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Writers: William Faulkner(screenplay), Leigh Brackett (screenplay)
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely
Genre: Film Noir
About: Private detective Philip Marlowe who's hired to take on a case by a rich, eccentric man and runs into his two lovely daughters.
Review: I watched this a couple of times and I still don't know who killed who? But it doesn't matter! I loved it anyway, it's such a neat movie to watch.
Director Howard Hawks broke the rules when he decided to de-emphasize a structured plot and instead focus on character development, quick dialogue and entertaining scenes. Hawks was amazed that audience loved the film despite the lack of traditionalism in story telling. I though it was pretty awesome myself!
I watched the 1946 theatrical release, this is the version most people watch. The Big Sleep was shot in 1944 during WWII and just as the film was being finished, the war was coming to an end. Warner Brothers Studio had a lot of war themed movies in the pipeline and wanted to get those out before they became passe. So The Big Sleep was put on the shelf and it's release held.
Meanwhile Lauren Bacall who had shot to stardom in her first film,To Have and Have Not, had her second film released Confidential Agent which critics hated her in. They had considered her a major talent but after Confidential Agent, the questioned even if she could act at all and her future as an actresses was in serious doubt.
Seeing how The Big Sleep was in limbo, Jack Warner ordered additional scenes to be shot of Bacall that would allow her to shine with her the sexual innuendos and insolence that made her a star in To Have and Have Not. Thus the original 1945 film was never released but a reworked film came out in 1946.
The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946)
Director: Howard HawksWriters: William Faulkner(screenplay), Leigh Brackett (screenplay)
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely
Genre: Film Noir
About: Private detective Philip Marlowe who's hired to take on a case by a rich, eccentric man and runs into his two lovely daughters.
Review: I watched this a couple of times and I still don't know who killed who? But it doesn't matter! I loved it anyway, it's such a neat movie to watch.
Director Howard Hawks broke the rules when he decided to de-emphasize a structured plot and instead focus on character development, quick dialogue and entertaining scenes. Hawks was amazed that audience loved the film despite the lack of traditionalism in story telling. I though it was pretty awesome myself!
I watched the 1946 theatrical release, this is the version most people watch. The Big Sleep was shot in 1944 during WWII and just as the film was being finished, the war was coming to an end. Warner Brothers Studio had a lot of war themed movies in the pipeline and wanted to get those out before they became passe. So The Big Sleep was put on the shelf and it's release held.
Meanwhile Lauren Bacall who had shot to stardom in her first film,To Have and Have Not, had her second film released Confidential Agent which critics hated her in. They had considered her a major talent but after Confidential Agent, the questioned even if she could act at all and her future as an actresses was in serious doubt.
Seeing how The Big Sleep was in limbo, Jack Warner ordered additional scenes to be shot of Bacall that would allow her to shine with her the sexual innuendos and insolence that made her a star in To Have and Have Not. Thus the original 1945 film was never released but a reworked film came out in 1946.