The Long Goodbye (film)
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''The Long Goodbye'' is a 1973 American
neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...
satirical
mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...
crime thriller film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
directed by Robert Altman and based on Raymond Chandler's 1953 novel. The screenplay was written by
Leigh Brackett Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 18, 1978) was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for '' The Big Sleep'' (1946), '' Rio Bravo'' (1959), and '' The Long Go ...
, who co-wrote the screenplay for Chandler's ''
The Big Sleep ''The Big Sleep'' (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by American-British writer Raymond Chandler, the first to feature the detective Philip Marlowe. It has been adapted for film twice, in 1946 and again in 1978. The story is set in Los Angel ...
'' in 1946. The film stars Elliott Gould as
Philip Marlowe Philip Marlowe () is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler, who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The hardboiled crime fiction genre originated in the 1920s, notably in ''Black Mask'' magazine, in which Dashie ...
and features
Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor and decorated Marine Corps officer and an Office of Strategic Services' agent during World War II. A leading man for mos ...
,
Nina Van Pallandt Nina, Baroness van Pallandt (born Nina Magdelena Møller; 15 July 1932) is a Danish retired singer and actress. Acting Van Pallandt acted on television and in films. From 1969 to the early 1970s, she appeared as a guest on several episodes of t ...
,
Jim Bouton James Alan Bouton (; March 8, 1939 – July 10, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. Bouton played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher for the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves between 1 ...
(in a rare acting role),
Mark Rydell Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has directed several Academy Award-nominated films including '' The Fox'' (1967), '' The Reivers'' (1969), ''Cinderella Liberty'' (1973) ...
and an early uncredited appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The story's period was moved from 1949–50 to 1970s Hollywood. ''The Long Goodbye'' has been described as "a study of a moral and decent man cast adrift in a selfish, self-obsessed society where lives can be thrown away without a backward glance ... and any notions of friendship and loyalty are meaningless." In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


Plot

Late one night, private investigator Philip Marlowe goes to a supermarket to buy cat food and upon returning is visited by his close friend Terry Lennox. Lennox asks for a lift from
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
to the
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
border at
Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and
< ...
, which Marlowe obliges. On returning home, Marlowe is met by two police detectives who ask questions about Lennox and then arrest Marlow because he refuses to answer any questions. During questioning, Marlow learns that Lennox has been accused of killing his wife, Sylvia. After he is jailed for three days, the police release him, because they have learned that Lennox has committed suicide in Mexico. The police and the press seem to believe it is an obvious case, but Marlowe does not accept the official facts. Marlowe is then hired by Eileen Wade, who asks him to find her missing husband Roger Wade, an
alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...
novelist with
writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...
whose macho,
Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fi ...
-like persona is proving self-destructive, resulting in days-long disappearances from their Malibu home. While investigating Eileen's missing husband, Marlowe visits the subculture of private detoxification clinics for rich alcoholics and
drug addicts Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...
. He locates and recovers Roger and learns that the Wades knew the Lennoxes socially, and suspects that there is more to Lennox's suicide and Sylvia's murder. Marlowe later incurs the wrath of gangster Marty Augustine, who wants money returned that Lennox was sent to deliver to
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
, and threatens Marlowe by maiming his own mistress. After a side-trip to Mexico, where officials corroborate the details of Lennox's death, Marlowe returns to the Wade house. A party breaks up after an argument over Roger's unpaid bill from the detoxification clinic. Later that night, Eileen and Marlowe are interrupted when she sees a drunken Roger wandering into the sea; before they can stop him, he vanishes into the ocean and is presumed to have drowned by police. Eileen confesses that Roger had been having an affair with Sylvia, and might have killed her. Marlowe tells this to the police, who tell him that they already knew that Roger Wade had met with Sylvia Lennox before going to the clinic. Marlowe is then brought to a meeting with Augustine, and threatened before his missing money is returned by someone else. While leaving, Marlowe sees Eileen driving away in her open topped Mercedes-Benz 450SL. While running after her, he is struck by a car and hospitalized. Waking up, he is given a harmonica by the heavily-bandaged patient in the next bed. Returning to Malibu, he finds the Wade house being packed up by a real estate company and Eileen gone. He returns to Mexico, where he bribes local officials into revealing that they had been paid to fake Terry Lennox's death of an apparant suicide. Marlowe finds Terry in a Mexican villa, who admits to killing Sylvia and reveals that he is having an affair with Eileen. Roger had discovered the affair and disclosed it to Sylvia, after which Terry killed her in the course of a violent argument. Terry gloats that no one cares about the case since he is legally dead, causing Marlowe to fatally shoot Terry. As Marlowe walks away, he passes Eileen, who is on her way to meeting Terry. Marlowe pulls out his harmonica and plays it while strolling jauntily down the road.


