The Big Sleep

Continuity mistake: Marlowe stands in a doorway and watches Lauren Bacall singing and we see several people walking through the front door behind him. In the next shot there are only two women walking through the front door. (01:06:40)

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Continuity mistake: Lauren Bacall sings "Tears Flowed Like Wine" and in the shots of her from behind the band there are several more extras between her and Marlowe than there are when the camera films her from his vantage point at the door. (01:07:20)

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Continuity mistake: Lauren Bacall asks Marlowe, "tell me, what do you usually do when you're not working?" and the matches sticking out of the holder on the table are rearranged between shots. (01:02:30)

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Visible crew/equipment: In the DA's office Chief Insp. Bernie Ohls says, "You're on the air Marlowe, tell it to him" and you can see the shadow of a boom mike go across Capt. Cronjager's hat (1945 Version on DVD). (01:04:10)

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Continuity mistake: Marlowe walks into the DA's office with Chief Insp. Bernie Ohls behind him. At first Marlowe's hat is covering his chest. Than in the next shot as he walks through the door, the hat and his right arm are at his side (1945 Version on DVD). (01:02:25)

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Continuity mistake: After he brings her home from Geiger's house, Marlowe plops Carmen Sternwood onto her bed and both her hands are above her head. In the next shot her right hand is at her side. (00:25:45)

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Continuity mistake: While speaking to Gen. Sternwood Marlowe picks up the card that says, "Arthur Gwynn Geiger" and he holds it in the air. In the next close-up shot it's in the pile with the rest of the papers. (00:06:40)

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Continuity mistake: After Marlowe walks out of Eddie Mars place to his car he reaches for the gun under his dashboard with both hands. In the next shot his left hand is behind the gun. (01:12:55)

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Continuity mistake: As they talk after Mona Mars leaves the room, Marlowe says to Lauren Bacal, "Too many people would've seen you without Regan". The cigarette appears then disappears in Marlowe's mouth several times between shots. (01:39:45)

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Revealing mistake: As they stand talking in Carmen Sternwood's bedroom a very interesting studio reflection occurs when Lauren Bacall says, "she never remembers anyway". The reflection of her dark lipstick as she says this line can be seen moving on Bogart's right cheek. (00:26:25)

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Continuity mistake: As Marlowe prepares to leave Geiger's house the Buddha statue along with three other articles on the table in front of the fireplace move further apart throughout the scene even though no one goes near them. (00:23:25 - 00:24:45)

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Continuity mistake: As Mona Mars and Marlowe talk about Eddie Mars on the left behind him, Marlowe's coat is draped over the couch. If you look closely only his coat is on the couch, but later when Mona storms out, a hat appears on top of the coat. At the end of this scene, the coat is knocked off the back of the couch and appears in a pile with the hat above. (01:37:25 - 01:40:25)

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Continuity mistake: For some information she has, Marlowe meets Agnes Lowzier in her car at the corner of Rampart and Oakwood and hands her two hundred dollars in a nice neat pile. In the next shot of her counting it, the pile is spread out. (01:32:25)

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Audio problem: Marlowe fakes a flat and let's the air of his front drivers side tire. They over-dub the of the sound of the air rushing out for several seconds and then all of a sudden the car drops. (01:34:10)

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Continuity mistake: Marlowe pulls up in front of Art Huck's garage and gets out of his car to scope out the joint. When he first drives up there are no trees behind him but in the next close-up shot as he opens his car the door, there are several trees behind him. (01:33:40)

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Continuity mistake: Marlowe walks into Bernie Ohls' office and the sunlight coming through the blinds falls on the statue sitting above the bookcase as Bernie tells him, "You're to lay off the Sternwood case". They only speak for two minutes but as Marlowe walks out the sunlight falling on the back wall is in a different spot. (01:18:55)

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Continuity mistake: As they have drinks in the restaurant Marlowe says to Lauren Bacall , " Who was it that told you to sugar me off this case, was it Eddie Mars?" and his drink jumps four inches to left between shots in relationship to the plaid tablecloth underneath. (01:03:55)

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Continuity mistake: Chief Insp. Bernie Ohls hands the gun to Capt. Cronjager and we see that the lamp to the left of Dist. Atty. White is on. In the next shot if you look at the back of Dist. Atty. White's chair and the blinds behind him it's easy to see that the lamp is now off (1945 Version on DVD). (01:03:10)

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Continuity mistake: After Carmen Sternwood comes into the apartment Marlowe walks over to Joe Brody to get the gun he has in his right coat pocket and Joe's hands are near his waist. In the next shot his hands are raised up around his chest. (00:52:10)

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General Sternwood: Do you like orchids?
Philip Marlowe: Not particularly.
General Sternwood: Ugh. Nasty things. Their flesh is too much like the flesh of men, and their perfume has the rotten sweetness of corruption.

More quotes from The Big Sleep

Trivia: At the end of the movie Lauren Bacall says to Marlowe "Phil, there's two men out back behind some trees". This is the only time in the movie that she refers to him by his first name. (01:49:45)

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More trivia for The Big Sleep

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