Movie Review: The Big Sleep (1946)

[Phat Mack]

A few comments from my unreliable memory. The original theatrical release is a great flick, but very hard to follow as the plot doesn't make a lot of sense. They discovered the original director's cut in the 80's or 90's, and it is easier to follow. I believe the original was shortened because of time constraints, or perhaps because of racy dialogue. I like the director's cut a lot better.

I also believe the screen play was worked on by William Faulkner. He may have been responsible for some of the great lines in this flick. The book's dialogue is good, but the movie's is great. As an example from memory (and probably wrong) Marlowe is asked how he takes his brandy. In the book he says "Neat," in the movie, "In a glass."

Elements from Big Sleep and Maltese Falcon were used in the recent movie "Brick," which also is worth seeing.