Cast

* Elliott Gould as
Philip Marlowe Philip Marlowe () is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler, who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The hardboiled crime fiction genre originated in the 1920s, notably in ''Black Mask'' magazine, in which Dashie ...
*
Nina van Pallandt Nina, Baroness van Pallandt (born Nina Magdelena Møller; 15 July 1932) is a Danish retired singer and actress. Acting Van Pallandt acted on television and in films. From 1969 to the early 1970s, she appeared as a guest on several episodes of t ...
as Eileen Wade *
Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor and decorated Marine Corps officer and an Office of Strategic Services' agent during World War II. A leading man for mos ...
as Roger Wade *
Mark Rydell Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has directed several Academy Award-nominated films including '' The Fox'' (1967), '' The Reivers'' (1969), ''Cinderella Liberty'' (1973) ...
as Marty Augustine *
Henry Gibson Henry Gibson (born James Bateman; September 21, 1935 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor and poet. His best-known roles include his time as a cast member of the TV sketch-comedy series ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' from 1968 to 19 ...
as Dr. Verringer * David Arkin as Harry *
Jim Bouton James Alan Bouton (; March 8, 1939 – July 10, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. Bouton played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher for the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves between 1 ...
as Terry Lennox *
Warren Berlinger Warren Berlinger (August 31, 1937 – December 2, 2020) was an American character actor, with Broadway runs, movie and television credits, and much work in commercials. Early life Warren Berlinger was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, ...
as Morgan *
Pancho Córdova Francisco Amado Córdova Ramírez (1916 – 1990) was a Mexican character actor who has appeared in numerous films of United States and Mexico. Personal life He is the grandfather of actress Natalia Cordova-Buckley. Selected filmography Am ...
as Doctor *
Enrique Lucero Enrique Lucero (October 9, 1920 – May 9, 1989) was a Mexican-American film actor. He was known for such films as '' Macario'' (1960) and ''Two Mules for Sister Sara'' (1970). He also played the role of the "Indian Chief" in '' Buck and the Prea ...
as Jefe *
Rutanya Alda Rutanya Alda (born Rūta Skrastiņa; October 13, 1942) is a Latvian-American actress. She began her career in the late 1960s, and went on to have supporting parts in '' The Deer Hunter'' (1978), '' Rocky II'' (1979), and ''Mommie Dearest'' (1981). ...
as Rutanya Sweet * Jack Riley as Riley * Jerry Jones as Det. Green * John S. Davies as Det. Dayton *
Ken Sansom Frank Kenneth Sansom (April 2, 1927 – October 8, 2012) was an American actor. Among his best known roles, Sansom voiced Rabbit in animated television series, television specials, and films for Disney's ''Winnie the Pooh'' franchise from 1988 to ...
as Colony Guard *
David Carradine David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series '' Kung Fu'', playi ...
as Dave a.k.a. Socrates (uncredited) * Arnold Schwarzenegger as Hood in Augustine's Office (uncredited)


