Elliott Gould in Robert Altman’s THE LONG GOODBYE (1973)
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LOST IN THE ARTHOUSE is a monthly series hosted by Arkadin co-owner Keith Watson that takes you to hidden corners of filmdom far from Hollywood. From must-see classics to obscurities waiting to be discovered, these films stand at cinema’s bleeding edge.
“The Long Goodbye is not just classic Altman, classic neo-Noir, and classic satire, it’s one of the best and most underrated films of the 1970s.” – Edge Media Network
A wonderfully idiosyncratic (and very, very ’70s) riff on Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled detective novels, The Long Goodbye finds Robert Altman at his loosest and loveliest. Who but Altman would have thought to cast Elliott Gould as Chandler’s wisecracking, hard-drinking private eye Phillip Marlowe—a role previously defined by Humphrey Bogart—refashioning him as a sardonic, neurotic, mumbling cat dad wandering through the licentious, hedonistic world of the 1970s. After helping out an old friend, Marlowe is drawn into a labyrinthine investigation involving murder, loan sharks, a shady detox center, and a missing novelist played to grizzled perfection by Sterling Hayden. With each twist of the plot and every new variation on John Williams’ omnipresent title tune, The Long Goodbye exposes the darkness lurking beneath L.A.’s sun-splashed surface. Altman’s revisionist noir was not a hit upon release but has aged like a fine California Cab, appearing now as one of the quintessential New Hollywood films—shaggy, funny, and ultimately haunting.
“The Long Goodbye is not just classic Altman, classic neo-Noir, and classic satire, it’s one of the best and most underrated films of the 1970s.” – Edge Media Network
A wonderfully idiosyncratic (and very, very ’70s) riff on Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled detective novels, The Long Goodbye finds Robert Altman at his loosest and loveliest. Who but Altman would have thought to cast Elliott Gould as Chandler’s wisecracking, hard-drinking private eye Phillip Marlowe—a role previously defined by Humphrey Bogart—refashioning him as a sardonic, neurotic, mumbling cat dad wandering through the licentious, hedonistic world of the 1970s. After helping out an old friend, Marlowe is drawn into a labyrinthine investigation involving murder, loan sharks, a shady detox center, and a missing novelist played to grizzled perfection by Sterling Hayden. With each twist of the plot and every new variation on John Williams’ omnipresent title tune, The Long Goodbye exposes the darkness lurking beneath L.A.’s sun-splashed surface. Altman’s revisionist noir was not a hit upon release but has aged like a fine California Cab, appearing now as one of the quintessential New Hollywood films—shaggy, funny, and ultimately haunting.
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