Farewell, My Lovely (1975)

Director:

Dick Richards

Writers:

David Zelag Goodman (screenplay)
Raymond Chandler (novel)

Release Date:

8 August 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

This, the second adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel, is much closer to the source text than the original - Murder, My Sweet (1944)...

Plot Keywords:

Private Eye | Nightclub | Murder | Convertible | Secret Past

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Robert Mitchum	...	Philip Marlowe
Charlotte Rampling	...	Helen Grayle
John Ireland	...	Det. Lt. Nulty
Sylvia Miles	...	Jessie Halstead Florian
Anthony Zerbe	...	Laird Brunette
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Det. Billy Rolfe
Jack O'Halloran	...	Moose Malloy
Joe Spinell	...	Nick
Sylvester Stallone	...	Jonnie
Kate Murtagh	...	Frances Amthor
John O'Leary	...	Lindsay Marriott
Walter McGinn	...	Tommy Ray
Burton Gilliam	...	Cowboy
Jim Thompson	...	Judge Baxter Wilson Grayle
Jimmy Archer	...	Georgie (as Jimmie Archer)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | Iceland:12 | France:U | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

1024 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

EK

Trivia:

When asked why Philip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) cares about Moose Malloy (Jack O'Halloran), he says, "I don't know. Ever since I saw that movie, King Kong, I've been a sucker for any gorilla that falls in love with a girl." O'Halloran would appear in the King Kong remake, the following year.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the boat captain, Marlowe, and Malloy are negotiating about the boat rental fee, the captain's cigarette suddenly disappears between shots.

Quotes:

Detective #1: We found your card on his body.
Philip Marlowe: They give 'em out with bubblegum.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dallas: Farewell, My Lovely (#14.19)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

I've Heard That Song Before

Chandler Without the CODE

When Dick Powell did his version of this Raymond Chandler classic Philip Marlowe story, he and RKO were laboring under the handicap of the motion picture code. Certain things like prostitution and homosexuality were simply not talked about in those times. Still with the changes that had to be made in the plot a really great version was done and it changed the career of Dick Powell forever.

Now back in those days, Robert Mitchum was getting started and would soon be doing many a noir film for RKO himself. In getting him for this version under the original title of Farewell My Lovely the producers certainly got themselves someone with whom the Philip Marlowe character fit like a glove.

Even with color, this version is remarkably evocative of the Forties style noir film. Charlotte Rampling steps nicely into the well trod path of people like Lauren Bacall and Lizabeth Scott.

For those who don't know the barebones of the story, Philip Marlowe is hired to find Velma Valento by her old gangster boy friend, a giant of a man named Moose Malloy who just finished doing a stretch in prison. Later on a man named Lindsay Marriott hires him to as a bodyguard and he's killed. The two cases are related and the how and why is what moves the plot.

John Ireland another forties veteran of many a noir film plays police lieutenant Nulty and my favorite in the film is Sylvia Miles who is the luckless dipsomaniacal Mrs. Florian.

I do marvel when I see this film at how well the spirit of the forties was captured in this film. Turn off the color on your set and its just like watching a great noir flick from that decade.