Name: The Big Sleep
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Mystery
Released: 1946-08-31
Duration: 114 min
Rating: 7.6
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers, Louis Jean Heydt

The Big Sleep

Desire and Disdain in Relationships

Taglines The type of man she hated . . . was the type she wanted !

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Big Sleep

Tension Between Marlowe and Vivian

Vivian You know, I don't see what there is to be cagey about, Mr. Marlowe. And I don't like your manners.

Marlowe I'm not crazy about yours. I didn't ask to see you. I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them long winter evenings. And I don't mind your ritzing me, or drinking your lunch out of a bottle, but don't waste your time trying to cross-examine me.

Vivian People don't talk to me like that.

Marlowe Ohhh.

Vivian Do you always think you can handle people like, uh, trained seals?

Marlowe Uh, huh. I usually get away with it, too.

Vivian How nice for you.

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The Big Sleep

Unexpected Encounters in The Big Sleep

Sternwood If I did, she'd just suck her thumb and look coy.

[about talking to Carmen about her "debts" (actually blackmail)]

Marlowe I met her in the hall and she did that to me. Then she tried to sit in my lap while I was standing up.

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The Big Sleep

Height and Appearance in Conversation

Carmen You're not very tall, are you?

Marlowe Well, I, uh, I try to be.

Carmen Not bad looking. Oh you probably know it.

Marlowe Thank you.

Carmen What's your name?

Marlowe Reilly. Doghouse Reilly.

Carmen That's a funny kind of name.

Marlowe You think so.

Carmen Uh huh. What are you? A prizefighter?

Marlowe No, I'm a shamus.

Carmen What's a shamus?

Marlowe It's a private detective.

Carmen You're making fun of me.

Marlowe Uh, huh.

Carmen You're cute.

[she leans back and falls into his arms]

Marlowe You ought to wean her, she's old enough.

[to the butler, Norris]

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The Big Sleep

A Conversation About Pictures and Guns

Carmen Can I have my picture now?

Marlowe No.

Carmen Can I have my gun back?

Marlowe Later.

Carmen You're cute. I like you.

Marlowe What you see's nothing. I've got a Balinese dancing girl tattooed across my chest.

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The Big Sleep

A Tense Exchange Over Money and Secrets

Marlowe Let's begin with what Eddie Mars has on you.

Vivian If he had anything, would it be any of your business? You've already been paid, haven't you?

Marlowe Yeah, by you.

Vivian Are you after more money?

Marlowe Well, I guess you've got a right to ask that. No, I'm not after more money. I've already been well paid. I've got another reason.

Vivian You like my father, don't you?

Marlowe Mmm, hmm.

Vivian Then why don't you stop?

Marlowe Remember I told you I was beginning to like another one of the Sternwoods?

Vivian I wish you'd show it.

Marlowe That should be awful easy.

[He kisses her]

Vivian I liked that. I'd like more. That's even better.

[They kiss a second time]

Marlowe All right, now that's settled. What's Eddie Mars got on you?

Vivian So that's the way...

Marlowe That's the way it is. Kissing is all right. It's nice. I'd like to do more of it. But first, I want to find out what Eddie Mars has on you.

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The Big Sleep

Casual Conversation Between Vivian and Marlowe

Vivian Tell me: What do you usually do when you're not working?

Marlowe Oh, play the horses, fool around.

Vivian No women?

Marlowe I'm generally working on something most of the time.

Vivian Could that be stretched to include me?

Marlowe Well I like you. I've told you that before.

Vivian I like hearing you say it. But you didn't do much about it.

Marlowe Well, neither did you.

Vivian Well, speaking of horses, I like to play them myself. But I like to see them work out a little first, see if they're front-runners or come from behind, find out what their hole-card is. What makes them run.

Marlowe Find out mine?

Vivian I think so.

Marlowe Go ahead.

Vivian I'd say you don't like to be rated. You like to get out in front, open up a lead, take a little breather in the backstretch, and then come home free.

