“The Long Goodbye” (1973)
Raymond Chandler’s detective Philip Marlowe, memorably brought to the screen by Humphrey Bogart in “The Big Sleep,” returns in the counter-cultural countenance of “MASH” star Elliott Gould, in director Robert Altman’s whodunit based on Chandler’s 1953 novel.
Written by “The Big Sleep” screenwriter Leigh Brackett and translated to contemporary Los Angeles, Altman’s take on the detective genre, with improvised dialogue and Gould’s paranoia-tinged performance, resulted in a seeming satire of film noir, which pleased some critics, but not those expecting Bogey’s world-weariness.