Development

It took a number of years for a film of ''The Long Goodbye'' to be made, although there had been a television production in 1954 with Dick Powell. By the time of Chandler's death, the only novels of his that had not been made into films were ''The Long Goodbye'' and ''Playback''. In October 1965 it was announced the rights to ''Goodbye'' were held by producers
Elliott Kastner Elliott Kastner (January 7, 1930 – June 30, 2010) was an American film producer, whose best known credits include ''Where Eagles Dare'' (1968), '' The Long Goodbye'' (1973), ''The Missouri Breaks'' (1976), and '' Angel Heart'' (1987). Early li ...
and Jerry Gershwin who would make it the following year in Los Angeles and Mexico. In 1967 producer Gabriel Katzka had the rights. He wanted to make it as a follow up to their adaptation of ''
The Little Sister ''The Little Sister'' is a 1949 novel by Raymond Chandler, his fifth featuring the private investigator Philip Marlowe. The story is set in Los Angeles in the late 1940s and follows Marlowe's investigation of a missing persons case and blackm ...
'' (which became '' Marlowe'').
Stirling Silliphant Stirling Dale Silliphant (January 16, 1918 – April 26, 1996) was an American screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his screenplay for '' In the Heat of the Night'', for which he won an Academy Award in 1967, and for creating ...
, who wrote ''Marlowe'', did a script. However the film was not made and MGM let their option lapse. Producers Jerry Bick and Elliott Kastner bought the rights back and made a production deal with the
United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
distribution company for them to finance.McGilligan 1989, p. 360. Sales of Chandler had been consistent over the years and in the early 1970s the author's books were selling as much as when Chandler was alive.


Leigh Brackett

They commissioned the screenplay from Leigh Brackett, who had been Kastner's client when he was an agent and had written the script for the Humphrey Bogart version of ''
The Big Sleep ''The Big Sleep'' (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by American-British writer Raymond Chandler, the first to feature the detective Philip Marlowe. It has been adapted for film twice, in 1946 and again in 1978. The story is set in Los Angel ...
''. Brackett:
... set the deal with United Artists, and they had a commitment for a film with Elliott Gould, so either you take Elliott Gould or you don't make the film. Elliott Gould was not exactly my idea of Philip Marlowe, but anyway there we were. Also, as far as the story was concerned, time had gone by—it was twenty-odd years since the novel was written, and the private eye had become a cliché. It had become funny. You had to watch out what you were doing. If you had Humphrey Bogart at the same age that he was when he did ''The Big Sleep'', he wouldn't do it the same way. Also, we were faced with a technical problem of this enormous book, which was the longest one Chandler ever wrote. It's tremendously involuted and convoluted. If you did it the way he wrote it, you would have a five-hour film.
Brian G. Hutton, who had made a number of movies for Kastner, was originally attached as director and Brackett says Hutton wanted the script structured so that "the heavy had planned the whole thing from the start" but when writing it she found the idea contrived.''Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s'' By Patrick McGilligan p23
/ref> The script deviates markedly from the 1953 novel. Screenwriter Leigh Brackett took many liberties with the story, plot and characters of ''The Long Goodbye'' in her adaptation. In the film, Marlowe kills his best friend, Terry Lennox. Lennox did kill his own wife, because she discovered he was having an affair with Eileen, and he admits this to Marlowe. The father of millionairess Sylvia Lennox, Sylvia herself as well as her sister, do not appear in the film; Roger Wade commits suicide in the film, rather than being murdered; and gangster Marty Augustine and his subplots are additions to the film. Bernie Ohls, Marlowe's sometime-friend on the LAPD, is also absent. The film quotes from the novel when Marlowe, under police interrogation, asks, "Is this where I'm supposed to say, 'What's all this about?' and he he copsays, 'Shut up! I ask the questions'?" Throughout the film are stylistic nods to the Chandler novels and 1950s American culture. Marlowe drives a 1948
Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a personal vehicle for Ed ...
convertible Cabriolet, in contrast with the contemporary cars driven by others in the film. Marlowe also chain smokes in the film, in contrast with a health-conscious California; no one else smokes on screen. A "making-of" featurette on the DVD is entitled "Rip van Marlowe", a reference to the character
Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls aslee ...
, to emphasize the contrast between Marlowe's anachronistic 1950s behavior and the film's 1970s setting.''Rip Van Marlowe'', Director Greg Carson, 2002.


