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Elliott Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Henry Gibson, Mark Rydell ... see more see more... , Jim Bouton , Rutanya Alda , David Arkin , Warren Berlinger , Jo Ann Brody , Pepe Callahan , Steve Coit , Eddie Constantine , Pancho Cordoba , Danny Goldman , Enrique Lucero , Helen Mirren , Vincent Palmieri , Jack Riley , Ken Sansom , Leslie Simms , David Carradine , Jerry Jones , Dave King , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Herb Kerns , Sybil Scotford , John S. Davies , Jack Knight

"It's OK with me...." Applying his deconstructive eye to the "film noir" tradition, Robert Altman updated Raymond Chandler in his 1973 version of Chandler's novel, The Long Goodbye. Smart-aleck, cat-l... read more read more...oving private eye Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) is certain that his friend Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton) isn't a wife-killer, even after the cops throw Marlowe in jail for not cooperating with their investigation into Lennox's subsequent disappearance. Once he gets out of jail, Marlowe starts to conduct his own search when he discovers that mysterious blonde Eileen Wade (Nina Van Pallandt), who hired him to find her alcoholic novelist husband Roger (Sterling Hayden), lives on the same Malibu street as the absent Lennox and his deceased spouse. As numerous variations on the title song play in unexpected places, Marlowe encounters a shady doctor (Henry Gibson), a bottle-wielding gangster (director Mark Rydell), and a guard aping Barbara Stanwyck (among other stars), before heading to Mexico to stumble onto the truth once and for all. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

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88% liked it

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24 critics

R, 1 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: Robert Altman

Release Date: March 7, 1973

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DVD Release Date: September 17, 2002

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Flixster Reviews (637)

  • axadntpron
    April 6, 2012
    axadntpron
    Altman's Neo-Noir is a very enjoyable film. It takes Philip Marlowe and places him right in the hedonism of the 1970s. Played excellently by Elliot Gould, our wise-cracking P.I. is lost in this new surrounding. The people have changed, animals loathe him, and the simple favors he... read more does for friends only serves to get him entangled in the affairs of nefarious people. The story isn't very intriguing, but Altman's love of Noir really shines through. If anything, it is worth seeing an aged, grizzled Sterling Hayden and a young and frighteningly robust Arnold Schwarzenegger.
  • fb1664868775
    October 27, 2011
    fb1664868775
    Altman breaks apart the "noir" genre and Gould takes the character of Phillip Marlowe in a total different direction from the classic Hawks/Bogart version. This is one of my favorites.
  • stevenecarrier
    May 4, 2011
    stevenecarrier
    I promise you have never seen a film quite like Robert Altman's 70s update of the iconic 40s gumshoe detective Phillip Marlowe. Altman crafts a dazzling, dizzying, kaleidoscopic adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel. The film is a very decided departure from the norms of the fil... read morem noir and Candler universe but it's hard to deny the lasting impact the film has had. Many have tried to copy the almost magical level of style, mystery and cool attitude "The Long Goodbye" creates, but none have ever come close to repeating it. Elliott Gould makes for an indelible Marlowe and is backed by a great supporting cast in Nina Van Pallandt and Sterling Hayden and many others. "The Long Goodbye" is one of those genre changing crime films that sits comfortably next to "Breathless" and "Pulp Fiction." It's a unique experience.
  • jennifxu
    April 28, 2011
    jennifxu
    I think the period setting and the 70s values really tied The Long Goodbye together. This is one of the tautest films Altman has ever directed.
  • groaningbitch
    January 29, 2011
    groaningbitch
    70s adaptation of raymond chandler's the long goodbye is through a rip van winkln approach, and in my opinion, that unique anachronism is what makes ellott gould's marlowe surpass robert mitchum's in 1970s, which is not a decade for philip marlowe to exist, even if he lives in th... read moree 70s, he would stumble his ways practicing his vigilantism with a boyish awkwardness.

    philip marlowe was created by raymond chandler in 1939 as the big sleep was published then became a hit...the most effectively concise way to depict marlowe would be: a cowboy performs his honorable chivalries in metropolitan surroundings because america no longer has any old-western border-town for him, thus he's a misfit, loner and his ideals are no longer adequate for such a chaotic period (1930s)...a cowboy who loses his playfield,,,marlowe's narratives convey great amount of anger, discontentment and disillusionments but as you read closer into his words, you would find a much more conservative man under the disguise of those offensive sasses.

    then it's the 70s, the saga of philip marlowe has become an item of nostalgia, and in 30s or 40s, marlowe is the vigilante folk-hero before the infantilized/junvenilized masked superheros took over to reign pop culture, and marlowe was literally the batman to the audience before comic books (or graphic novels) started to be taken more seriously today. in the anti-establishment 70s, marlowe is merely a product to be reminded of the good old days, and vigilante heros are masked clowns to entertain the kids (the first batman was released in 60s),..now marlowe is arranged in the time of post-vietnam america when vigilantism is obsolete. so why not laying bare such anachronic alienation?

