Critical Analysis of the 1978 Michael Winner version of The Big Sleep * Discuss the film as an adaption of Chandler’s novel * Is the film successful and why? * Compare and contrast it to Hawk’s version of The Big Sleep Specs:
5-6 pages
Double space
12 point common font like Times New Roman, Arial, Courier, etc.
Number your pages
Proofread and make corrections in pen or pencil before submitting.

1939 Chandler’s original novel * Marlowe functions as a peacekeeper and is more likely to negotiate rather than incite them to violence * Police corruption is examined as closely as the crime scene itself (creates social tensions * He exposes social inequities that Hollywood glossed over at the time * Masculine loyalty and private eye skepticism * Vivian’s presence declines in the novel and Chandler does not develop a romance plot between her and Marlowe, as Hawks does

1946 Hawk’s adaptation * The narrative was shaped according to perceived mainstream moral values (men over women, etc.) * Marlowe and Vivian are romantic and have sexually loaded exchanges * Marlowe flirts with many women in the film * Marlowe is much like James Bond, making girls instantly fall for him (flirting with the girl in the Acme Book Shop, and the taxi driver) * Motivated by feelings for Vivian * Film noir style * Although Hawks’s stoic masculine ethos representation promises to reflect the introspective ethos of Chandler’s world, his film ultimately presents a hermetically sealed Hollywood world where conventional mores triumph * Film is more so a love story than a crime novel * Bogart, who plays Marlowe, is 46 at the time of filming * Hawk had fun recreating the characters

1978 Winner’s adaptation * Women characters were more flighty, and portrayed as dumb * Marlowe was a serious detective * Film noir style (cynical attitudes and sexual motivations) * Marlowe does not drink as much * Makes more sense than the novel because everyone is killed * We get a voice explaining things, flashbacks of key scenes, and when a character confesses we get scenes picturing them * The STYLE is more important than the content * Setting in London rather than California * Comes off as a movie that was intended for another time period (1940 versus 1978) * More explicit than the 1978 version that could only be hinted at in the 1946 version (homosexuality, pornography, cussing, drugs, alcohol, and nudity) (Nudity when Carmen is found) * Showed all of the things that were in the 1939 novel, but that couldn’t be shown in the 1946 version * Mitchum is 60 at the time of filming, much older than the 33 year old Marlowe in Chandler’s novel * Follows the plot of the novel very closely * Did not view this adaptation as a classic * Cynicism, menace, and glamour * Marlowe is a confident and compassionate person, striding through the fancy décor, never slouching and never touching an drop of alcohol * This is the Marlowe that Chandler intended for him to be * Confusing and hard to keep up in comparison to the 1946 version * Boring