You not alone here. Raymond Chandler himself was asked during filming and he had no answer and he wrote the book. It was either Chandler or Daschel Hammet who said that when he got stuck in writing he would bring in a girl and a gun. That probably explains why this stuff is hard to explain.

It's confusing, yes.

Added to the confusion is that they have to tiptoe around the fact that the movie is about pornography and blackmail.

It is fun, though, watching Marlowe/Bogart flirt with the various women he encounters.

Listen carefully for the double entendres he and Bacall slip to each other.

I had the mystery figured out once, but I forgot and no longer have the attention span to follow the labyrinthine set of whodunits.

I may watch it again -- just to hear Bogey and Bacall talk about riding horses.

@sukhisoo said:

It's confusing, yes.

Added to the confusion is that they have to tiptoe around the fact that the movie is about pornography and blackmail.

It is fun, though, watching Marlowe/Bogart flirt with the various women he encounters.

Listen carefully for the double entendres he and Bacall slip to each other.

I had the mystery figured out once, but I forgot and no longer have the attention span to follow the labyrinthine set of whodunits.

I may watch it again -- just to hear Bogey and Bacall talk about riding horses.

Ha ha, yes! I totally picked up on the entendres . But I didn't pick it up that it was about pornography. I guess when a chick is willing to shoot a guy over a picture, I probably should have picked up on it.

Back when Netflix meant getting DVDs through the mail, I watched a different cut of the movie. It had more expository scenes and less Bogey/Bacall dialog. I suppose the mystery made more sense, but it dragged. From an entertainment standpoint, spicing it up was the right decision.

@sukhisoo said:

Back when Netflix meant getting DVDs through the mail, I watched a different cut of the movie. It had more expository scenes and less Bogey/Bacall dialog. I suppose the mystery made more sense, but it dragged. From an entertainment standpoint, spicing it up was the right decision.

Heck, I still get DVDs in the mail from Netflix. It's one of the main ways I get copies of hard to find films. However, in this case, I own a store bought DVD copy of The Big Sleep . It came in a Bogie/Bacall package with three other films.

I am glad that Netflix still does this. I used to use that service so that I could watch movies that the local Block Buster wouldn't dream of carrying.

Then I moved in with a woman who had the hugest collection of movies I have ever seen. There was no need for my Netflix subscription so I cancelled it. (The fact that a DVD would occasionally arrive in the mail in an unplayable state sealed the deal.)

@sukhisoo said:

I am glad that Netflix still does this. I used to use that service so that I could watch movies that the local Block Buster wouldn't dream of carrying.

Then I moved in with a woman who had the hugest collection of movies I have ever seen. There was no need for my Netflix subscription so I cancelled it. (The fact that a DVD would occasionally arrive in the mail in an unplayable state sealed the deal.)

Yes, that still happens but they have a pretty good streamlined way of reporting it and they send you a replacement ASAP. I honestly find the streaming collection of Netflix a bit wanting. Most of the movies they have on there are complete trash and the good ones are only there for a limited time. Nothing beats a good ol' fashion personal movie collection.