The Big Sleep (1946 film)

The Big Sleep
Theatrical release lobby card
Directed byHoward Hawks
Screenplay byWilliam Faulkner
Leigh Brackett
Jules Furthman
Based onThe Big Sleep
1939 novel
by Raymond Chandler
Produced byHoward Hawks
Starring
CinematographySidney Hickox
Edited byChristian Nyby
Music byMax Steiner
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release dates
[1]
  • August 31, 1946 (1946-08-31) (US)
[2]
Running time
  • 114 minutes
    (released cut)
  • 116 minutes
    (re-released original cut)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.6 million[3]
Box office$4.9 million[3]

The Big Sleep is a 1946 American film noir directed by Howard Hawks.[4][5] William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman co-wrote the screenplay, which adapts Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel. The film stars Humphrey Bogart as private detective Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as Vivian Rutledge in a story that begins with blackmail and leads to multiple murders.

Initially produced in late 1944, the film's release was delayed by over a year due to the studio wanting to release war films in anticipation of the end of World War II. A cut was released to servicemen overseas in 1945 shortly after its completion. During its delay, Bogart and Bacall married and Bacall was cast in Confidential Agent. When that movie failed, reshoots were done in early 1946 meant to take advantage of the public's fascination with "Bogie and Bacall".

The Big Sleep was finally released by Warner Bros. on August 31, 1946.[1][2] The film was a critical and commercial success, and led to two more "Bogie and Bacall" films by Warner Bros.: Dark Passage (1947) and Key Largo (1948). In 1997, the original 1945 cut was restored and released. That same year, the U.S. Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," and added it to the National Film Registry.[6][7]

  1. ^ a b "The Big Sleep (1946)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  2. ^ a b The Big Sleep at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  3. ^ a b Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See "Appendix 1", Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television (1995), 15:sup1, p. 26 doi:10.1080/01439689508604551.
  4. ^ Variety film review; August 14, 1946, p. 10.
  5. ^ Harrison's Reports film review; August 17, 1946, p. 131.
  6. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Film Registry. National Film Preservation Board. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  7. ^ "New to the National Film Registry (December 1997)". Library of Congress Information Bulletin. Retrieved 2020-09-17.