Robert Altman

The producers offered the script to both Howard Hawks and
Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...
to direct it. Both refused the offer, but Bogdanovich recommended Robert Altman. United Artists president David Picker may have picked Gould to play Marlowe as a ploy to get Altman to direct. At the time, Gould was in professional disfavor because of his rumored troubles on the set of '' A Glimpse of Tiger'', in which he bickered with costar
Kim Darby Kim Darby (born Deborah Zerby; July 8, 1947) is an American actress best known for her role as Mattie Ross in the film '' True Grit'' (1969). Early life and film career Darby was born Deborah Zerby in Los Angeles, the daughter of professional d ...
, fought with director
Anthony Harvey Anthony Harvey (3 June 1930 – 23 November 2017) was an English filmmaker who began his career as a teenage actor, was a film editor in the 1950s and moved into directing in the mid-1960s. Harvey had fifteen film credits as an editor, and he ...
, and acted erratically. Consequently, he had not worked in nearly two years; nevertheless, Altman convinced Bick that Gould suited the role. United Artists had Elliott Gould undergo the usual employment medical examination, and also a
psychological examination Psychological evaluation is a method to assess an individual's behavior, personality, cognitive abilities, and several other domains. A common reason for a psychological evaluation is to identify psychological factors that may be inhibiting a pers ...
attesting to his mental stability.McGilligan 1989, p. 361. In January 1972 it was announced Altman and Gould would make the film. Altman called the film "a satire in melancholy."Altman, Gould Reunited for 'Goodbye' Warga, Wayne. Los Angeles Times 23 July 1972: u1 In adapting Chandler's book, Leigh Brackett had problems with its plot, which she felt was "riddled with cliches", and faced the choice of making it a period piece or updating it.McGilligan 1989, p. 363. Altman received a copy of the script while shooting ''
Images An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...
'' in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. He liked the ending because it was so out of character for Marlowe. He agreed to direct but only if the ending was not changed.Thompson 2005, p. 75. Brackett recalled meeting Altman while he was doing ''Images''. "We conferred about ten o'clock in the morning and yakked all day, and I went back to the hotel and typed all the notes and went back the next day. In a week we had it all worked out. He was a joy to work with. He had a very keen story mind." Altman and Brackett spent a lot of time talking over the plot. Altman wanted Marlowe to be a loser. He even nicknamed Gould's character Rip Van Marlowe, as if he had been asleep for 20 years, had woken up, and was wandering around Los Angeles in the early 1970s but "trying to invoke the morals of a previous era".Thompson 2005, p. 76. Brackett says her first draft was too long, and she shortened it, but the ending was inconclusive. She had Marlowe shooting Terry Lennox.McGilligan 1989, p. 364. Altman conceived of the film as a satire and made several changes to the script, like having Roger Wade commit suicide and having Marty Augustine smash a Coke bottle across his girlfriend's face. Altman said, "it was supposed to get the attention of the audience and remind them that, in spite of Marlowe, there is a real world out there, and it is a violent world".McGilligan 1989, p. 365. "Chandler fans will hate my guts," said Altman. "I don't give a damn."Goodbye, Mr. Marlowe Michaels, Ken. Chicago Tribune (1963-1996); Chicago, Ill. hicago, Ill3 Dec 1972: 88.


