I saw "The Long Goodbye" when it appeared in the theaters in 1973, and I was impressed with it then, and the memory of its main events has stayed with me for all these years. So, I thought it was time to dust it off and give it a serious viewing and review. Unlike some other older movies about which I had fond memories, this "The Long Goodbye" did not lose its charm after 40 years.
The first thing I recall is that in spite of the fact that this may be Elliot Gould's best performance outside of the film M*A*S*H, I think the stars of the film are director Altman, cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond, screenwriter, Leigh Brackett, (relatively unknown at the time) composer John Williams, and a strong nod to the presence of actor Sterling Hayden. They all contribute to the image of a character from New York City the '40s transplanted to Malibu in the '70s. Gould's Philip Marlowe is the film noir gumshoe, but he lacks all the panache of the famous earlier actors who filled that role such as Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum. He has certain skills, but none of the clever competence of the greatest of film noir detectives, Jake Giddes in "Chinatown", who has a nose for incongruities and the talent to hunt them down. Gould's Marlowe seems buffeted about by both the police (with whom Giddes has a respectable relation), who also seem to be caught in Brackett's time warp (no cool Joe Fridays here)and the hoods, lead by a gangster, Marty Augustine, who does seem to have made the transition from 40s hood to 70s wise guy. Situations with both get resolved behind Marlowe's back, and Marlowe has no clue to how that happened.
Although Altman may not do it quite as often as Woody Allen, I suspect in this movie he was intentionally copying some of the conventions of "film noir", and making fun of them just a bit. Almost all the interesting stuff seems to happen at night, or in closed rooms where you can't see the daylight. The song, credited to John Williams, sounds just like something which may have been written for an early John Houston film or the film "Laura" which had a famous theme covered by lots of major jazz performers. It seems so utterly not California for Gould's Marlowe to always wear a suit jacket and tie, when all the other characters are dressed as you would expect in 1970s LA. Just as the ending to "Chinatown" is a surprise which I never saw coming, the end to "The Long Goodbye" succeeds in the same way.
What seems so puzzling is that there are three different plot lines early in the movie, all of which are connected by nothing except the common location, a gated, exclusive colony of residences on the beach in Malibu. The three plots seem to have nothing connecting them until the last 15 minutes. One benefit of this disconnect is that we can appreciate the role of Sterling Hayden, who, I am convinced, is patterned after the last years of Earnest Hemingway. This and his appearance in "Dr. Strangelove" may be his two most memorable film appearances. However, his appearance here is a nice reminder that Hayden began his career in some notable film noir classics such as "The Asphalt Jungle".
The showpiece of Gould's performance is the first 10 minutes, where he is virtually the only speaking character, who does a monologue for the benefit of his cat. Here is were all his anomalies begin, as he puts on a tie to go out to a 24 hour supermarket to buy cat food at 3 AM.
According to Wikipedia, the film was not well received at first, but, as I said at the outset, I was immediately impressed by it when I saw it in the theatre. It has one of the prime qualities of a film worth buying. It is rewatchable, maybe once a year or so. The next time I watch it, I would be especially attentive to whether there are early clues which tie the three plot lines together.
By the way, even though his role is uncredited, you can't miss Arnold Schwarzenegger as one of the gangster's "muscle". David Carradine also has an uncredited role, but he is less easy to spot.
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The Long Goodbye
Elliott Gould
(Actor),
Nina Van Pallandt
(Actor),
Robert Altman
(Director)
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0
more Rated: Format: Blu-ray
R
IMDb7.5/10.0
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Product Description
Raymond Chandler's private eye Philip Marlowe meets a fun couple in 1970s Los Angeles.
