IMDb > The Long Goodbye (1973)
The Long Goodbye
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The Long Goodbye (1973) More at IMDbPro »

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The Long Goodbye (1973) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   5,872 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Raymond Chandler (novel)
Leigh Brackett (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Long Goodbye on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
7 March 1973 (USA) more
Tagline:
Nothing says goodbye like a bullet. more
Plot:
Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
1 win more
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
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Additional Details

Runtime:
112 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This was Nina Van Pallandt's first English-language film. more
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. more
Quotes:
Det. Dayton: Here he is, Lieutenant, a real cutie pie. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Big Lebowski (1998) more
Soundtrack:
Hooray for Hollywood more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
22 out of 29 people found the following comment useful.
A Masterwork, 26 January 2000
Author: Ann-50 from France

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.

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Message Boards

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This movie is a joke avadhani
Criterion NiceGuyEddie75
What is Roger Wade drinking? Maxwell_Rollington
question about the Doctor hairylime
Why does she hire Marlowe? thegreenparrot
Sterling Hayden.. tidypainter
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