The Big Sleep (1946)

The picture they were born for!

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

Directed by: Howard Hawks

Written by: Raymond Chandler, William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman

Music by: Max Steiner

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers, Louis Jean Heydt, Charles Waldron, Regis Toomey, Sonia Darrin, Elisha Cook Jr., Bob Steele

Genre: Mystery, Crime, Thriller

Released: 1946-08-22

Runtime: 114 minutes

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The Big Sleep (1946): trivia & fun facts

Fun facts

• Her credit in the movie's credits was removed when Warner Bros. studio head Jack L. Warner got into a feud with her agent Arthur Pine following the film's completion.
• Although only about twenty minutes of the film's original 1945 cut was removed and replaced, twenty minutes was either condensed, altered, or eliminated with new footage.
• Charles K. Feldman, Lauren Bacall’s agent, forced Hawks to reshoot Bogart and Bacall’s scenes to add more chemistry, due to harsh criticism against Bacall’s performance.
• William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman co-wrote the screenplay, which adapts Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel.
• Film historian Lee Pfeiffer wrote in 2006, "Given the tortured history of bringing Raymond Chandler's novel to the screen, it's somewhat amazing The Big Sleep turned out to be... a genuine classic."
• Initially produced in late 1944, the film's release was delayed by more than a year because the studio wanted to release war films in anticipation of the end of World War II.
• Principal photography on the film took place on the Warner Bros. backlot from October 10, 1944, to January 12, 1945.
• When that movie failed, reshoots of The Big Sleep were done in early 1946 meant to take advantage of the public's fascination with "Bogie and Bacall".
• In 2003, AFI named Philip Marlowe the 32nd greatest hero in film.
• The film placed 202nd on the 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll of the greatest films ever made and also received two directors' votes.
• The Big Sleep premiered in New York City on August 23, 1946, before being released on August 31.

Source: Wikipedia

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