I’ve owned “The Big Sleep” forever, and read the novel umpty-ump times.

And I’ve always been confused by the plot.

It didn’t matter.

I dug out the DVD the other night and realized there was an unreleased, earlier version on the flip side of the disc.

Maybe I watched it before, but if I did, I didn’t remember it.

According to a comparison between the unreleased and released versions, the changes were made — mostly — in order to beef up Lauren Bacall’s scenes with Humphrey Bogart.

In particular, they cheesed a scene with Bacall in a weird veil, for no apparent reason.

But the big change is a long scene in the district attorney’s office. It’s not the most exciting thing in the world, but it does go a long way toward making the story more comprehensible.

It’s worth a look

 

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