The Long Goodbye (1973)
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 111m
Director: Robert Altman
Cast: Elliott Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden
Synopsis:
Marlowe helps his friend to the Mexican border, but soon finds himself in trouble with both the cops and the hoods whose money his friend has purloined. Meanwhile, an alcoholic has-been writer's wife employs him to help find her husband.
Review:
Altman's view of contemporary L.A., including a nod at movie bratdom, is combined with a traditional, chain-smoking, take on the Marlowe character, perhaps slightly more of a bum than usual in Gould's interpretation, as he shambles and mutters his way through the homes of the wealthy and crooked like a cross between Jacques Tati and Mr Magoo ('It's okay by me, lady'). The result offended purists but in fact contains most of the expected characters, including a creepy sanatorium owner (Henry Gibson), flamboyant hood (Mark Rydell), and splendid Malibu gatekeeper who does impressions of the movie stars. In retrospect, this is surely the true midpoint between Hawks's Marlowe and the Coens' Dude in The Big Lebowski; Rydell's character even refers at one point to the Arab sabbath!
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 111m
Director: Robert Altman
Cast: Elliott Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden
Synopsis:
Marlowe helps his friend to the Mexican border, but soon finds himself in trouble with both the cops and the hoods whose money his friend has purloined. Meanwhile, an alcoholic has-been writer's wife employs him to help find her husband.
Review:
Altman's view of contemporary L.A., including a nod at movie bratdom, is combined with a traditional, chain-smoking, take on the Marlowe character, perhaps slightly more of a bum than usual in Gould's interpretation, as he shambles and mutters his way through the homes of the wealthy and crooked like a cross between Jacques Tati and Mr Magoo ('It's okay by me, lady'). The result offended purists but in fact contains most of the expected characters, including a creepy sanatorium owner (Henry Gibson), flamboyant hood (Mark Rydell), and splendid Malibu gatekeeper who does impressions of the movie stars. In retrospect, this is surely the true midpoint between Hawks's Marlowe and the Coens' Dude in The Big Lebowski; Rydell's character even refers at one point to the Arab sabbath!
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 111m
Director: Robert Altman
Cast: Elliott Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden
Synopsis:
Marlowe helps his friend to the Mexican border, but soon finds himself in trouble with both the cops and the hoods whose money his friend has purloined. Meanwhile, an alcoholic has-been writer's wife employs him to help find her husband.
Review:
Altman's view of contemporary L.A., including a nod at movie bratdom, is combined with a traditional, chain-smoking, take on the Marlowe character, perhaps slightly more of a bum than usual in Gould's interpretation, as he shambles and mutters his way through the homes of the wealthy and crooked like a cross between Jacques Tati and Mr Magoo ('It's okay by me, lady'). The result offended purists but in fact contains most of the expected characters, including a creepy sanatorium owner (Henry Gibson), flamboyant hood (Mark Rydell), and splendid Malibu gatekeeper who does impressions of the movie stars. In retrospect, this is surely the true midpoint between Hawks's Marlowe and the Coens' Dude in The Big Lebowski; Rydell's character even refers at one point to the Arab sabbath!