MovieChat Forums > Farewell, My Lovely (1975) Discussion > Bitter Disappointment

Bitter Disappointment

posted 18 years ago by Garyinnes164
9 replies | jump to latest

Hello All,

The general tone of this board seems to be universally positive, so I'll have to be the sole turd in the punch-bowl:

I scrambled to the theatre in 1975 during the first week of release to
catch this film. I was already a fan of both Mitchum & Marlowe (own all the
novels & short stories), and my expectations were stratospheric. At last,
I thought---the perfect match of player & material---a celluloid landmark.

Hard to describe the disillusion that set-in not half-way through. Mine
was one of the notorious early prints with a scene where Mitchum &
Rampling are vainly suppressing giggles over the dialogue (the studio was
not entirely successful in recalling these---at least one unedited print is still circulating on broadcast TV. How did the director & producer [[the over-hyped Bruckheimer]] allow this fiasco?)

Well, I swallowed hard and gripped the seat tighter . . . and tighter . . . telling myself that Mitchum's early "low-key"
persona would be "energized"
somewhat as we neared the climax---as Marlowe would have to rouse himself to outwit & survive a cabal of psychotics---but it didn't happen. This detective needed just a touch---A DROP---of the spring-steel evil Mitchum displayed in "Cape Fear." (DeNiro be damned!) Mitchum's famous crack: "Just paint my eyes on my eyelids. man, and I'll sleepwalk through it", was never more apt than for this "performance."

Ah . . . what might have been . . . if he'd just given a damn . . . if ANYBODY had cared!

It's nice of Mr. O'Halloran to chat with us, but on screen he simply didn't project the smoldering menace of Mike Mazurki in "Murder, My Sweet."

Now I only watch the Dick Powell version; it has true "noir" atmosphere,
though it's hard to visualize him handling a physical situation, such as
taking a knife away from a mouthy Mexican houseboy, as Marlowe does in
"Long Goodbye." BTW, I detest the Robert Altman/Elliot Gould travesty; just for that film, Gould richly
deserves to be ending his career working cheesy soap operas.

When you can, catch James Garner's "Marlowe" (based on "Little Sister"); not a great performance, but an acceptable job within the actor's limits.
Same comment applies to Robert Montgomery in "Lady In The Lake."

Gary In Arizona

"Gotta hang-up now; a rat is gnawing on my foot." Raymond Chandler

[–] Dudley_S 17 years ago

Gary --

There's a lot I like about 1975's "Farewell, My Lovely" -- the location work, for example, and the interweaving of DiMaggio's hitting streak all through the summer and how it comes to an end just as autumn's approaching (and along with it, war) -- but there's a great deal I still find myself preferring about "Murder My Sweet" (aside from the asinine, sappy ending someone felt obliged to tack on).

I'm a great Mitchum fan, and I admire his approach to Marlowe in this film, simply because he is playing him older (than the perennial 39 that Chandler had Marlowe stalled on for years) and in keeping with that sense of summer's fullness sliding into the disenchantment of autumn, which seems to permeate this film like the haze of cigarette smoke in a boulevard lounge. Yet I find myself still drawn to Powell's characterization as closer to what Chandler had in mind . . . far closer, as a matter of fact. (The guy I'd love to have seen play Marlowe was William Holden. I think he'd have nailed it!)

You're right, I think, about Mazurki's "smoldering menace" and yet I find I still have to give the nod to O'Halloran: a more nuanced portrayal, once again more in line (my opinion) with how Chandler saw him.

Overall, from me, an 8.5 out of 10, I think. Even in many of the ways it departs from the book, I see touches of Chandler's work brought in: an element from his short story, "Try The Girl," here, say, a touch from "The Man Who Liked Dogs" there; Chandler cannibalized himself, after all, so the writer/director/producer would have been staying true enough to the source material there!

A few thoughts, nothing more . . .

Regards,
Dud

[–] ClassicAndForeignFilmLover 17 years ago

Garyinnes164,
I haven´t seen Mitchum in ¨Farewell, My Lovely nor ¨Murder, My Sweet¨ even though I´ve seen the latter being announced on TCM, I´ll keep an eye for it. You should read the messages posted by oversplayer in the thread ¨'Murder My Sweet' On TCM 7/8/06.¨ He also thinks ¨Murder My Sweet¨ is far superior than Farewll. He makes interesting comments.

" I hate you so much I think I'm going to die from it."

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pedro4300 15 years ago

The OP writes- "BTW, I detest the Robert Altman/Elliot Gould travesty"
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You my friend are seriously the biggest moron I have encountered here. Easily the biggest and most clueless shellhead here. It totally makes sense as to why you also didn't like this movie. And explaining why Long Goodbye is a masterpiece would be a massive waste of time on my part.
Talk about clueless!

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pedro4300 15 years ago

Long Goodbye was a deconstruction and updated to the times. I mean really, who wants to make a friggen carbon copy? What Altman and Gould did with Goodbye was REVOLUTIONARY! Gould portrayed him as if he has been asleep since the 40's and so when he wakes up at the start of the film, he's like rip van winkle! It's pretty clear as the movie progresses he's shaking off the cobwebs so that by the end of the film when that brutal scene by the lake occurs, he's fully become Marlowe. But I really shouldn't need to explain this. And I hate doing this, but you just didn't get it. And if you read the Chandler books, you would also note that Gould was pretty faithful with the personality. So before anyone goes bashing Altman's genius movie and easily the best and most entertaining of all Chandler's version, do the homework. Really. People should not wear their ignorance so proudly on their sleeves and look closer and stop these dismissive critiques.

[–] Gloede_The_Saint 15 years ago

I actually prefer this to Murder My Sweet (though not by much). The 70's version was darker IMO and Mitchum did a far better job than Dick Powell.

Somebody here has been drinking and I'm sad to say it ain't me - Allan Francis Doyle

[–] Noir-It-All 15 years ago

I absolutely adored Dick Powell in Murder My Sweet. I liked his love interest, Mazurki and Nolte. But, I did enjoy Farewell, My Lovely.

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

[–] Johalloran-1 15 years ago

I am sorry you didn't care for our version of the Chandler book. But you seem to be in a very small margin. For the film is look at as a classic.

Regards

Jack O'Halloran