    1970s marlowe is a mumbling dude who would take troubles finding a particular brand of cat food for his pet, a man who views his cat as important as a girlfriend. and he's settled in an apartment opposite the residence of a bunch of naked yoga-loving chics who do nothing but get their clothes off in meditation. marlowe's client this time is a writer who resembles ernest hemingway, played the aged but still hunky sterling hayden who did look hemingway-esque with that big beard. of course, the raymond-chandler formula: marlowe is to be deceived and doublecrossed, then serve the justice right in his own ways, and in the end, he's all left alone again in a state of unrequited love. a knight in his dirty armour.

    1970s movie the good goodbye is a reflexive commentary that the past (1930s) makes on the present (1970s). in other words, it shows how 1930s marlowe gazes upon the 70s america or how 70s views 30s..(vice versa)...for example, sterling hayden's writer is trapped in alcholism and commits suicide. (70s evaluates hemingway as a wrecked suicidal drinker)..another example would be the janitor who likes to impersonate the voices of old movies: barbara stanwyck in double indemnity and james stewart in vertigo, and no one responds to him except marlowe..and in the last scene, marlowe walks past the femme fatale without any lingering infatuation toward her, right after he bids his long-goodbye to his scoundrel friend with a bullet. and strangely the set of mexican forests resembles 1949 noir "the third man" in which the woman walks past the awaiting man unappreciatively.

    what the third man tries to deliver is a reluctance from europe toward american heroism. but in the long good-bye, it stands for the opposite: old american vigilantism shows its contempts over the greed of new time. just read into the last dialgoue marlowe has with his scoundrel friend who tries to bribes off marlowe's friendship with great money and comments "no one would care those things as you do, marlowe..gee, you're a born loser who sticks to those ideals" then marlowe shots him as a demonstration of his violent disapproval. at last, marlowe kills his stinky friend and leaves the duplicious adulteress then returns to his world...alone, in his eternal wanderings within the urban wasteland.

    except the fun facts like young arnold was in it as the sidekick of the gangster leader who smashes a glass-bottle of coke over the face of his mistress, the most engrossing attribute of the movie would be its theme song: the long goodbye, which is ubiquitously heard in the movie with vigorously self-indulgent rejoices, and all the music is by john williams who is also the composer of several hitchcock flicks since hitchcock fired bernard herrman and substitutes williams as the composer for his "torn curtain"...

    (ps) for anyone who's interested in reading chandler's original novel:
    on the contrary, chandler's long-goodbye is a tribute from hard-boiled novel to f scott fitzgerald's the great gatsby. the movie is completely different from the book..the novel is the senile chandler's reminiscence of the jazz age and the gatsby-esque american-dreamer...it's a hard-boiled version of the great gatsby as if raymond chandler was writing a sequel for the great gatsby under the assumption: if gatsby didn't get killed and stayed alive, how he would be like?
  • pier007
    July 6, 2010
    pier007
    I must admit I was doubtful about Altman adapting Chandler, and even more about elliot Gould playing Marlowe, but damn, I was so wrong. The picture is vivid, smart and colourful in contraposition to it's dark story of betrayal and murder. No wonder it has the big sleep's same scr... read moreeenwriter Leigh Brackett. Marlowe appears here as a man out of time, a walking anacronism, a bit more unstable and more pathetic than ever before. But don't get me wrong, that's the biggest strength, it's what holds the rest and gives a new breath of air to the whole genre.
  • FilmFanatik
    February 22, 2010
    FilmFanatik
    Fantastic flick. I'm a huge Elliot Gould fan and I love Robert Altman, and this is one of the coolest stories I've seen them do together.
  • SirPant
    September 29, 2009
    SirPant
    I love Gould's Marlowe, this is probably the coolest he's ever been! Sterling Hayden & Mark Rydell also do great in supporting roles in what is one of my favourite films ever!
  • DrZeek
    June 8, 2009
    DrZeek
    Philip Marlowe: Nobody cares but me.
    Terry Lennox: Well that's you, Marlowe. You'll never learn, you're a born loser.
    Philip Marlowe: Yeah, I even lost my cat.

