For some reason, Director Michael Winner thought he had to remake the Howard Hawks 1946 film noir classic The Big Sleep. He decided to move the locale from Lost Angeles to London, England, and to move the time forward to the late seventies for some reason, probably money.

Consistent with the location change, Winner assembled an all-star British cast, including Edward Fox, Oliver Reed, John Mills, James Donald, Richard Todd, Harry Andrews, and Joan Collins, with a few Americans for good measure, including James Stewart, Richard Boone, and top-billed Robert Mitchum as detective Philip Marlowe.

Fans of the 1946 classic that starred the immortal Humphrey Bogart will probably not be amused. Still, as a big fan of detective movies I was intrigued by an alternate version of the film that made Bogart and Lauren Bacall an item. The fact that it starred one of the better old school actors, Robert Mitchum, was also a plus. Finally, the bargain price of under ten bucks for a DVD sold me on the idea of revisiting the old Raymond Chandler detective story in its new iteration.

You should know going in that I consider 1946‘s The Big Sleep a five-star film. There are many reasons, but the story is NOT one of them. In the original version, Hawks used the story as a vehicle to introduce characters and get them into situations where he could take advantage of the marvelous chemistry between Bogie and the supporting cast, most notably young Lauren Bacall. The fact that the twisted plot never resolved itself was not lost on audiences, they just didn’t care with all the marvelously suggestive banter and especially Bogart’s charisma dripping all over the celluloid.

All that said, fans of the Raymond Chandler mystery will be happy to learn that Director Michael Winner (Death Wish, Scorpio, The Mechanic) followed the story quite closely and that most of the loose ends left by the 1946 version are rather neatly resolved.

Because of the times, Winner could afford to be up front with the dark subjects that Hawks could only hint at back in the forties. Drug addiction, homosexuality, nymphomania, blackmail, and pornography were out of the closet and freely discussed by the public. Which brings up a problem: the original premise that Marlowe was hired for. An elderly, dying father (James Stewart) wants to get some dirty pictures of his younger daughter back from a blackmailer. This would be very disturbing in keeping with morality circa 1940 but when projected forward into the swinging seventies it just doesn’t have quite the same impact, especially when you see the type of family she‘s a part of. When Mitchum uncovers a porno ring the viewer is more amused than alarmed -- the idea is too dated. Winner was also able to take advantage of the full frontal nudity that was unacceptable in the earlier version. When Candy Clark gets her picture taken, all she is wearing is a smile.

In the original film, the underlying question of what happened to the elder daughter’s husband remains a mystery, however in this version that question is answered. So, fans of the original story will like Winner’s version because it is more faithful to the book.

The production values are good with lots of interesting locations and camera angles. The acting is workmanlike with very good performances from the British contingent. Joan Collins plays a bit role and is as shrill and uninteresting as she usually is. Mitchum looks as world weary as ever. The main problem with the picture is the script which did not have the banter that made Lauren Bacall famous. Sarah Miles (who played the Bacall character) also had no charisma and no chemistry with Mitchum. The 1978 film clearly suffers by comparison with the earlier version.

I would say The Big Sleep is a fairly dry detective story that would appeal to those who have not seen the original version but would be hard to watch for a fan of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in the 1946 version. Two stars.




Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age