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
[hangs up]
Philip Marlowe: I hope the sergeant never traces that call.
Vivian: So you're a private detective. I didn't know they existed, except in books, or else they were greasy little men snooping around hotel corridors. My, you're a mess, aren't you?
Philip Marlowe: I'm not very tall either. Next time I'll come on stilts wear a white tie and carry a tennis racket.
Vivian: I doubt if even that will help.
Philip Marlowe: Hmm.
General Sternwood: What does that mean?
Philip Marlowe: It means, hmm.
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Facts about
Charles Waldron's (Gen Sternwood) last film. He died before the film premiered. However, he appeared in three other 1946 releases that, despite opening earlier in the year than "The Big Sleep," were shot subsequently. James Stewart recreated the role in the 1978 remake in one of his last roles. Coincidentally, Waldron had played Stewart's father in Navy Blue and Gold.
The fussy persona that Marlowe adopts upon arriving in Geiger's bookstore has been a subject of argument for years; Lauren Bacall said that Humphrey Bogart came up with it while Howard Hawks claimed in interviews that it was his idea. What both of them failed to notice is that it was in the original book ("I had my horn-rimmed glasses on. I put my voice high and let a bird twitter in it."); all Bogart did was elaborate on it.
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