Sep 282012
 

This is a review of a “Fan Edit,” and is intended for people who are familiar with the “original” studio cut(s).  I may reveal details of that version, including twists and the ending.

Perfection.  I’d say “brilliant,” but it really isn’t; it’s obvious.  “Brilliant” should be reserved for things that everyone and his uncle couldn’t see from Albuquerque, in the dark, wearing an eye patch.  In this case, however, apparently no one was in Albuquerque, in the dark, light, or dim, with any kind of eye covering.  There it was, staring everyone in the face, and it took a couple of fan editors to see it.

The perfect but not brilliant matter in question is an edit of The Big SleepThe Big Sleep is one of the pillars of Film Noir. It is literate, exciting, and one of the best films ever made.  I don’t have a definitive list of top twenty or thirty movies, but I have no doubt that it would slide into that crowd.  How could it not?  Based on a novel by Raymond Chandler, the screenplay was co-written by Nobel Prize laureate William Faulkner.  It was directed by Howard Hawks and starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.  And the movie is even better than that list would indicate.  They attained a synergy seldom seen in any art form.  Yeah, The Big Sleep is that good.  (Read my critique here.)

So, what can there possibly be to edit?  In 1945, the film was shown to soldiers, but there was no hurry to get it out to the general public (the war was coming to an end, and the studio had plenty of war pictures to get out while they were relevant).  In the mean time, Bacall’s Confidential Agent flopped and there was fear that her recently risen star might fall.  Audiences wanted her edgy and sharp, which she wasn’t in Confidential Agent and was to only a limited degree in The Big Sleep.  So, re-shoots were called, giving her sexier outfits and wittier lines (and more of them).  The romance was intensified and her character, Vivian Rutledge, was made more likeable.  To make room for Bacall’s enlarged part, some of the private-eye work was cut: twenty minutes out, eighteen in.

Did the changes make it a better film?  It’s hard to say.  It was a masterpiece before and a different masterpiece afterwards.  Certainly the straight replacement scenes are richer and more entertaining:

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.

However, the ’45 cut is ever-so-slightly less murky, and with a plot this confusing, a touch of clarity may stop a few brains from exploding.


The Big Sleep: Doctor M Reconstructed Gangrel Hybrid Cut
Editor(s): Doctor M.  Runtime: 123 min (+9 min).  2007.

Gangrel (who may be a person, group, or flock of crows) saw what the studios should have, at least for the DVD: the two versions could be integrated for an even better third.  Use the 1946 cut as a basis, and then put back in the bits that explain the story.  But Gangrel ran into technical difficulties.

Enter Doctor M (who could be an individual or a pride of space kittens), who took Gangrel’s idea and ran with it.  He also retracted Gangrel’s alteration of Marlowe’s encounter with Mona Mars.  (Gangrel chose the 1945 version because he found the actress who played Mona sexier than her replacement.  That’s a subjective call I can’t make, but what is clear is that the later version is considerably more dynamic).

The changes (from the ’46 version) include:

  • Extension of Marlowe’s search of Gieger’s House.
  • Addition of Marlowe driving with an unconscious Carmen.
  • Addition of Marlowe, Bernie, Capt. Cronjager, and D.A. White discussing the case.
  • Addition of Marlowe working on the code.
  • Addition of Marlowe pocketing his gun before entering Art Huck’s service station.

What Doctor M gives us is everything good about the ’45 version, but with added clarity and improved pacing.  That last bit might be odd since the D.A. scene was removed and the house-searching scene was trimmed to improve pacing and keep the film relatively short.  But The Big Sleep is rapid fire from the start.  It races without a dull moment.  It didn’t need any help with speed.

When the Bogart/Bacall romance was intensified (sorry, make that Marlowe/Rutledge) it became one of the quickest screen romances, and I’m counting eighty years of romantic comedies.  These two develop strong feelings with relatively little interaction.  Re-inserting the cut P.I. moments doesn’t increase the objective number of days that are supposed to pass in the film (another day or two would make such a close bonding more likely), but it makes it feel like more time has passed.  This, in turn, makes the quick budding relationship feel as if it is progressing at a more believable rate.

While I proclaimed this the perfect cut, I’m going to have to pull back on that, declaring this to be the near-perfect cut.  Clipping in a brief 1945 scene of Marlowe driving with the unconscious sister causes a continuity error when he arrives at the Sternwood estate (the scene was undoubtedly cut for this reason).  He walks up to the door in the rain wearing a coat, and when the door is opened from the other side, it’s ’46, and both the rain and coat are missing.  It’s hard to ignore.  (The butler later handing Marlowe his coat is not a continuity error as it has now begun to rain in 1946, and the Butler has been to the car where he could have picked up the coat.)

Doctor M’s additions are seamless.  Without foreknowledge, I’d never have guessed this wasn’t a studio release.  The picture isn’t as crisp as on my DVD, however, I only noticed because I did a direct comparison.

OK, so The Hybrid Cut isn’t perfect, but damn it’s good.