BIG SLEEP, THE - DVD review

"Private eye," "private investigator," "private detective," "shamus," and "Doghouse Reilly" are among the various terms Humphrey Bogart uses to describe himself as P.I. Philip Marlowe. Author Raymond Chandler's 1939 fictional creation was brought to the screen by director Howard Hawks in this 1946 film noir classic. "The Big Sleep" may not pack the punch of Bogart's earlier detective thriller, "The Maltese Falcon," but it does create a character and a milieu that would be imitated more times over than any other private-eye flick in film history. For Warner Bros. to give us two complete editions of the film, both its prerelease and theatrical release versions, on two sides of a single DVD is a bargain, indeed.

The reaction of novelist William Faulkner, who helped write the screenplay, best sums up the story's convoluted plot when he said he couldn't figure out from the book who killed one of the characters, namely, the chauffeur. To settle the matter he called up the author and asked him about it. Chandler admitted he didn't know, either. Maybe it's a good thing there are two versions of the movie on the disc. It would take at least two viewings for anyone new to the film to untangle the web of characters and motives that complicate the story line.

But don't worry about it. Chandler didn't. Just enjoy the proceedings as Marlowe is summoned to the house of a multimillionaire named Sternwood who is being blackmailed and wants something done about it. Sternwood's two daughters, a high-society type (Lauren Bacall) and a nympho sex kitten who sucks her thumb (Martha Vickers), are trouble for Marlowe the moment he steps through the door. And things don't get any better as he gets involved with a host of shady individuals, double dealings, and multiple murders.

No, none of the characters are as memorable as the ones in "The Maltese Falcon," but they're plenty colorful and ominous, nonetheless, played by actors like Elisha Cook, Jr., John Ridgely, Regis Toomey, and Bob Steele. What's more, "The Big Sleep" skirts even more forbidden territory. In 1946 the self-imposed movie censorship codes disallowed direct references to sex, pornography, or homosexuality, all of which play prominent parts in Chandler's novel. So, the dialogue is filled with innuendo, and many of the scenes are strongly suggestive. For instance, we see Marlowe meet a young woman clerk (Dorothy Malone) in a book shop, flirt with her, and offer to while away an hour. She closes the store early, pulls down the blinds, and the scene fades to black. Or we see Marlowe walk into another bookstore across the street and snoop around, while a furtive customer with a knowing nod is allowed into a secret back room. We get the picture (and, apparently, so does the customer). Then when the owner of the bookstore is found murdered, we wonder for a moment why his young male assistant is so determined to go gunning for the assailant, until we see Marlowe going through the victim's handkerchiefs and finding them perfumed. That was about as far as a mainstream movie would take things in those days.

"The Big Sleep" was completed in 1945, but it was not released in the United States until a year later. Warner Bros. had their reasons. For one thing, World War II was just ending and the studio was more interested in promoting big war films than a detective story. For another, there was Lauren Bacall. In the year since making the movie, she had become a bigger star, and she had just married Bogart. The studio wanted to expand her part, so the cast and director were called back together to add and re-shoot a number of scenes. Note the racy new exchange between Bogart and Bacall on the subject of race horses.

Altogether, about sixteen minutes of new material was added and some eighteen minutes of old footage deleted. The DVD contains both editions: the 116-minute, 1945 pre-release version and the familiar 114-minute, 1946 theatrical-release version. In addition, the disc includes a fifteen-minute documentary hosted by UCLA film historian Robert Gitt comparing and contrasting the two renderings.

Video:
The black-and-white picture quality is OK but not as spectacular as a print digitally restored. Most of the time the image is sharp and well contrasted. But at a few other times it fades out, especially on the right-hand side of the screen, turning several lighter shades of gray or brown. The 1945 print seems slightly less afflicted than the 1946 one.

Audio:
The monaural sound is mostly noise free, and it has a surprisingly strong dynamic impact for its age. Just listen to those gun shots; they'll have you sitting up and paying attention. And the frequency range is adequate for reproducing Max Steiner's musical score.

Extras:
Warner Bros. provide some production notes to complement the documentary, plus English and French subtitles, scene selections, and a theatrical trailer. English is the only spoken language.

Parting Thoughts:
"The Big Sleep" is fast, witty, and exciting. It may not make a lot of sense, but it's got layers of mood and ambiance. Incredibly, the 1978 remake with Robert Mitchum moved the locale from Los Angeles to London and the time from the mid-Forties to the late-Seventies, effectively destroying the period atmosphere so essential to the story. Stick with the original; few detective yarns have equaled this one.