The Big Sleep 1946

James Agee, TIME Magazine: The Big Sleep is wakeful fare for folks who don't care what is going on, or why, so long as the talk is hard and the action harder. Read more

Bosley Crowther, New York Times: It's likely to leave you confused and dissatisfied. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: What you remember here are moments. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A movie that every film student should study and every movie lover should watch at least once. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It is typical of this most puzzling of films that no one agrees even on why it is so puzzling. Yet that has never affected The Big Sleep's enduring popularity, because the movie is about the process of a criminal investigation, not its results. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: This is arguably the high-water mark of Hollywood's love affair with the infinitely slippery possibilities of the English language. Read more

Manny Farber, The New Republic: The Big Sleep, though, is witty and sinister, and in an odd way is a realistic portrayal of big-city life with Arabian Nights overtones. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Brittle Chandler characters have been transferred to the screen with punch by Howard Hawks' production and direction, providing full load of rough, tense action most of the way. Read more

Eric Brace, Washington Post: Don't try too hard to follow the story, just get swept away by the mood of the film. Read more