10 Doomed Movies SAVED By Last-Minute Reshoots
3. The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep introduced the cinematic world to Detective Philip Marlowe, a character who appeared in radio, film, and television for decades. Humphrey Bogart's Marlowe starred opposite Lauren Bacall as Vivian Rutledge. It's a classic film that centers on the "process of criminal investigation, not its results."
Around the time The Big Sleep was getting ready for release, the public was fascinated with "Bogie and Bacall," which created both a problem and an opportunity. The film's original cut features the two without much romantic interest being displayed on-screen, but that wouldn't do.
To take advantage of the public's interest in the two stars, numerous scenes were rewritten and reshot, which produced a movie that was far different than the first cut. That 1945 cut was eventually released in 1997, and the two cuts are substantially different.
Interestingly, the reshoots were only possible because World War II came to an end. Warner Bros. held off on releasing The Big Sleep so the studio could push out the war movies it had ready to go before interest died down. Since The Big Sleep's story wasn't time-sensitive, the studio sat on it and had ample time to reshoot numerous scenes, including the ending.