THE BIG SLEEP

Raymond Chandler is one of two authors whose stories enraptured me when I discovered them in my teens (the other being Philip K Dick).  I think ‘The Big Sleep’ was probably the first of his novels that I read.

This adaptation is very fine although the ending has been changed to make it more dramatic and to provide a happy conclusion to the romance between Marlowe and Vivian (there is no such romance in the novel, just some sexual tension).

This film has a reputation for having an impenetrable plot.  I beg to differ, although it's true I have the advantage of having both read the novel and watched the film several times.

It struck me on this latest viewing that there are really two plots, the one concerning Geiger that is at the forefront in the first half and the one concerning Regan that is the focus of the second half.  In writing the novel Chandler cannibalised two short stories he had already had published, and I dare say they correspond to these two plots.

The biggest mystery is reckoned to be who killed Owen Taylor.  In fact it's fairly clear that we are intended to believe Brody killed him, although admittedly Brody had no need to do so.  The death of Taylor is not crucial to the plot, so it is perhaps an example of Chandler's occasional sloppiness when it came to plotting.

Not that this matters when the film is dripping with as much film noir atmosphere as this one, and has the sexual chemistry of Bogart and Bacall to boot.  

In reading Wikipedia doing my research I was surprised to learn that there was a two-year gap between the shooting of the film and its release, during which certain scenes were reshot or added.  This was mainly due to an intervention by Bacall's agent, anxious to boost her impact.  

There's no doubt in my mind that the theatrical release version of 1946 is superior to the original version, if only because it adds the memorable horserace dialogue and it removes a boring scene from the novel in which Marlowe and the D.A. discuss the case.  

So we can all thank Bacall's agent for the fact that we have a classic to enjoy rather than just a very good film.

RATING: ✓✓ Catch It If You Can