The Silver Screen Oasis

I saw this again the other day. I watched it with my daughter. "The Long Goodbye" is her favorite Chandler novel. She didn't like the movie.

I didn't like the movie the first time I saw it, but I liked it more this time. It seemed like a dress rehearsal for "Short Cuts," which I think is one of Altman's best.

It was also fun seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger in one scene.

If The Long Goodbye is her favourite Chandler novel (like me!), I am not surprised she didn't like the Altman film. I read that the director didn't even read the novel to make the film....

Discussion of this film has prompted me to resurrect an old post of mine from July 2007. Hope no one minds...

I know there are countless film noir fans out there, rabid purists of "old school" private eye fiction, who are appalled by Robert Altman's revisionist take on Raymond Chandler's classic 1953 novel. But for me, THE LONG GOODBYE (1973) is much truer to the heart and the poetry of Chandler's writing than most of the films based on his novels that were produced back in the 1940s. (The credited screenwriter, Leigh Brackett, was one of the writers of the 1946 film version of THE BIG SLEEP and her brilliant touch is evident throughout.) The fact that the film jettisons Philip Marlowe into the 1970s matters not at all in the great scheme of things: he is still the beleaguered knight in rusty armor, more interested in the truth than in a dollar.

The film is ripe with fascinating perofrmances: Sterling Hayden, remarkable as Roger Wade, the failed alcoholic writer; baseball star Jim Bouton as Terry Lennox, Marlowe's glib buddy who drags him into a case of murder; Mark Rydell as the vicious mobster Marty Augustine who thinks nothing of smashing a coke bottle into his girl friend's face just to prove a point; nutty little Henry Gibson as the sinister Dr. Varringer; and Nina Van Pallandt as Roger Wade's sultry and deceptive wife Eileen Wade. And of course, Elliott Gould as Marlowe (the Marlboro Man!), a somnambulstic hero for the stoned 70s generation.

THE LONG GOODBYE is also full of the little "Altmanesque" touches that make the experience of this movie so rewarding. Such as John Williams' intoxicating title song, "The Long Goodbye," which is used in at least a dozen different musical contexts and arrangements, each to suit the moment that is required of it. Brilliant. The thing with the cat at the beginning of the story; sharing a jail cell with David Carradine; those kooky girls next door and their pot brownies. "It's ok with me, lady!" Vilmos Zsigmond's astonishing cinematography helps turn sun-bleached Los Angeles into the decadent post-card playground that it had become by the early 1970s.

As a long time diehard Raymond Chandler fan (the novel THE LONG GOODBYE is my favorite of his books) I find this film to be extraordinary on every level. I've probably seen it 15 or 20 times at least and it never disappoints. If we can accept the fact that there is such a thing as neo-noir--sunlit stories of murder and deception in candy color hues and wide-screen grandeur, then THE LONG GOODBYE is at the top of that god-forsaken list.

I love this film (recommended by Mr. D himself!), but I'm in a bit of a hurry at the moment and will try to outline some of my thoughts tonight. Hopefully, Dewey or ChiO will stop by and post, making a follow up irrelevant.

Looks like you and I were posting at the same time Dewey!

Literally!

Over the years I had only seen eight Altman films because, with the exceptions of McCABE AND MRS. MILLER and THIEVES LIKE US, at best they didn't appeal to me and at worst they were annoying. But one day about a year ago I had a "recent" noir mini-fest at home and one of the movies was THE LONG GOODBYE.

Loved it!

Gould's world weary performance was superb. Mark Rydell was near-perfect. Jim Bouton and Nina Van Pallandt surprised me with their performances. And Sterling Hayden was -- as always -- absolutely on the money.

But as alluded to by Dewey, the star of the show for me was Vilmos Zsigmond. I am hard-pressed to think of another contemporary bright and shining setting that felt so noirish. A fine addition to his triumphs in McCABE AND MRS. MILLER, THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES and...THE SADIST.

Here are the opening ten minutes or so of THE LONG GOODBYE which
intercuts three versions of the haunting title song (one by trumpeter/singer
Jack Sheldon, another by a female vocalist whose name I forget and a silky
instrumental version) as well as introducing some of the main characters.
And Marlowe's cat.
[youtube][/youtube]

I really liked Nina Van Pallandt and Sterling Hayden in this one. They really felt like people who lived in a house like that and kept having arguments like the ones the characters had.

I saw this movie on first release and was most disappointed. Maybe because I was so pissed that Altman had strayed so far from Chandler’s novel, preventing me from seeing any inherent qualities in the movie itself. Perhaps I should watch it again bearing in mind that this is not the Chandler novel.