Product details
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 5.92 ounces
- Item model number : KLSC1488BR
- Director : Robert Altman
- Media Format : Multiple Formats, Widescreen, Blu-ray, Anamorphic, NTSC
- Run time : 1 hour and 52 minutes
- Release date : November 25, 2014
- Actors : Elliott Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson
- Subtitles: : English
- Producers : Jerry Bick
- Studio : Kl Studio Classics
- ASIN : B00MYMTANU
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #111,472 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #7,424 in Drama Blu-ray Discs
- Customer Reviews:
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2012
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2010
It has taken me many years to come around to "The Long Goodbye". For one thing, I was scared off by all of the bad press surrounding Leigh Brackett's alterations to Ramond Chandler's novel. And, for anyone who is already familiar with the novel, how you respond to these alterations will very much be your own personal reaction - there's no denying that. Chandler tended to write rather subtle, inconclusive, or enigmatic endings. Brackett clearly knew that, which is why Hollywood asked her to make the endings to both "The Big Sleep" and "The Long Goodbye", more cinematically friendly in the first place. But unlike "The Big Sleep", where one is still left wondering who did what to whom (and when), there's absolutely no question here as to what happened and why. In fact, if anything, the conclusion to this movie version of "T.L.G." is sort of a precursor to the very shocking ending we see in "Prizzi's Honor" - the main attraction of that shabby little shocker. In other words, the story and its narrative is as air-tight as anyone could possibly want it to be. But don't get me wrong, I still think that "The Big Sleep" is one of the greatest noirs of all time.
No, what made me pick up "T.L.G." was something else altogether; something unexpected: the theme music. The music was composed by John Williams and Johnny Mercer. I stumbled across a Youtube excerpt, and there was my jazz hero, Jack Sheldon, singing the movie's theme song. That alone made me want to get this (I collect most everything with J.S.). But, just as with the more famous movie "Laura", the theme song gets sounded throughout the entire picture. However, unlike "Laura", "The Long Goodbye" - that's the name of the tune as well - goes through many different styles and permutations during the course of the film. As a result, the movie doesn't feel like it's just an advertisement for a possible radio hit.
The best example of this is in the first of two scenes filmed down in Mexico. Marlowe (Elliott Gould) is trying to get information from the village authorities as to how and when his friend, Terry, allegedly died down there. During the course of their somewhat bizarre discussions, a poor sounding village band plays "T.L.G." tune while accompanying a funeral cortege through the town's cobbled streets. Then we immediately segue to a party scene back at the Malibu Beach home of Mr. and Mrs. Wade, where a few revelers who are crowding around a modest upright piano, crank out a sort of fast, bossa nova rendition of the same tune - almost Brazil '66 like. The juxtaposition of these two scenes and two styles couldn't possibly be more stark and dramatic. It's almost as though the theme song is used as a Wagnerian leitmotif throughout this film.
As for Marlowe himself, I think Elliott Gould is brilliant. Much has been made of Altman's "Rip Van Marlowe" approach - a Marlowe who wakes up in a far more indifferent 1970s. Marlowe doesn't know the D.A. here, and the L.A. Police are completely indifferent to him. If anything, he's just a nuissance. They regard him as though he were a doctor who's just a quack. This time, Marlowe has no friends downtown. His credentials mean nothing. But that also permits Marlowe to be more freelance than ever. He's now able to think fully for himself, and is better able to make quick assessments of the situation. This pays off in the end, as Marlowe still clings to his 1940's, good world/bad world values. Given that fact, it's all the more relevant that Mr. Wade - Sterling Hayden - keeps referring to Marlowe as "Marlboro", or "The Marlboro Man" (to his wife).
And, of course, the scenes with Elliott Gould and Sterling Hayden are quite famous for Hayden's quick witted, turn-on-a-dime improvisations. He plays a burned out writer who has turned to the bottle in hopes finding some further inspiration - a tired cliche' if there every was one. But Hayden twists this hackneyed theme to his advantage: he's totally over-the-top in the best tradition of the excessive 1970s. These scenes alone are worth the price of admission.
All in all, for whatever faults it may possess, there's also an awful lot going for this 1970s, "Rip Van Marlowe" rendition of "The Long Goodbye" ("it's a loooong goodbye, . . and it happens everyday").
No, what made me pick up "T.L.G." was something else altogether; something unexpected: the theme music. The music was composed by John Williams and Johnny Mercer. I stumbled across a Youtube excerpt, and there was my jazz hero, Jack Sheldon, singing the movie's theme song. That alone made me want to get this (I collect most everything with J.S.). But, just as with the more famous movie "Laura", the theme song gets sounded throughout the entire picture. However, unlike "Laura", "The Long Goodbye" - that's the name of the tune as well - goes through many different styles and permutations during the course of the film. As a result, the movie doesn't feel like it's just an advertisement for a possible radio hit.