Marlowe You don't like to be rated yourself.

Vivian I haven't met anyone yet that can do it. Any suggestions?

Marlowe Well, I can't tell till I've seen you over a distance of ground. You've got a touch of class, but, uh...I don't know how - how far you can go.

Vivian A lot depends on who's in the saddle. Go ahead Marlowe, I like the way you work. In case you don't know it, you're doing all right.

Marlowe There's one thing I can't figure out.

Vivian What makes me run?

Marlowe Uh-huh.

Vivian I'll give you a little hint. Sugar won't work. It's been tried.

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The Big Sleep

Unraveling Secrets and Intentions

Marlowe You wanna tell me now?

Vivian Tell you what?

Marlowe What it is you're trying to find out. You know, it's a funny thing. You're trying to find out what your father hired me to find out, and I'm trying to find out why you want to find out.

Vivian You could go on forever, couldn't you? Anyway it'll give us something to talk about next time we meet.

Marlowe Among other things.

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The Big Sleep

A Tense Exchange of Unspoken Feelings

Vivian You've forgotten one thing. Me.

Marlowe What's wrong with you?

[pulling her to him]

Vivian Nothing you can't fix.

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The Big Sleep

A Playful Exchange About Tips and Entry

Carmen What does the hat-check girl get for a tip?

Marlowe I'm trying to think of something appropriate. How did you get in here?

Carmen Bet you can't guess.

Marlowe Oh, but I can. You came in through the keyhole like Peter Pan.

Carmen Who's he?

Marlowe Hmm. A guy I used to know around a pool room.

Carmen You're cute.

Marlowe I'm getting cuter every minute.

The Big Sleep

The Dullness of Existence and Corruption

Sternwood You are looking, sir, at a very dull survival of a very gaudy life - crippled, paralyzed in both legs, very little I can eat, and my sleep is so near waking that it's hardly worth the name. I seem to exist largely on heat, like a newborn spider. The orchids are an excuse for the heat. Do you like orchids?

Marlowe Not particularly.

Sternwood Nasty things! Their flesh is too much like the flesh of men, and their perfume has the rotten sweetness of corruption.

The Big Sleep

Disillusionment in Relationships

Agnes That's what I always draw. Never once a man who's smart all the way around the course. Never once.

Marlowe Did I hurt you much, sugar?

Agnes You and every other man I've ever met.

The Big Sleep

Born for the Big Screen

Taglines The picture they were born for!

The Big Sleep

Detective's Confidence in Challenging Situation

Vivian So you're a private detective. I didn't know they existed, except in books. Or else they were greasy little men snooping around hotel corridors. My, you're a mess, aren't you?

Marlowe I'm not very tall either. Next time, I'll come on stilts, wear a white tie and carry a tennis racket.

Vivian I doubt if even that would help. Now this business of Dad's. You think you can handle it for him?

Marlowe It shouldn't be too tough.

Vivian Really? I would have thought a case like that took a little effort.

Marlowe Not too much.

Vivian What will your first step be?

Marlowe The usual one.

Vivian I didn't know there was a usual one.

Marlowe Oh sure there is. It comes complete with diagrams on page forty-seven of How to Be a Detective in Ten Easy Lessons correspondence school textbook.

The Big Sleep

Confrontation in the Bedroom

Vivian You go too far, Marlowe.

Marlowe Those are harsh words to throw at a man, especially when he's walking out of your bedroom.

The Big Sleep

Guns and Brains in The Big Sleep

Marlowe My, my, my! Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains. You know, you're the second guy I've met today that seems to think a gat in the hand means the world with the tail. Ha, ha, ha. Put it down, Joe. The other guy's name was Eddie Mars. You ever hear of him?

Brody Nope.

Marlowe If he ever gets wise to where you were last night in the rain, you'll hear of him.

The Big Sleep

A Preference for Brandy Presentation

Sternwood How do you like your brandy, sir?

Marlowe In a glass.

The Big Sleep Quotes