The Big Sleep The Big Sleep The Big Sleep (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by Raymond Chandler, the first to feature the detective Philip Marlowe. It has been adapted for film twice, in 1946 and again in 1978. The story is set in Los Angeles. The story is noted for its complexity, with characters double-crossing one another and secrets being exposed throughout the narrative. The title is a euphemism for death; it refers to a rumination about "sleeping the big sleep" in the final pages of the book. In 1999, the book was voted 96th of "Le Monde"s "100 Books of the
The Big Sleep (1946 film) a tone of voice that keeps its distance, and yet is wry and humorous and cares. In a 1997 review, Eric Brace of "The Washington Post" wrote that the 1945 original had a "slightly slower pace than the one released a year later, and a touch less zingy interplay between Bogart and Bacall, but it's still an unqualified masterpiece." In 2003, AFI named protagonist Philip Marlowe the 32nd greatest hero in film. "Empire" magazine added "The Big Sleep" to their Masterpiece collection in the October 2007 issue. The film placed 202nd on the 2012 "Sight & Sound" critics' poll of