The best example of this is in the first of two scenes filmed down in Mexico. Marlowe (Elliott Gould) is trying to get information from the village authorities as to how and when his friend, Terry, allegedly died down there. During the course of their somewhat bizarre discussions, a poor sounding village band plays "T.L.G." tune while accompanying a funeral cortege through the town's cobbled streets. Then we immediately segue to a party scene back at the Malibu Beach home of Mr. and Mrs. Wade, where a few revelers who are crowding around a modest upright piano, crank out a sort of fast, bossa nova rendition of the same tune - almost Brazil '66 like. The juxtaposition of these two scenes and two styles couldn't possibly be more stark and dramatic. It's almost as though the theme song is used as a Wagnerian leitmotif throughout this film.
As for Marlowe himself, I think Elliott Gould is brilliant. Much has been made of Altman's "Rip Van Marlowe" approach - a Marlowe who wakes up in a far more indifferent 1970s. Marlowe doesn't know the D.A. here, and the L.A. Police are completely indifferent to him. If anything, he's just a nuissance. They regard him as though he were a doctor who's just a quack. This time, Marlowe has no friends downtown. His credentials mean nothing. But that also permits Marlowe to be more freelance than ever. He's now able to think fully for himself, and is better able to make quick assessments of the situation. This pays off in the end, as Marlowe still clings to his 1940's, good world/bad world values. Given that fact, it's all the more relevant that Mr. Wade - Sterling Hayden - keeps referring to Marlowe as "Marlboro", or "The Marlboro Man" (to his wife).
And, of course, the scenes with Elliott Gould and Sterling Hayden are quite famous for Hayden's quick witted, turn-on-a-dime improvisations. He plays a burned out writer who has turned to the bottle in hopes finding some further inspiration - a tired cliche' if there every was one. But Hayden twists this hackneyed theme to his advantage: he's totally over-the-top in the best tradition of the excessive 1970s. These scenes alone are worth the price of admission.
All in all, for whatever faults it may possess, there's also an awful lot going for this 1970s, "Rip Van Marlowe" rendition of "The Long Goodbye" ("it's a loooong goodbye, . . and it happens everyday").
Top reviews from other countries
Eunice Trent
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fine acting
Reviewed in Canada on November 28, 2021
As with all of his movies, another fine performance from Gould and the cast!
schumann_bg
5.0 out of 5 stars
this is the largest police car I've ever seen - it's like a gold chariot
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2017
The whole tone of this film is pretty crazy, which is much better than any other Altman could have adopted; in fact, it's not so far from MASH, or the kind of playful quality you get in John Cassavetes films. You can imagine Peter Falk walking into the frame at any moment and the semi-comic banter just carrying on ... Instead it's Elliott Gould, of course, as Philip Marlowe, played with a sexiness right from the first shots of him recumbent on his bed, abundant curls playing around his head in the lamplight. He then gets up to feed his cat in an extended riff focusing on the fussiness of the pet, which will only eat a certain brand. Marlowe, so in control in the original Big Sleep, so cool (if, for me, profoundly uninvolving), here has a freewheeling charm, is unflappable, frankly groping, but unfazed, even by three nights spent in police custody for no good reason. He just ambles through it, with a hint of the breeze. The story is quite a bleak one, were it not for the absurdity that frequently shows up. Marlowe is trying initially to find the writer husband of a glamorous wife, then the former walks into the sea and he makes connections between the wife and another man, who seems to have committed suicide in Mexico, having killed his wife.
In the end, it isn't so hard to follow, which is a relief after The Big Sleep. The ironic posture - this is a film noir played for laughs, but not so obviously that it loses its shine - is continually fascinating. Mark Rydell pops up as a gangster, at one point very violent, even if briefly, which I hated, but the consequences don't seem as bad as you might have feared. He is totally cracked, and suggests in one scene that they all strip for the sake of greater honesty. It also means that there is something to balance out the picture of Marlowe's neighbours, a group of girls hanging out on their balcony topless. It could hardly be more 70s. Anyway they do start to strip, one of them being Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has a non-speaking part, but is wearing a superb pair of underpants on his very buff body, that looks like a girdle. All this is revealed quite casually, picked up on by a later scene where we see Marlowe emerge from a hospital bed in the same style of underwear. It is typical of the consistent look that Altman achieves here, which extends also to the music. What a beautiful song The Long Goodbye is - heard in innumerable versions throughout the film to reflect changes in mood. There is beauty everywhere here, including the Mexican landscape which we see as the Mexican police car rolls through it ... everything is kept in motion, apparently to give the sense of the viewer being a voyeur. Whatever, I think we should have had more shots of Arnie, in his absolute prime ... and Gould also ... what style, what gentle unflappability - a character transformed! It seems incredible that the film didn't do that well on first release, it looks so extraordinary now.