All Chandler’s Marlow books were excellent. My particular favorites are ‘The Little Sister’ and ‘The Long Goodbye’. Both written after the death of his beloved wife, the books were even more downbeat and cynical than his previous books, “You’re not human tonight Marlow.”

I don’t know why ‘The Little Sister’ has never been filmed, possibly because of Chandler’s attitude towards Hollywood and the movie industry, evident throughout the novel.

Also Marlow’s continuing relationship with Anne Riordan (platonic, much to Anne’s disappointment) – “I’ve had too many women to deserve one like you”.

The debate about who was the best movie Marlow, Bogart or Powell is a non-starter for me, there has been no definitive movie Marlow. Except maybe Robert Mitchum. In ‘Farewell My Lovely’ he was way too old for the part, and played it way too dry (the essence of Marlow’s cynicism was irony, not misery).

I’m a big fan of Chandler’s Marlow novels, so I’ll probably never be satisfied with any movie versions. But that’s the way it goes when a favorite book is turned into a movie, the reaction generally is – Bastards! What have they done to my book.

Best wishes

I don't think it's really fair to compare Altman's Marlowe to the book (or Hawk's film) as he is intentionally placed in a modern world of disillusionment in the post-Kennedy/60’s era. What is odd about Gould's character, is his belief in man's integrity in a world that left such things behind long ago. He holds a romantic view of life that is slowly shattered and reacts in kind. The Long Goodbye to me, is a farewell to ethics, trust, kindheartedness, and eventually love. The close of the film signifies this, where he is remorseless and skipping along to a song about a tinsel town (not the theme we have heard throughout the film) and joined the masses, no longer a sucker with a soul.

Hey there, Metry. I love The Little Sister, too. Not only a great Philip Marlowe book, but an extraordinary "Hollywood" novel that rivals Nathaniel West's Day of the Locust and Fitzgerald's Pat Hobby Stories. And it actually was turned into a film with the title changed to MARLOWE and James Garner in the starring role. And, like THE LONG GOODBYE, the film is transferred to present day LA (1969), although it doesn't generally take the shellacking that Altman's film does for this heresy. MARLOWE is a pretty well-thought-of film but I've never cared for it that much. It moves along but is devoid of atmosphere---one thing THE LONG GOODBYE has in abundance. Garner, who's a terrific actor, doesn't seem much like Marlowe. Gould, who couldn't be farther from Chandler's own conception of his hero, seems much more comfortable in the role to me. Check it out again (if you haven't already done so); it's loaded with incredible surprises!

I've seen most of the Marlowe pictures: The Big Sleep (1946), Farewell My Lovely (1945 & 1975), Marlowe (1969), Lady in the lake (1947). My personal favourite actor in the part is Dick Powell. I find Bogart better suited to the cynical Sam Spade. I agree with you, Dewey, Marlowe is a disappointment (still the cinematographer is William H. Daniels! ), but Garner is not bad in the part. It's just that script and direction are week. I have never seen the Altman picture. But, after reading your comments, I will try to see it at the first opportunity.

I discovered the Chandler novels first in French translations. Then, as my English got better I read them in English. I have done a few pilgrimages in 'Chandler country' so to speak. Each time, I went back from Paris on the Eurostar, as we were nearing London, I could see the red-brick buildings of Dulwich College where Raymond studied as a teenager. And, I also went to La Jolla where he lived for many years, though he loathed the place.

For all the Chandler obsessive fans (like me! ), I recommend an excellent volume:
Al Clark: Raymond Chandler in Hollywood (Proteus, London, 1982)
It's full of pictures and offers insight in all the Marlowe films as well as the films scripted by Chandler himself like the delighful Double Indemnity. And there is a hilarious cartoon from the National Lampoon about Altman's Long Goodbye .

Christine, I'll be very much interested in hearing your comments about THE LONG GOODBYE. In so many ways the sadness and the loneliness of this film reminds of Nick Ray. I wonder if you'll agree...

Dewey1960 wrote:In so many ways the sadness and the loneliness of this film reminds of Nick Ray. I wonder if you'll agree...

Absolutely. Bogart's Marlowe is a cynic, a man who trusts no one. That's how he survives. Gould's Marlowe is idealistic, which is why the film becomes a tragedy. His Marlowe, believes in the honor and integrity of the human spirit only to find disappointment. You can link this to several of Ray's works including Rebel Without a Cause, The Lusty Men, In a Lonely Place, or Johnny Guitar. On Dangerous Ground is a reversal of the theme.