David Thomas' book on The Big Sleep is everything I expect from a BFI Film Classics volume. As with any film from this period in cinematic history, the behind-the-scenes details are almost as important as what ends up on the screen, but this is even more so when dealing with Hollywood icons like Howard Hawks, Humphrey Bogart, or Lauren Bacall. Thomas is obviously aware of this, and so he takes us through the background of these larger-than-life personalities, and how their actions and interactions shaped what became so much more than an adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel. Thomas also manages to do so without overshadowing the more clinical aspects of film criticism, and manages to pay just as much attention to the film itself, from it's narrative flaws to it's evolution (and eventual post-production redefinition) from book to film. Not only is every angle covered, but it is done so with the eye and voice of a true film lover. Even at its most clinical, the book never descends into academic posturing or mechanical dissections; Thomas' analysis of The Big Sleep remains organic and empathetic at all times, so that his insights always feel as if they are being shared with the reader, and not handed down in a lecture. ( )

An awesome movie and David Thompson's favourite, but the book is drek. It reads like the author was drunk and didn't get beyond the first get-something-on-the-page draft. There is a little bit of interesting information however but not much. ( )