{ "id": "epat4ab89x", "slug": "the-big-sleep-1978-film", "title": "The Big Sleep (1978 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films", "label": "Film noir and neo-noir films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films.yr-1977-2022", "label": "Released 1977 to 2022", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films.yr-1977-2022" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000: Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Big Sleep (1978) is Michael Winner's neo-noir remake of Raymond Chandler's novel, starring Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe, relocated from Los Angeles to London, with James Stewart and Sarah Miles; critically panned.", "snippet": "The Big Sleep (1978) is Michael Winner's neo-noir remake of Raymond Chandler's novel, starring Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe, relocated from Los Angeles to London, with James Stewart and Sarah Miles; critically panned.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films.yr-1977-2022", "markdown": "# The Big Sleep (1978 film)\n\n**The Big Sleep** is a 1978 neo-noir crime film written and directed by [Michael Winner](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-winner), based on [Raymond Chandler](https://www.edgepedia.org/raymond-chandler)'s 1939 novel of the same name and starring [Robert Mitchum](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-mitchum) as private detective Philip Marlowe. It is the second film version of the novel, following Howard Hawks's 1946 adaptation with Humphrey Bogart, and it moves the story from the novel's Los Angeles setting to 1970s London.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIG-SLEEP)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director and writer | Michael Winner, who wrote the screenplay as well as directing[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) |\n| Source | The novel *The Big Sleep* by Raymond Chandler (New York, 1939)[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIG-SLEEP) |\n| Setting change | Relocated from Los Angeles to London, which Winner said was more faithful to Chandler's original vision[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) |\n| Lead | Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe, a role he first played in *Farewell, My Lovely* (1975)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) |\n| Budget | Estimated at $5 million in a 6 July 1977 *Variety* news item[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) |\n| Release | New York opening the week of 15 March 1978; Los Angeles opening 29 March 1978[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIG-SLEEP) |\n| Format | 99 minutes, color, Panavision, MPAA rating R; a United Kingdom–United States production[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIG-SLEEP) |\n| Reception | Negative overall from critics; 57% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 7 reviews[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1002353-big_sleep) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Cast and story\n\nRobert Mitchum plays [Philip Marlowe](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-marlowe), providing voice-over narration throughout the film in keeping with the first-person narrative of the source novel.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) The supporting cast includes [Sarah Miles](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarah-miles) as Charlotte Sternwood, Richard Boone as Lash Canino, Candy Clark as Camilla Sternwood, Joan Collins as Agnes Lozelle, Edward Fox as Joe Brody, John Mills as Inspector Carson, Oliver Reed as Eddie Mars, and [James Stewart](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-stewart) as General Sternwood.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIG-SLEEP)\n\nIn the story, Marlowe drives to the English estate of General Sternwood, a wealthy, ailing American who is being blackmailed over his younger daughter Camilla's gambling debt to a bookseller, Arthur Gwynn Geiger. Marlowe discovers that Geiger's bookshop is a front for pornography, and the blackmail case turns to murder. The General's older daughter Charlotte's husband, Rusty Regan, has recently disappeared, and Marlowe's investigation draws him into the criminal world of the gangster Eddie Mars.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIG-SLEEP) • [4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-big-sleep-1978)\n\n## Production\n\n[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began on 1 August 1977 in London, England.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIG-SLEEP) *Variety* initially estimated the shoot would take a minimum of nine weeks, revising the estimate to eight weeks on 31 August 1977.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) The film was produced by Elliott Kastner and Michael Winner through the Winkast Company with ITC, photographed by Robert Paynter, with production design by Harry Pottle and music by Jerry Fielding.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIG-SLEEP) The song \"Won't Somebody Dance With Me,\" with music and lyrics by [Lynsey de Paul](https://www.edgepedia.org/lynsey-de-paul), appears in the film.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIG-SLEEP)\n\n**Rights and distribution.** [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists) had purchased the film rights to Chandler's novel from Warner Bros. UA clashed with the producers when it wanted to market the picture to a few select territories rather than worldwide, and it \"ceded\" its rights to produce the story while remaining attached as distributor.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) A *Variety* article also listed the Rank Organization as a producer with minority participation, though Rank is not credited onscreen.