#Philip Marlowe

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

A Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, 1973)

[hellostarrynightblr]

favourite couples in classic movies

Philip Marlowe and Vivian Sternwood Rutledge (The Big Sleep, 1946)

[mametupa]

[watchmorecinema]

The Long Goodbye is a fantastic deconstruction of the noir film, and it helped me finally click into place what noir really is.

The hardboiled detective that is cynical as hell is only that way because he's the last man alive with any decency or humanity. The other people he interacts with during the case, or perhaps at all, don't follow any code. They lie, cheat, steal and do anything and everything to enrich themselves regardless of the cost of others. That's why he's so tired all the time: doing the right thing is exhausting if you know you're only going to be punished for it.

Philip Marlowe in this movie exemplifies that fully. He gives a friend a ride to Mexico, and the next day police are at his door asking questions. Do they simply respect his right to be silent? No, they assault him and imprison him until he talks (he never does, but they let him out anyways when they don't need his testimony anymore). Gangsters are after him for money he doesn't have and had no idea even existed. Everyone lies to him, abuses him or just uses him as a plaything.

What does he do in return? Stay honest and loyal at every turn. He helps his friends, he listens to people that beg him for help. At one point he notices a low level gang member is tailing him. His response is to give him advice on how to better stay hidden, and even tells him where he's going in case he gets lost on the way. He's messing with him, but he's also just straightforwardly helping a person that is actively trying to harm him.

The movie begins with Marlowe trying to feed his cat. His cat wants only one brand of cat food, and he doesn't have it. The store doesn't have it either, so he tries to put other food into an empty can and pretend it's the same. The cat scratches him for his deception and leaves. The cat has the same moral code as Marlowe, the difference being that cats are proud and Marlowe is a complete and utter loser. He's a cat in a world of vicious dogs, including multiple scenes where he is literally chased by a dog.

Most other noir films, especially before this one, doesn't have the hardboiled detective be quite so pathetic. That archetype was created for the 40's and 50's. This film takes Marlowe to the 70's, where he's a man out of time. The world has moved on without him, and his only response is to rage against this change. For Marlowe, that means trying to put on a happy face and uphold his own values no matter what anyone else thinks.

I really thought this was going to be a fun murder mystery (and it still is, the plot is fantastic here) but it's actually a great character study of not just Philip Marlowe but noir protagonists as a whole. Pretty amazing film.

[athenasdragon]

I cannot stop thinking about a theoretical adaptation of The Long Goodbye where everything is basically the same until Terry comes back at the end but instead of the plastic surgery to change his facial structure/ethnicity she’s had a sex change and accompanying plastic surgery. I just feel like it plays SO WELL with the themes, also I want the moment of Marlowe’s brain shutting down as he realizes who this hot woman is and then his entire relationship with them clicks into place

[charlemane]

philip marlowe is like. he's bisexual. but he's too homophobic to be in a relationship with a man. and he's also too misogynistic to be in a relationship with a woman. you see where this is getting him

[strathshepard]

The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, 1973)

[jawbonejoe]

I was trying to think of Philip Marlowe in a modern context and immediately I went ‘his credit score atrocious…’

[pulpsandcomics2]

Trouble Is My Business by Raymond Chandler (Pocket Book, 1957)

[driveintheaterofthemind]

Vintage Poster - The Big Sleep

Art by Richard Amsel

United Artists (1978)

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

A Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, 1973)

[lionofchaeronea]

Reading The Little Sister, the fifth in Raymond Chandler's famed series of hard-boiled crime novels starring the ever-snarky P.I. Philip Marlowe. You know, for someone who made his name by digging into the grimiest, seamiest aspects of human nature, Chandler could also be funny as all hell. (Four words: Marlowe vs. bluebottle fly.)

[mametupa]

[fullcolorfright]

Back in January I was exclusively reading 1940s detective novels

[dirtyriver]

"I'm a loner! I go my way by myself! Solitude suits me! I want to be alone!"

"The Loner" in Archie Giant Series #227–The World of Jughead, October 1974

"I'm a lone wolf, unmarried, getting middle-aged, and not rich. I've been in jail more than once and I don't do divorce business."

Philip Marlowe in The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler