The Long Goodbye
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Elliott Gould
Nina Van Pallandt
Sterling Hayden
Henry Gibson
Mark Rydell
Jim Bouton
Leigh Brackett adapted the Chandler book; she, Jules Furthman and William Faulkner scripted Chandler's The Big Sleep [1946]. Herein, the Philip Marlowe character becomes embroiled in a Malibu murder, stolen money, the apparent death of his best friend, and compounded double-cross.
No longer the sardonic idealist, Marlowe has become part Walter Mitty. Elliott Gould keeps a low dramatic profile throughout as a passive catalyst. Nina Van Pallandt makes an American film bow as the wife of dried-up author Sterling Hayden (Dan Blocker was to have been cast, and his passing is tributed in an end title card 'with special remembrance'), whose periodic disappearances include a visit to Henry Gibson's high-priced sanatorium.
Mark Rydell returns to acting after a decade of directing to play a kooky criminal, whose twisted mind runs to bashing in the face of Jo Ann Brody with a soft drink bottle.
(Color) Widescreen. Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1973. Running time: 112 MIN.
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