In the end, it isn't so hard to follow, which is a relief after The Big Sleep. The ironic posture - this is a film noir played for laughs, but not so obviously that it loses its shine - is continually fascinating. Mark Rydell pops up as a gangster, at one point very violent, even if briefly, which I hated, but the consequences don't seem as bad as you might have feared. He is totally cracked, and suggests in one scene that they all strip for the sake of greater honesty. It also means that there is something to balance out the picture of Marlowe's neighbours, a group of girls hanging out on their balcony topless. It could hardly be more 70s. Anyway they do start to strip, one of them being Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has a non-speaking part, but is wearing a superb pair of underpants on his very buff body, that looks like a girdle. All this is revealed quite casually, picked up on by a later scene where we see Marlowe emerge from a hospital bed in the same style of underwear. It is typical of the consistent look that Altman achieves here, which extends also to the music. What a beautiful song The Long Goodbye is - heard in innumerable versions throughout the film to reflect changes in mood. There is beauty everywhere here, including the Mexican landscape which we see as the Mexican police car rolls through it ... everything is kept in motion, apparently to give the sense of the viewer being a voyeur. Whatever, I think we should have had more shots of Arnie, in his absolute prime ... and Gould also ... what style, what gentle unflappability - a character transformed! It seems incredible that the film didn't do that well on first release, it looks so extraordinary now.
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こんた
5.0 out of 5 stars
空気感がすごい
Reviewed in Japan on April 22, 2020
ゴッドファーザーも何十回と観ましたが、この作品もそうなります。観るたびに新しい発見があります。
吹替も味わいがあります。
吹替も味わいがあります。
Paloma
4.0 out of 5 stars
buena película, aunque adaptación libre de la novela
Reviewed in Spain on February 24, 2014
buena película en general con buenas interpretaciones, robert altman sabe recrear el alma de la genial novela de chandler, aunque cambiando elementos importantes del libro. curioso cameo de arnold schwarzenegger en quizás uno de sus mejores papeles. bueno, sin bromas, le doy un 8 sobre 10
Eric Lefranc
5.0 out of 5 stars
it's ok with me
Reviewed in France on September 29, 2009
Evidemment, avec ce « privé », on est loin de Bogart et de Hawks, et du Marlowe de Chandler. Les critiques à l'époque de la sortie du film, et maintenant encore, ne se sont pas privés (forcément) de dénoncer les libertés iconoclastes prises avec les références des oeuvres originelles.
Qu'importe ces critiques, ce film n'est pas un remake, même pas une réinterprétation, ce « long goodbye » est une pure création du cinéma des seventies : c'est un chef d'aeuvre, un grand film, plus riche, plus nuancé, plus complexe et plus passionnant qu'il n'y paraît. Il prolonge la réussite commerciale de MASH, mais c'est mieux que MASH.
Altman ne cherche pas à reproduire la tonalité film noir et l'ambiance noir et blanc des privés de Chandler ou de Hawks, au contraire, il projette Marlowe / Gould en costume et Lincoln noirs d'avant guerre dans une Californie seventies colorée, déjantée et déjà désabusée : Gould, contrairement à Bogart, n'y maîtrise pas grand chose, il se fait embobiner toutes les 10 minutes par les flics, les mafieux, ses clients, les amis (« it's OK with me ») et finit par craquer de façon inattendue et radicale : c'est un naïf qui croyait à l'amitié mais à qui on ne la fera plus.
