As Marlowe leaves, Sternwood's older daughter Vivian stops him. Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe is summoned to the mansion of General Sternwood, who wants to resolve 'gambling debts' his daughter Carmen owes to bookseller Arthur Geiger. Library of Congress deemed the film 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,' and added it to the National Film Registry.

In 1997, the original 1945 cut was restored and released. The film was a critical and commercial success, and led to two more 'Bogie and Bacall' films by Warner Bros.: Dark Passage (1947) and Key Largo (1948). The film was finally released by Warner Bros. When the movie failed, reshoots were done in early 1946 meant to take advantage of the public's fascination with 'Bogie and Bacall'. During its delay, Bogart and Bacall married and Bacall was cast in Confidential Agent. A cut was released to servicemen overseas in 1945 shortly after its completion. Initially produced in late 1944, the film's release was delayed by over a year due to the studio wanting to release war films in anticipation of the end of World War II. William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman co-wrote the screenplay. The film stars Humphrey Bogart as private detective Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as Vivian Rutledge in a story about the 'process of a criminal investigation, not its results'. The Big Sleep is a 1946 American film noir directed by Howard Hawks, the first film version of the 1939 novel of the same name by Raymond Chandler.

El sueño eterno by Raymond Chandler