    An ingenious deconstruction of the noir detective. Made and set in the contemporary 1970s within a washed out Los Ange... read moreles, director Robert Altman places switches Bogart with Elliot Gould to fill the shoes of author Raymond Chandler's noir anti-hero Philip Marlowe.

    The story, if it matters, involves the seemingly drifter like version of the more effective 50s version of P.I. Philip Marlowe getting caught up in a web of plots involving the murder of his friend, the disappearance of an author, and some missing money. These are all elements that one does not to be too concerned with.

    The real joy is watching Gould. The tone of this film has him perfectly set up as a foil for the genre itself. This is very much a 70s noir, but everything about the Marlowe character is much more subdued than he would be, were he still in the 40s/50s. He may still be clever and underplaying his strengths, but many things do not go his way. As he strolls in and out of each scene, lighting up a cigarette every time, women don't immediately fall for him, business is terrible, and he even has troubles pleasing his own cat.

    There is solid work from the supporting cast as well, including Sterling Hayden as an alcoholic author and a wordless small role from the governator Schwarzenegger.

    Roger Wade aka Billy Joe Smith: Do you ever think about suicide, Marlboro?
    Philip Marlowe: Me, I don't believe in it.

    The look and feel of this film is absolutely wonderful as well. LA looks drab, as much of the tone sets out to give you a satire of the noir genre, it also provides a satirical look at LA culture. Add to that the score/main theme from John Williams and Johnny Mercer, who's title song runs throughout in various form.

    Det. Green: My, my, you are a pretty asshole.
    Philip Marlowe: Yeah, my mother always tells me that.

    Finally, if this hasn't been clear, the film is frequently funny. Mainly due to Gould's performance and dialog. The way this film moves along, establishing a number of nefarious characters and actually providing some good tension, is easily balanced by how hilarious Marlowe's character reacts to these various situations. This film certainly isn't an all out parody, its just smartly handled at going against the grain.

    Roger Wade aka Billy Joe Smith: I tell you what we're gonna do, Marlboro. You're gonna take that goddamn J.C. Penney tie off and we're gonna have an old fashioned man to man drinking party.
    Philip Marlowe: Well, that's okay but I'm not taking off the tie.
  • tsigur
    June 8, 2008
    tsigur
    Like a lot of Altman's stuff, it lags in parts, but overall the performances save the day. Especially Elliott Gould, who is fucking phenomenal and I also enjoyed Sterling Hayden as well. And hands down, there is absolutely nothing that Vilmos can't make look amazing. Take it from... read more me, because I saw Jersey Girl.

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Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

It tries to be all genre and no story, and it almost works. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

[Altman] attempts the impossible and pulls it off. Full Review

Robert Roten
February 4, 2010
Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope

The look, the unconventional cast and the unconventional story make this a unique film, one of Altman's best. Full Review

Rossiter Drake
January 11, 2009
Rossiter Drake, San Francisco Examiner

Robert Altman's labyrinthine take on the Raymond Chandler classic is noir unburdened by a straight narrative - it's a triumph of atmosphere and attitude, a swiftly unfolding whodunit punctuated by sub... Full Review

Andrew Wright
July 11, 2007
Andrew Wright, The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Everywhere you look, there's something delightfully weird going on ... Altman and company fashion a state of slouching, freeform Zen that no one else has ever really duplicated. Full Review

Shawn Levy
June 15, 2007
Shawn Levy, Oregonian

When he was very near the top of his early peak, [Robert] Altman did the darnedest thing and made a private-eye movie -- or maybe a parody of a private-eye movie; it's hard to say. And he may never ha... Full Review

Eric Henderson
April 18, 2007
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine

Simultaneously an act of revisionism as well as a parody of then-revitalizing neo-noir. Full Review

Dan Fienberg
September 13, 2005
Dan Fienberg, Zap2it.com

The reluctant and satirical mystery is one of the great Los Angeles movies and makes a great compliment to, say, The Big Lebowski.

Nick Schager
June 30, 2005
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

Droll, cunning and magnificently woozy. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
January 9, 2005
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

More a film about friendship and betrayal than murder. Full Review

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The Long Goodbye Trivia

  • In which film does the main character NOT die at the end?  Answer »
  • What does Philip Marlowe go to the store in search of at the beginning of The Long Goodbye?  Answer »
  • What animal does Elliott Gould live with in The Long Goodbye?  Answer »
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger played a deaf and mute hit-man for the mob in which 1973 film?  Answer »
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