The Big Sleep (1978 film)

The Big Sleep
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Winner
Screenplay by	Michael Winner
Based on	The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Produced by	Jerry Bick Lew Grade Elliott Kastner Bernard Williams Michael Winner
Starring	Robert Mitchum Sarah Miles Richard Boone Candy Clark Joan Collins Edward Fox James Stewart
Narrated by	Robert Mitchum
Cinematography	Robert Paynter
Edited by	Frederick Wilson
Music by	Jerry Fielding
Production company	ITC Entertainment
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	13 March 1978 (1978-03-13)
Running time	99 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States[1]
Language	English

The Big Sleep is a 1978 neo-noir film, the second film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The picture was directed by Michael Winner and stars Robert Mitchum in his second film portrayal of the detective Philip Marlowe (following Farewell, My Lovely three years earlier). The cast includes Sarah Miles, Candy Clark, Joan Collins and Oliver Reed, and features James Stewart as General Sternwood.^[2]

The story's setting was changed from 1940s Los Angeles to 1970s London. The film contains material more explicit than what could only be hinted at in the 1946 version, such as homosexuality, pornography and nudity. Mitchum was age 60 at the time of filming, far older than Chandler's 33-year-old Marlowe (or the 1946 film's 38-year-old Marlowe, played by Humphrey Bogart, who was 44 at the time).