Differences Between Howard Hawk's Movie "The Big Sleep" with the Novel

Subject and Section
Professor’s name
Date
The Big Sleep: Film Verus Novel
The Big Sleep was written by Raymond Chandler in 1939 and was later adopted in 1946, with the direction of Howard Hawks. Generally, its central theme revolves around mysteries and follows the strategies of the investigators in inspecting and reconnoitering the crimes instead of focusing solely on finding the criminals. It created an imaginative play inside the readers’ minds, and the viewers as the writer utilized various and rapidly changing plots and characters. Both eradicated tediousness and instilled excitement, prompting the redirection of the spotlight from one scene to the next. Despite having the same central theme, the novel and movie adaptation had several differences, making the film not as authentic as the novel. However, both were still excellent in portraying the story and catching the attention of the reader and the audiences, with the novel depicting a more realistic point-of-view.
For a starter, both the novel and the film were set during the Great Depression in Los Angeles, California, and Hollywood, but the setting in the novel was described in detail while the film did not elaborate it as much as possible, such that the film lacked some of the decorations or designs that made the scene more realistic. Moreover, the plot in the novel was quite tedious, while the film had a fast-pacing plot.
Next, the significant difference lies in the introduction of the characters. Initially, the characters in the film were introduced in the same order as that of the novel. However, some of the characters were not introduced in the same order as the novel’s towards the end.
Third, the description of the characters varies significantly, contributing to the significant differences between the novel and the film. This was most evident in the character of Vivian Rutledge, who was General Sternwood’s elder daughter. In the film, she was portrayed as an exceedingly important character that outshines everyone else. Moreover, the character looked more approving and kindhearted compared to the novel’s description as she was described in the novel as “… spoiled, exacting, smart and quite ruthless.”
However, the alteration of Vivian’s character in the film was reasonably necessary as it was given life by the actress Lauren Bacall, who seemingly looks like a protagonist-antagonist, with a hint of disgust on her face. This is probably why the director had to make her more benevolent to balance her appearance with the on-screen attitude. Aside from this, Vivian did not have a romantic relationship with Marlowe in the novel, compared to Hawks’ film version, where they had a complex love affair.
Philip Marlowe was also differently portrayed by Hawks. Although Chandler and Hawks both illustrated Marlowe as a person who loved to be isolated and adored the spotlight and adventure from time to time, Hawks depicted him as more of a friendly person with many pals, like Regan and Vivian, compared to Chandler. In fact, Regan even became his professional follower in the film.
Aside from this, Hawks rendered Philip as an ex-police who had high insubordination rates and previously had anomalies in the...