The Long Goodbye (1973)

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

Leigh Brackett (screenplay)
Raymond Chandler (novel)

Release Date:

7 March 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller | Mystery

Tagline:

Nothing says goodbye like a bullet.

Plot:

Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Alcoholic | Suicide | Murder | Arrest

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Elliott Gould	...	Philip Marlowe
Nina Van Pallandt	...	Eileen Wade (as Nina van Pallandt)
Sterling Hayden	...	Roger Wade / 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	...	Detective 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
Rutanya Alda	...	Rutanya Sweet
Tammy Shaw	...	Dancer
Jack Riley	...	Riley
Ken Sansom	...	Colony Guard
Jerry Jones	...	Detective Green
John S. Davies	...	Det. Dayton
Rodney Moss	...	Supermarket Clerk
Sybil Scotford	...	Real Estate Lady
Herb Kerns	...	Herbie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Carradine	...	Dave aka Socrates (uncredited)
Johnnie Davis	...	Vocalist - Hooray for Hollywood (uncredited) (archive sound)
Danny Goldman	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Carl Gottlieb	...	Wade Party Guest (uncredited)
Tracy Harris	...	Detective (uncredited)
Ned Humphreys	...	Store Clerk (uncredited)
Leslie McRay	...	Lucille (uncredited)
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Hood in Augustine's Office (uncredited)
Leslie Simms	...	Olive (uncredited)
George Wyner	...	Cop at Beach (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Altman

Writing credits
Leigh Brackett		(screenplay)
Raymond Chandler		(novel "The Long Goodbye")

Produced by
Jerry Bick	....	producer
Robert Eggenweiler	....	associate producer
Elliott Kastner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
John Williams

Cinematography by
Vilmos Zsigmond		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Lou Lombardo

Costume Design by
Kent James		(costumes: men) (uncredited)
Marjorie Wahl		(costumes: women) (uncredited)

Makeup Department
Bill Miller	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alan Rudolph	....	second assistant director
Tommy Thompson	....	assistant director

Art Department
Sidney H. Greenwood	....	property master (as Sydney Greenwood)

Sound Department
John Speak	....	sound engineer (as John V. Speak)
Dick Vorisek	....	dubbing mixer (as Richard J. Vorisek)

Stunts
Jerry Brutsche	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Cooper	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Hubie Kerns	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Kenneth Adams	....	key grip (as Ken Adams)
Randy Glass	....	electrical gaffer
Joseph M. Wilcots	....	camera operator (as Joe Wilcots)
Earl L. Clark	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Harry Rez	....	dolly grip (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Scott Conrad	....	assistant film editor
Tony Lombardo	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Jack Sheldon	....	musician: trumpet (uncredited)

Other crew
Adell Aldrich	....	script supervisor (as Adele Bravos)
Jean D'Oncieu	....	production assistant

Thanks
Dan Blocker	....	with special remembrance for

Production Companies

• E-K-Corporation
• Lion's Gate Films

Distributors

• United Artists (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1973) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• United Artists Films (1974) (Finland) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1977) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Emerald (2012) (Argentina) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (????) (worldwide) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (????) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | UK:18 | Canada:A (Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Italy:VM14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

9000 West Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, California, USA

Company:

E-K-Corporation

Trivia:

Originally released in Los Angeles with a poster campaign more appropriate to James Bond movies, or the Flint spoof series, the film made little impact in the City of Angels. A different advertising campaign was designed for its New York release, where it was a considerable success.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the scene where Marlowe is chasing Mrs. Wade in her top-down Mercedes 450 SL convertible, the car goes from having head rests to having no head rests in various shots.

Quotes:

Roger Wade aka Billy Joe Smith:What'll you have?
Philip Marlowe:What are you drinking?
Roger Wade aka Billy Joe Smith:What I'm drinking is called Aquavit.
Philip Marlowe:I'm drinking what you're drinking.
Roger Wade aka Billy Joe Smith:Well God bless you. I like to hear that. People these days go, "Oh, I want a little of this. Oh, and a little of that and a twist of lemmon." Balls!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2005)

Soundtrack:

Hooray for Hollywood

Pivotal Seventies Masterpiece

Altman was on a roll by 1973 when he chose to film Leigh Brackett's screenplay of Raymond Chandler's "The Long Goodbye", which is considered his last great novel. But Altman decided to transmogrify the novel's serious hard-nosed private eye, Philip Marlowe into a bumbling "Rip Van Winkle" type character who has figuratively been asleep for the last two decades and has missed all the psychedelia of the Sixties and the dark cloud descended in the Seventies. And who better to play such a role, than the great Elliot Gould? Even though the novel's tone and time period have been changed, the highly-complex plot remains, and due attention must be paid.

One of the film's greatest strengths, is the cinematography by the great Hungarian DP, Vilmos Zsigmond. He has worked with Altman on "McCabe & Mrs Miller" (1971) and "Images" (1972) and on the former, he used a technique known as "flashing", this was an unpredictable method for eliminating contrast from the negative to give a pastel look to the show and to bring out subtle shadows in the nighttime scenes by exposing the already-exposed negative to more light in the lab during processing. But on "McCabe", it was used in moderation, but on "The Long Goodbye", he, Altman and Skip Nicholson at Technicolor all worked together to more or less use varying degrees of flashing for the WHOLE picture! It was a big risk, but it paid off - the movie has a look all of it's own. The camera constantly keeps moving in this film and gives a the viewer a great sense of voyeurism and keeps you studying the frame for details. This film is a visual marvel, in my opinion.

Altman excelled himself here, he took risks and put all he could into the film, and I think that "The Long Goodbye" can now be seen as a pivotal Seventies masterpiece - though those words may be hard to swallow for some people.

Thanks for reading.