The Long Goodbye (1973): Post-Marlowe Noir
Robert Altman’s 'The Long Goodbye' is more than just a detective story. This film has something to say about the 1970’s.
My favourite thing about The Long Goodbye is its absurdly mellow opening sequence. More of a prologue than part of act one, a short blast of Hooray for Hollywood tells us we’re in California long before the camera settles on Detective Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould).
We see a fully dressed man, asleep with the lights on, in a ratty unmade bed that also contains a dirty dinner plate and a used napkin.
While opening a film in this manner may seem peculiar to some, Marlowe’s seemingly mundane late night routine is actually a brilliant expository device. This subtle tour of his apartment provides clues about Marlowe’s socio-economic status, conveys the story’s time and place, and gives us a provocative glimpse of his free-spirited neo-hippie female neighbours.