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) United Artists registered the copyright on 12 May 1978.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIG-SLEEP)\n\n## The London relocation\n\nThe most discussed change from the novel and the 1946 film is the setting. Writer-director Michael Winner located his version in London, believing this more faithful to Chandler's original vision of the story, according to interviews in the 31 August 1977 *Variety* and the October 1977 *Films & Filming*.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) A contemporary *Washington Post* report noted that the filmmakers claimed Chandler \"would have been delighted\" by the change because he had lived in London himself, and argued that the relocation made the blackmail premise implausible in the permissive 1970s.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/03/24/dreams-but-not-of-yesterday/a48d202f-609c-490c-b1ff-c54ad378fa0d/)\n\n## Reception\n\nDespite occasional positive reviews, critical reception was negative overall.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 57% Tomatometer from 7 critics and a 28% audience score from more than 1,000 ratings.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1002353-big_sleep)\n\n**Roger Ebert's review.** Roger Ebert, the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic who won the [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) for criticism in 1975, gave the film two and a half stars. He wrote that the 1978 version \"isn't a classic, but it does make sense,\" aided by Mitchum's voice-over narration and flashbacks, yet the audience is still left mystified by Chandler's complicated plot. He praised Mitchum as \"a definitive screen presence,\" along with [Candy Clark](https://www.edgepedia.org/candy-clark) as the younger daughter and Richard Boone as a hired killer, but called the movie \"kind of embalmed\" and judged the move from 1940s Los Angeles to contemporary London a mistake, noting that Mitchum's Marlowe had worked far better in the period setting of *Farewell, My Lovely* (1975).[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-big-sleep-1978)\n\n**Later assessments.** Time Out's retrospective review called the London relocation \"spurious\" and wrote that Mitchum \"seems to sleepwalk through the part,\" finding the film lacking the seediness and menace of the earlier Marlowe remake *Farewell, My Lovely*.[7](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-big-sleep) A scholarly study in the journal *Adaptation* analyzed the remake through Hans Vermeer's skopos theory, examining how its meaning depends on Chandler's novel, the 1946 Hawks version, film noir, and the contrasting star images of [Humphrey Bogart](https://www.edgepedia.org/humphrey-bogart) and Robert Mitchum.[8](https://academic.oup.com/adaptation/article-abstract/4/2/199/6816) A 2013 article on age and masculinity in the film observed that, despite its famous cast, Winner's movie met with little popular, critical, or academic interest.[9](https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/panoptikum/article/view/206)\n\n## Home media and streaming\n\nThe film has remained available on home video and streaming. In the United States it has streamed on Amazon Prime Video, Shout! Factory, Tubi, Plex, and other ad-supported services, with rental and purchase options on Apple TV, Amazon Video, and Fandango at Home.[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-big-sleep-1978)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Big Sleep (1978), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIGSLEEP)\n2. [The Big Sleep (1978), AFI Catalog of Feature Films (details and credits)](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56208-THE-BIG-SLEEP)\n3. [The Big Sleep (1978), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1002353-big_sleep)\n4. [The Big Sleep (1978) streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-big-sleep-1978)\n5. [Judith Martin, \"Dreams, But Not Of Yesterday,\" The Washington Post, 24 March 1978](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/03/24/dreams-but-not-of-yesterday/a48d202f-609c-490c-b1ff-c54ad378fa0d/)\n6. [Roger Ebert, review of The Big Sleep (1978), Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-big-sleep-1978)\n7. [The Big Sleep review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-big-sleep)\n8. [Laurence Raw, \"The Skopos of a Remake: Michael Winner's The Big Sleep (1978),\" Adaptation 4.2 (2011)](https://academic.oup.com/adaptation/article-abstract/4/2/199/6816)\n9. [\"No Genre for Old Men: Age and Masculinity in Michael Winner's 1978 The Big Sleep,\" Panoptikum](https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/panoptikum/article/view/206)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Film noir and neo-noir films › Released 1977 to 2022*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-big-sleep-1978-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-big-sleep-1978-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Big Sleep (1978 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-big-sleep-1978-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Big Sleep (1978 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-big-sleep-1978-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-big-sleep-1978-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-big-sleep-1978-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Big Sleep (1978 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-big-sleep-1978-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Big Sleep is Michael Winner's neo-noir remake of Raymond Chandler's novel, starring Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe, relocated from Los Angeles to London, with James Stewart and Sarah Miles; critically panned." }