Writing ''
The Big Sleep is known for its convoluted plot. Similar to
To Have and Have Not, there was no finalized script during filming due to the constant changes during production. The composition of the screenplay involved Hawks and three writers.
Leigh Brackett and
William Faulkner wrote alternating sections of the initial draft before exiting once they turned in their final draft. Although Chandler aimed to “disturb his readers” and their “sense of justice,” external pressure from the studios resulted in some of the books darker moments getting overshadowed by a romantic subplot or other censorship. In the novel, Geiger is selling
pornography – then illegal and often associated with organized crime – and is homosexual, having a relationship with Lundgren. Carmen is described as being nude in Geiger's house and later nude and in Marlowe's bed. The
sexual orientation of Geiger and Lundgren goes unmentioned in the film because explicit references to homosexuality were prohibited. In novel, Marlowe witnesses the same violent behavior that leads Carmen to kill “Rusty” Regan, as she tries to shoot Marlowe in a fit of rage. The film, however, omits this scene and instead has Marlowe and Mars discuss Carmen’s behavior at the end of the film, attributing the murder to Carmen “liking” Regan. Much like the other censorship of Carmen’s sexuality, her motives for killing Regan are only briefly mentioned in the last minutes of the film and the studio simplifies the sexual themes of the novel. Midway through filming, Hawks and the cast realized that they did not know whether the chauffeur Owen Taylor had killed himself or was murdered. A cable was sent to Chandler, who told his friend Jamie Hamilton in a March 21, 1949 letter: "They sent me a wire ... asking me, and dammit I didn't know either". Another major change came from Marlowe and Vivian’s relationship. Their dynamic becomes explicitly romantic in order to give the film a “happier” ending. The hope was that audiences would warm up to Bacall if she was seen more as a romantic lead. As Roger Ebert wrote, “Some bad guys get killed and others get arrested, and we don’t much care–because the real result is that Bogart and Lauren Bacall end up in each other’s arms.” Sonia Darrin was cast in the role of Agnes. Hawks did not like her initial screen test but after supervising her makeup and wardrobe for another test, he cast her in the part. Her credit in the movie's credits was removed when Warner Bros. studio head
Jack L. Warner got into a feud with her agent
Arthur Pine following the film's completion. The movie was a key early part for
Dorothy Malone.
Production Principal photography on the film took place on the Warner Bros. backlot from October 10, 1944, to January 12, 1945.
Post-production Although post-production ended in March 1945,
The Big Sleep was delayed by Warner Bros. until they had turned out a backlog of war-related films. Because the war was ending, the studio feared the public might lose interest in the films, while
The Big Sleep subject was timeless. However, there are several indications of the film's wartime production, such as the female taxi driver who picks up Marlowe in one scene, with many
traditionally male occupations being taken up by women following the draft.
Wartime rationing also influences the film: dead bodies are called "red points", which referred to wartime meat rationing and Marlowe's car has a "B" gasoline rationing sticker in the lower passenger-side window, indicating he is essential to the war effort and therefore allowed of gasoline per week. Soon after completing
The Big Sleep, Bogart divorced Mayo Methot and married Bacall in May 1945. In June, Bacall began filming for her first film without Bogart,
Confidential Agent. The film, released in November 1945, was deemed a critical and commercial disappointment, with Bacall's acting panned by critics. To capitalize on the "Bogie and Bacall" phenomenon that had developed, Bacall's agent
Charles K. Feldman asked the studio to re-shoot scenes for
The Big Sleep. Warner agreed, and these scenes were shot in early January 1946.
Julius Epstein wrote the reshoots, but he was not given a credit. Although only about twenty minutes of the film's original 1945 cut was removed and replaced, twenty minutes was either condensed, altered, or eliminated with new footage. For example, in the 1945 cut, Marlowe explores Geiger's house, where he doesn't in the 1946 release. A new sequence of Marlowe and Vivian meeting in a restaurant was also added, replacing a ten-minute sequence of them meeting at the District Attorney's office, and Vivian coming to Marlowe's office a second time. A number of actors from the first cut did not appear in the second cut. Pat Clark was initially cast as Mona Mars. However, Clark was unavailable when her scenes were reshot in January 1946.
Peggy Knudsen was cast to replace her.
James Flavin and
Thomas E. Jackson were cast as Police Captain Cronjager and District Attorney Wade. However, they did not appear in the 1946 cut of the film when their scene – set in the District Attorney's office – was removed. ==1997 release of the 1945 original cut==