Rerun: Howard Hawks’ film noir ‘The Big Sleep’ finally hit cinemas on 23rd August, 1946, after extra crowd-pleasing repartee had been inserted, featuring real life couple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

But more flirtation meant less exposition - making the plot of the detective story notoriously difficult to follow, even to the extent that the filmmakers had to call author Raymond Chandler to ask him who had killed one of the characters. 

In this episode, Rebecca, Arion and Olly explain why the Hays censorship code compounded an already confusing script; reveal William Faulkner’s left-field approach to WFH; and consider why - on the silver screen, anyway - women appeared to fall at Bogart’s feet…

Further Reading:

• ‘The Big Sleep: Proof That Plot Doesn’t Matter’ (Den of Geek, 2019): https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-big-sleep-proof-that-plot-doesn-t-matter/

• ‘Homosexuality and the Production Code –The Big Sleep’ (Sophie Hagberg, 2014): https://sophiehagbergscrn131.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/homosexuality-and-the-production-code-the-big-sleep-1946/

• ‘They’re Together Again!’ (Official Trailer, 1946): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-K49CUaeto

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer:

Ollie Peart

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.

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