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The Long Goodbye (1973)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
7 March 1973 (USA) moreTagline:
Nothing says goodbye like a bullet. morePlot:
Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
1 win moreNewsDesk:
(14 articles)
Patrick Swayze: 1952-2009 (From The Hollywood Interview. 24 September 2009, 6:03 PM, PDT)
Henry Gibson, 1935-2009
(From Cinematical. 17 September 2009, 1:33 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
A Masterwork more (98 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Elliott Gould | ... | Philip Marlowe | |
| Nina Van Pallandt | ... | Eileen Wade (as Nina van Pallandt) | |
| Sterling Hayden | ... | Roger Wade aka Billy Joe Smith | |
| Mark Rydell | ... | Marty Augustine | |
| Henry Gibson | ... | Dr. Verringer | |
| David Arkin | ... | Harry | |
| Jim Bouton | ... | Terry Lennox | |
| Warren Berlinger | ... | Morgan | |
| Jo Ann Brody | ... | Jo Ann Eggenweiler | |
| Stephen Coit | ... | Det. Farmer (as Steve Coit) | |
| Jack Knight | ... | Mabel | |
| Pepe Callahan | ... | Pepe | |
| Vincent Palmieri | ... | Vince (as Vince Palmieri) | |
| Pancho Córdova | ... | Doctor (as Pancho Cordoba) | |
| Enrique Lucero | ... | Jefe |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
112 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
Australia:PG (TV rating) | UK:18 | Canada:A (Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Italy:VM14 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | USA:R | West Germany:16Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond tried to approximate human vision through the post-production technique of exposing the undeveloped negative to additional pure light, which literally dampens blacks and softens intense colors until they become pastel hues. moreGoofs:
Continuity: At the beginning of the film, Philip Marlowe opens the refrigerator to get food for his cat. There are two rows of eggs on the fridge's door, with one egg missing on the lower row. After a cut away scene, Philip reaches for some eggs, but now there are several eggs missing on the lower row. moreSoundtrack:
The Long Goodbye moreFAQ
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The first time I saw this movie was back in the seventies and this was the film that won me over to Robert Altman's great works in the American cinema.
Granted, at the time of the movie's release Raymond Chandler purists naturally didn't appreciate the transformation his knight errant private eye underwent. But nowadays, the viewer must see the film for its great direction, terrific performances, Leigh Brackett's excellent screenplay and the fine cinematography. Not to mention simply the challenge of understanding a truly baffling plot. As in all of Altman's works, this one is peppered with offbeat characters and subtle (and some not-so subtle) situations that positively take you by surprise. As a maverick figure in Hollywood, Altman made sure "iconoclast" was stamped all over this film, it's a true nose-thumbing at every institution that Hollywood reveres; idealistic movie heroes, neat happy-ever-after endings, big budget spectacles, dependable money-making conventions and all around ass-kissing.
But the real treat here is, of course, Elliott Gould, and I don't believe that it's the best thing he's ever done on screen, as many think. He's certainly turned out even better performances than this one throughout the past 3 decades. But yet, in The Long Goodbye, Gould is just so much fun to watch, especially when he's being interrogated by the police or just muttering lines like, "He's got a girl, I got a cat" or "a melon convention" when he gives up trying to get his topless next-door neighbors' attention.
An interesting thing to note at the end of the film - we see the back shot of Marlowe walking away and that to me, was the private eye's closing shot, but then we have a front shot of Elliott Gould who begins playing his harmonica and then continues on up the road doing his little number, dancing a jig, etc. And to me that shows where Marlowe left off and where Gould takes over. So they weren't one and the same after all. Once again, a statement to those who would be too quick to take the Marlowe myth seriously.
The Long Goodbye is vintage Altman, a masterwork to be savoured forever.