Movie Essays - Romanticism in the Film Version of The Big Sleep

Romanticism in the Film Version of The Big rest In Raymond Chandlers novel The Big rest, he presents two sisters, Vivian and Carmen. These women become the commutation characters, aside from Philip Marlowe, and they control much of the action in the novel. The 1946 film variance of The Big Sleep, however, manipulates Chandlers characters considerably. Aside from playing with the dialogue of the novel, the screen-writers change the very essences of Vivian and Carmen. possibly it is the casting of the film which forces changes from the novel, or perhaps the Production Code keeps the writers from maturation the women in the way that Chandler does either way, the film version of The Big Sleep makes the story romantic and often cliche. Vivian and Carmen, sisters, are presented by Chandler as psyc livelyic and dangerous women. Vivian, is described in detective Philip Marlowes thoughts as tall and rangy and strong-looking...Her hair was black and wiry and parted in th e middle and she had the hot black eyes of the portrait in the hall(Chandler 17). She is cool and manipulative, nowadays suspicious of Marlowes presence in her world, and she plays her suspicions off as insults. When she meets Marlowe, she says, So youre a private detective,...I didnt know they really existed, except in books. Or else they were buttery little men snooping around hotels(Chandler 18). Marlowe plays right back at her, countering all(prenominal) snide remark with one of his own. When Vivian tells Marlowe she doesnt like his manners, his response is, Im not spook about yours...I didnt ask to see you. You sent for me. I dont mind your ritzing me or drinking your lunch out of a Scotch bottle...I dont mind if you ... ...ynamic together, the leger is allowed to be less than what the novel stoold. This is exactly what happened with The Big Sleep. Marlowe and Vivian took a backseat to Bogart and Bacall. The sisters, Vivian and Carmen, had to be altered to cre ate the effect of romance and intrigue. There was really no other way to go within the restrictions of the Production Code, as Carmen couldnt be played up to her full potential, so the director took Vivian and made her the lead story lady. The essences that Chandler created for these two women were dynamically altered for the film in order to create two women without the demons or psychoses that he had intended. Works Cited Chandler, Raymond. The Big Sleep. New York stochastic House, 1939. Memorable Quotes from Big Sleep, The (1946). IMDB. Internet. Accessed April 1999. Address http//us.imdb.com/