Cast

Many of the key roles in the film were cast with unconventional choices.
Jim Bouton James Alan Bouton (; March 8, 1939 – July 10, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. Bouton played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher for the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves between 1 ...
, cast as Marlowe's friend Terry Lennox, was not an actor; he was a former
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
pitcher and the author of the bestselling book ''
Ball Four ''Ball Four'' is a book written by former Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Bouton (1939-2019) in 1970. The book is a diary of Bouton's 1969 season, spent with the Seattle Pilots and then the Houston Astros following a late-season trade. In it, ...
''.
Nina Van Pallandt Nina, Baroness van Pallandt (born Nina Magdelena Møller; 15 July 1932) is a Danish retired singer and actress. Acting Van Pallandt acted on television and in films. From 1969 to the early 1970s, she appeared as a guest on several episodes of t ...
was best known at the time as the ex-lover of writer
Clifford Irving Clifford Michael Irving (November 5, 1930 – December 19, 2017) was an American novelist and investigative reporter. Although he published 20 novels, he is best known for an "autobiography" allegedly written as told to Irving by billionaire ...
, who had written a fake autobiography of
Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...
that turned into a major scandal.
Mark Rydell Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has directed several Academy Award-nominated films including '' The Fox'' (1967), '' The Reivers'' (1969), ''Cinderella Liberty'' (1973) ...
, who played vicious gangster Marty Augustine, had an acting background, but was better known as the director of films like ''
The Cowboys ''The Cowboys'' is a 1972 American Western film starring John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Bruce Dern, and featuring Colleen Dewhurst and Slim Pickens. It was the feature film debut of Robert Carradine. Based on the 1971 novel of the same name ...
'' and '' The Reivers''.
Henry Gibson Henry Gibson (born James Bateman; September 21, 1935 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor and poet. His best-known roles include his time as a cast member of the TV sketch-comedy series ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' from 1968 to 19 ...
was another odd choice, having just completed four years as a cast member of the TV comedy-variety series ''
Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Da ...
''. In May 1972 it was announced
Dan Blocker Bobby Dan Davis Blocker (December 10, 1928 – May 13, 1972) was an American television actor and Korean War veteran, who played Hoss Cartwright in the long-running NBC Western television series ''Bonanza''. Biography Early life Blocker was born ...
would appear. He was cast in the role of Roger Wade. However, he died before filming started. The film is dedicated to his memory in the closing credits. In June it was announced that
Vilmos Zsigmond Vilmos Zsigmond ASC (; June 16, 1930 – January 1, 2016) was a Hungarian-American cinematographer. His work in cinematography helped shape the look of American movies in the 1970s, making him one of the leading figures in the American New Wa ...
would be cinematographer. Near the midpoint of the film, during a scene in which Marlowe meets with Marty Augustine, Augustine orders everyone to strip and we see Arnold Schwarzenegger in briefs portraying a massive thug working for Augustine. Arnold received neither screen credit nor lines in this appearance.


Filming

Altman did not read all of Chandler's book and instead used ''Raymond Chandler Speaking'', a collection of letters and essays. He gave copies of this book to the cast and crew, advising them to study the author's literary essays. The opening scene with Philip Marlowe and his cat came from a story a friend of Altman's told him about his cat only eating one type of cat food. Altman saw it as a comment on friendship. The director decided that the camera should never stop moving and put it on a dolly.Thompson 2005, p. 77. The camera movements would counter the actions of the characters so that the audience would feel like a voyeur. To compensate for the harsh light of Southern California, Altman gave the film a soft pastel look reminiscent of old postcards from the 1940s. When it came to the scenes between Philip Marlowe and Roger Wade, Altman had Elliott Gould and Sterling Hayden ad lib most of their dialogue because, according to the director, Hayden was drunk and stoned on marijuana most of the time. Altman was reportedly thrilled by Hayden's performance, despite him being second choice to Blocker. Altman's home in Malibu Colony was used as the location for the scenes that took place in Wade's house. "I hope it works," said Altman during filming. "We've got a script but we don't follow it closely." As a reference to the American iconography which Chandler used in his novels, Marlowe wears a tie with
American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...
s on it (the tie looks plain red in the movie due to cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond's
post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...
- flashing).


Music

The soundtrack of ''The Long Goodbye'' features two songs, "
Hooray for Hollywood "Hooray for Hollywood" is a popular song first featured in the 1937 movie ''Hollywood Hotel'', and which has since become (together with " That's Entertainment" and " There's No Business like Show Business") the staple soundtrack element of any Ac ...
" and "The Long Goodbye", composed by John Williams and Johnny Mercer. It was Altman's idea to have every occurrence of the latter song arranged differently, from hippie chant to supermarket
muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934, and has been owned by a division or subsidiary of one or another company ever since. In 1981, Westingho ...
to radio music, setting the mood for the hero's encounters with eccentric Californians, while pursuing his case.Thompson 2005, p. 80.


Release

''The Long Goodbye'' was previewed at the Tarrytown Conference Center in
Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...
. The gala was hosted by
Judith Crist Judith Crist (; May 22, 1922 – August 7, 2012) was an American film critic and academic. She appeared regularly on the ''Today'' show from 1964 to 1973 Martin, Douglas (August 8, 2012)"Judith Crist, Zinging and Influential Film Critic, ...
, then the film critic for '' New York'' magazine. The film was not well received by the audience, except for Nina van Pallandt's performance. Altman attended a question-and-answer session afterward, where the mood was "vaguely hostile", reportedly leaving the director "depressed". ''The Long Goodbye'' was not well received by critics during its limited release in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Miami. The New York opening was canceled at the last minute after several advance screenings had already been held for the press. The film was abruptly withdrawn from release with rumors that it would be re-edited. Studio executives analyzed the reviews for months, concluding that the reason for the film's failure was the misleading advertising campaign in which it had been promoted as a "detective story". They spent $40,000 on a new release campaign, which included a poster by '' Mad'' magazine artist Jack Davis.McGilligan 1989, p. 367. The film was released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment on September 17, 2002.
Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...
released selections from Williams' score on a CD in 2004 paired with the album re-recording of Williams' music from '' Fitzwilly''; in 2015 Quartet Records issued a CD entirely devoted to ''The Long Goodbye''. When the film screened on TV in 1977, ABC cut off the final shooting.


Reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 8.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "An ice-cold noir that retains Robert Altman's idiosyncratic sensibilities, ''The Long Goodbye'' ranks among the smartest and most satisfying Marlowe mysteries." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a score of 87 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim." ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' magazine's
Jay Cocks John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College.
Charles Champlin Charles Davenport Champlin (March 23, 1926 – November 16, 2014) was an American film critic and writer. Life and career Champlin was born in Hammondsport, New York. He attended high school in Camden, New York, working as a columnist for the ...
of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' found the film "quite sleek, marvelously and inventively photographed ... The problem is that the Altman-Brackett Marlowe, played by Elliott Gould, is an untidy, unshaven, semiliterate, dim-wit slob who could not locate a missing skyscraper and would be refused service at a hot dog stand. He is not Chandler's Marlowe, or mine, and I can't find him interesting, sympathetic or amusing, and I can't be sure who will." Gary Arnold of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' wrote that the film "is not a movie version of the Chandler mystery that anyone with a liking for Chandler could possibly enjoy ... If you are not prepared to shuffle along from scene to pointless, protracted scene with klutzy old Elliott, there will be little to occupy your time or offset your annoyance." Roger Ebert, however, gave the film three out of four stars and praised Elliott Gould's "good performance, particularly the virtuoso ten-minute stretch at the beginning of the movie when he goes out to buy food for his cat. Gould has enough of the paranoid in his acting style to really put over Altman's revised view of the private eye". Gene Siskel also liked the film and gave it three-and-a-half out of four stars, calling it "a most satisfying motion picture" with Gould displaying "surprising finesse and reserve" in his performance, though he faulted the "convoluted and too quickly resolved plot." When ''The Long Goodbye'' was re-released, reviewer
Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
wrote, "it's an original work, complex without being obscure, visually breathtaking without seeming to be inappropriately fancy".
Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
's lengthy review in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' called the film "a high-flying rap on Chandler and the movies", hailed Gould's performance as "his best yet" and praised Altman for achieving "a self-mocking fairy-tale poetry". Kael, Pauline (October 22, 1973). "The Current Cinema". ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''. 133-137.
Despite Kael's effusive endorsement and its influence among younger critics, ''The Long Goodbye'' was relatively unpopular and earned poorly in the rest of the United States. The ''New York Times'' listed it in its Ten Best List for film for that year, while Vilmos Zsigmond was awarded the
National Society of Film Critics The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) is an American film critic organization. The organization is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In January 2014, ...
' prize for Best Cinematographer.McGilligan 1989, p. 362. Ebert later ranked it among his Great Movies collection and wrote, "Most of its effect comes from the way it pushes against the genre, and the way Altman undermines the premise of all private eye movies, which is that the hero can walk down mean streets, see clearly, and tell right from wrong".


See also

*
List of American films of 1973 A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
* Robert Altman Filmography


References

Notes Bibliography * McGilligan, Patrick. ''Robert Altman: Jumping off the Cliff''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. * Thompson, David. ''Altman on Altman''. London: Faber and Faber. 2005.


External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Long Goodbye, The 1973 films 1970s thriller films 1970s crime thriller films American crime thriller films American detective films American mystery films American neo-noir films American satirical films 1970s English-language films Films based on American novels Films based on works by Raymond Chandler Films directed by Robert Altman Films produced by Elliott Kastner Films scored by John Williams Films set in Los Angeles Films set in Mexico Films with screenplays by Leigh Brackett United Artists films United States National Film Registry films 1970s American films ja:長いお別れ#映画