La musique nous signale avec insistance cette volonté de rupture : le film s'ouvre sur fond musical rétro de ballroom des années 40 pour entrer brusquement dans la modernité de la suite d'accords appuyés et dramatiques du titre « the long goodbye » systématiquement réinterprété tout au long du film (j'ai compté 17 versions différentes en incluant la version muzak de la superette, la cérémonie funèbre mexicaine et la sonnerie de la villa de Roger Wade : chercher, il en manque peut être).
La rupture est également signifiée avec les petits sketches irrespectueux imposés aux visiteurs du lotissement des Wade par le gardien qui imite James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, Cary Grant pour finir sur un éblouissant Walter Brennan (stumpy dans le Rio Bravo de Hawks)
C'est un film assez désopilant, parfois burlesque, mais c'est aussi un film grave sur la dissimulation, la manipulation, le mensonge..
Pour finir, quelques détails sur lesquels il faudra s'arrêter :
- la scène d'ouverture qui annonce la première dissimulation, celle de Marlowe qui essaye de mystifier son chat (qui ne sera pas dupe), en transvasant une pâté ordinaire dans la boîte de son Coury Brand favori
- l'appartement de Marlowe, extraordinaire « high tower appartment » habité par des voisines adeptes de bougies, de yoga, de brownies au s***, qui se pavanent à moitié à poil toute la journée en révisant de façon approximative les capitales des états
- Gould chez les flics, qui improvise une imitation hilarante de Al Jolson avec l'aide d'un maquillage à base d'encre destinée aux empreintes digitales
- un futur gouverneur de la Californie, pas encore acteur, tout juste figurant garde du corps très bodybuildé en slip moule bite : craquant ...
Qu'importe ces critiques, ce film n'est pas un remake, même pas une réinterprétation, ce « long goodbye » est une pure création du cinéma des seventies : c'est un chef d'aeuvre, un grand film, plus riche, plus nuancé, plus complexe et plus passionnant qu'il n'y paraît. Il prolonge la réussite commerciale de MASH, mais c'est mieux que MASH.
Altman ne cherche pas à reproduire la tonalité film noir et l'ambiance noir et blanc des privés de Chandler ou de Hawks, au contraire, il projette Marlowe / Gould en costume et Lincoln noirs d'avant guerre dans une Californie seventies colorée, déjantée et déjà désabusée : Gould, contrairement à Bogart, n'y maîtrise pas grand chose, il se fait embobiner toutes les 10 minutes par les flics, les mafieux, ses clients, les amis (« it's OK with me ») et finit par craquer de façon inattendue et radicale : c'est un naïf qui croyait à l'amitié mais à qui on ne la fera plus.
La musique nous signale avec insistance cette volonté de rupture : le film s'ouvre sur fond musical rétro de ballroom des années 40 pour entrer brusquement dans la modernité de la suite d'accords appuyés et dramatiques du titre « the long goodbye » systématiquement réinterprété tout au long du film (j'ai compté 17 versions différentes en incluant la version muzak de la superette, la cérémonie funèbre mexicaine et la sonnerie de la villa de Roger Wade : chercher, il en manque peut être).
La rupture est également signifiée avec les petits sketches irrespectueux imposés aux visiteurs du lotissement des Wade par le gardien qui imite James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, Cary Grant pour finir sur un éblouissant Walter Brennan (stumpy dans le Rio Bravo de Hawks)
C'est un film assez désopilant, parfois burlesque, mais c'est aussi un film grave sur la dissimulation, la manipulation, le mensonge..
Pour finir, quelques détails sur lesquels il faudra s'arrêter :
- la scène d'ouverture qui annonce la première dissimulation, celle de Marlowe qui essaye de mystifier son chat (qui ne sera pas dupe), en transvasant une pâté ordinaire dans la boîte de son Coury Brand favori
- l'appartement de Marlowe, extraordinaire « high tower appartment » habité par des voisines adeptes de bougies, de yoga, de brownies au s***, qui se pavanent à moitié à poil toute la journée en révisant de façon approximative les capitales des états
- Gould chez les flics, qui improvise une imitation hilarante de Al Jolson avec l'aide d'un maquillage à base d'encre destinée aux empreintes digitales
- un futur gouverneur de la Californie, pas encore acteur, tout juste figurant garde du corps très bodybuildé en slip moule bite : craquant ...