Trivia / The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep (the original book)

• Referenced by...: The convoluted plot structure of Brick owes itself to The Big Sleep, and Raymond Chandler's style in general.

The Big Sleep (1946 film)

• Actor-Inspired Element: Philip Marlowe's habit of feeling his earlobe while in deep thought was something Humphrey Bogart incorporated from his own behavior.
• Completely Different Title: In Sweden, the film was called Utpressning, meaning "Blackmail". So is, of course, Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail, causing some confusion.
• Dawson Casting: Marlowe is 33 in the book, and Humphrey Bogart was 45 when he shot the film, but the line establishing Marlowe's age is changed to 38 to put it more within the realm of credibility.
• Deleted Scene: In re-cutting the film, Howard Hawks removed the scene in which Marlowe explains the crimes. The film's success supported his growing conviction that audiences didn't care if a plot made sense as long as they had a good time.
• Enforced Method Acting: Dorothy Malone was making her film debut and was so nervous at sharing the scene with Humphrey Bogart that they had to weight the liquor glass to keep her hands from shaking.
• Executive Meddling:
  • A first version of the film adaptation was completed in 1945 but its release was postponed. Meanwhile Lauren Bacall's performance in her first film after her sensational debut with Bogart in To Have And Have Not, Confidential Agent, stunk up the room. Noting similar issues with her performance in several key scenes in The Big Sleep and wanting to capitalize on the Bogart and Bacall relationship on- and off-screen (the pair having gotten married in the interim), Jack L. Warner authorized (under the suggestion of Bacall's agent) that several scenes be re-shot and others added (courtesy uncredited screenwriter Julius Eptein) to try and recapture more of that To Have and Have Not chemistry. And it worked.
  • Censorship guidelines, coupled with the need to make the film a romance of sorts and to provide a second billing for Lauren Bacall, meant that quite bit of the material had to be altered from the original novel. Chandler notes that many of Martha Vickers' scenes ended up on the cutting room floor – because she ended up outshining Bacall in their scenes together – and this resulted in Carmen abruptly disappearing at the end of the second act.
  • Jack L. Warner got into a big argument with the agent of Sonia Darrin, who played Agnes. It got so heated that the agent and his clients were banned from the lot. As he couldn't cut Darrin's scenes – because they were too important to the plot – he ended up refusing to credit her instead.
• Focus Group Ending: A planned ending would have Carmen trying to fake suicide with what she believes is an empty gun - only to discover it was loaded. Another would have her confess her crimes and walk into an ambush by gangsters. The final ending was to have Marlowe decide on the basis of a coin toss, to walk out of the house and into an ambush. The resulting ending where Eddie Mars gets shot by his own gangsters was suggested by the Production Code committee when they objected to the violence of the previous ending.
• Hey, It's That Place!: The entrance to the Sternwood mansion was later used in Mildred Pierce.
• Non-Singing Voice: Averted. Despite rumours that Andy Williams dubbed Lauren Bacall's singing, both Howard Hawks and the actress herself insisted she did her own singing. The same rumours dogged Lauren for To Have And Have Not too.
• The Other Marty: Pat Clark was the original actress for Mona Mars. But when the studio had her scene re-shot to improve Lauren Bacall's performance, she was unavailable, so Peggy Knudsen was cast as Mona instead.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Martha Vickers had just started acting and was appearing as a Damsel in Distress in Universal horror films. Howard Hawks bought her contract upon seeing a glamorous photo of her - and cast her as the Fille Fatale Carmen.
  • Bob Steele, who played Canino, was known for westerns at that point. He was ecstatic to star in something current for a change.
• Romance on the Set:
  • Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall got married during the filming of the movie; they had been working together for some time, but The Big Sleep was their first film as a married couple.
  • Howard Hawks also became involved with writer Leigh Brackett, who was hired to work on this film.
• Scully Box: Humphrey Bogart had to wear platform shoes to appear taller than his two leading ladies, Lauren Bacall and Martha Vickers.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: The film was completed in 1944, but the studio shelved it in order to get through their backlog of war movies before WWII ended. This proved to be a very good thing. Before it was released in 1946, scenes were added to capitalize further on the obvious on-screen chemistry of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
• Shrug of God: Even Raymond Chandler had no idea who killed the chauffeur.
  "They sent me a wire...asking me, and dammit I didn't know either."
• Those Two Actors: This was the second of four films that Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall made together.
• Throw It In!:
  • In the book, there isn't any hint of attraction between Marlowe and the lady bookseller. Howard Hawks was so taken by Dorothy Malone's natural sexuality that he made the scene Hotter and Sexier.
  • Howard Hawks claimed that the famous horseracing conversation between Marlowe and Vivian came about because all the re-shoots were forcing him to miss a horse race in Santa Anita.
• Trolling Creator: Lauren Bacall claimed that Jack L. Warner sent them a memo saying "Word has reached me that you are having fun on the set. This must stop".
• Uncredited Role:
  • Sonia Darrin as Agnes Lowzier, under orders from Jack L. Warner; see Executive Meddling above.
  • Julius Epstein made uncredited contributions to the screenplay.
• What Could Have Been: John Ireland tested for the roles of Eddie Mars and Lash Canino.

The 1978 Remake:

• Awesome, Dear Boy: Oliver Reed agreed to play Eddie Mars just so he could work with Robert Mitchum.
• Dawson Casting:
  • An even more extreme case than the original film. Robert Mitchum was sixty when he played Philip Marlowe.
  • John Justin was also sixty playing Geiger, who is said to be fifty.
• Follow the Leader: This remake was made to capitalise on the growing revival of Hard Boiled Detective movies with noir elements in The '70s - nicknamed 'Neo Noir'. Others included Gumshoe, Chinatown and The Black Bird (a comedy sequel to The Maltese Falcon, starring Charles Grodin). Four other Raymond Chandler adaptations were made during this time too.
• Production Posse: Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles and John Mills had all starred in Ryan's Daughter together.
• Romance on the Set: Robert Mitchum had a fling with Lindy Benton, who was one of the models for the pornography book Marlowe finds.
• Wag the Director: Sarah Miles insisted that the bedroom be white, as it was in the first movie.
• Written-In Infirmity: Richard Boone had broken his foot before filming began, so that was incorporated into the story.

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