The Long Goodbye (film)

This article is about the 1973 Robert Altman film. For the 1982 Hong Kong film, see The Head Hunter (1982 film). For the 2020 album, see The Long Goodbye (Riz Ahmed album).
The Long Goodbye
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Altman
Screenplay byLeigh Brackett
Based onThe Long Goodbye
(1953 novel)
by Raymond Chandler
Produced byJerry Bick
StarringElliott Gould
Nina van Pallandt
Sterling Hayden
CinematographyVilmos Zsigmond
Edited byLou Lombardo
Music byJohn Williams
Production
company
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • March 7, 1973 (1973-03-07)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.7 million[1]
Box office$959,000

The Long Goodbye is a 1973 American neo-noir film directed by Robert Altman, adapted by Leigh Brackett from Raymond Chandler's 1953 novel of the same name. The film stars Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe and features Sterling Hayden, Nina Van Pallandt, Jim Bouton, Mark Rydell, and an early, uncredited appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The story's setting was moved from the 1940s to 1970s Hollywood. The film has been called "a study of a moral and decent man cast adrift in a selfish, self-obsessed society where lives can be thrown away without a backward glance ... and any notions of friendship and loyalty are meaningless."[2]

United Artists released the film on March 7, 1973. It received mixed to positive reviews upon release, but its critical assessment has grown over time.[3] In 2021, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4]

  1. ^ Long Goodbye' Proves a Big Sleeper Here By PAUL GARDNER. New York Times 8 Nov 1973: 59.
  2. ^ O'Brien, Daniel. Robert Altman: Hollywood Survivor. London: B.T. Batsford, 1995. p. 53. ISBN 9780713474817. See also:
    Phillips, Gene C. (2000). Creatures of Darkness: Raymond Chandler, Detective Fiction and Film Noir. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 156 and 265. ISBN 0813121744
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (December 14, 2021). "National Film Registry Adds Return Of The Jedi, Fellowship Of The Ring, Strangers On A Train, Sounder, WALL-E & More". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2021.