badge, at least in a deleted scene which existed in the 1945 version, he would be entitled to an X sticker (unlimited gas) as a peace officer. Perhaps the B sticker on the windshield was camouflage, since an X sticker would make the car extremely noteworthy. Marlowe also refers to "three red points," and speaks of a dead body as "cold meat" which refers to the red tokens used to acquire a family's allotment of meat during WWII.
Howard Hawks reused the way Eddie Mars meets his demise (shot by his own men after opening a door) with that of the character Milt in Hawks' later western El Dorado.
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