Elliott Gould Miscast


The plot of this movie was interesting, but Elliott Gould was horribly miscast. I'm not sure what Altman was thinking when he had EG in mind for Phillip Marlow. Marlow was overly talkative, pouting, and just plain not a tough guy. Chasing that blonde chick like a love lorn puppy, that's NOT Marlow.

Gould's chain smoking in the movie seem to say "See? See! I'm a tough private eye, not a jeweler from the Diamond District." It was almost a parody of Marlow. And Gould's accent sounds like a 45 of Woody Allen played at 33 1/3. It completely took me out of his character. Setting Phillip Marlow in the 1970s was a mistake anyway. It could have been more like Chinatown with a different Marlow and a 1946 setting instead, especially without the 1970s dialog and sentiment.

I like Elliott Gould a lot, but this was not his role. But then Elliot Gould has always been the 1970's version of Nicholas Cage to me: Good actor, love watching him in comedies, but I never, ever "buy" him as an action hero or romantic lead, in spite of consistently insisting on accepting roles as such.

reply

At first I thought you just being a "troll," trying to illicit attention in regards to a role that is widely considered to be one of Gould's best.

Then I thought you were being ironic, kind of a satirical post lampooning Gould's portrayal of an out of place Marlowe.

Then I thought I would check you post history, and I think I see where you are coming from. It seems that you missed the whole point (and if you want, I can explain why i think you missed the point of Cuaron's Children of Men based on a review).

Robert Altman was a man who aimed to defy conventions, and he decided to flip both noir storytelling and the character of Marlowe on their heads with The Long Goodbye. The opening shot of the movie tells it all. Marlowe is asleep, and he has been since the 50's (metaphorically speaking of course). He wakes up in the 70's, a different time and place, and he's taken for a ride by "friend," by taking him for a ride to Mexico.

You said it yourself. "It was almost a parody of Marlow." That was the point.

"Marlow was overly talkative, pouting, and just plain not a tough guy. Chasing that blonde chick like a love lorn puppy, that's NOT Marlow." To be more specific, that is not Chandler's Marlowe. What it is Altman's Marlowe.

If you really want to, get your hands on the DVD for this movie, and watch the featurette "Rip Van Marlowe." That would explain it all much better than I can.

reply

Y'know what, I must have missed the point. I missed the first twenty minutes of The Long Goodbye. Thanks for straightening me out. With that said, I still don't like the movie. I was never much of an Altman fan anyway.

I guess I'm not ironic enough. I don't consider that a bad thing, necessarily.

reply

Hmmm, fair enough. the first act does set up the "clueless" marlowe. and not being a fan of altman makes a big difference, as he had a rather unique style and vision.

reply

Wait a minute - Chandler's Marlowe is generally clueless and is not a tough guy. His wisecracking (which he uses to cover his vulnerability) invariably gets him in trouble, in fact. He never really 'solves' a mystery through his cunning. Usually Marlowe muddles through and never has all the necessary information. He's over his head most of the time. If anything I think Gould's Marlowe is closer to the real thing than anybody else's characterization.

reply

"If anything I think Gould's Marlowe is closer to the real thing than anybody else's characterization."

Bingo! Kudos! I agree with you.
I just wanted to ask OP if s/he ever read Chandler (I suspect NOT) since s/he claims, "This is not Marlow (sic!)."

vivaLuis


http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000007/thread/65799678

reply

Elliott Gould was horribly miscast
Are you on drugs?

Setting Phillip Marlow in the 1970s was a mistake anyway.
What a tragedy that Robert Altman and Leigh Brackett failed to consult with you before making this film!

'The Sound of Music' twice an hour, and 'Jaws' 1, 2 and 3.

reply

I think for myself as well as I suspect for other hardcore fans of this film is that never in the life of 'The Long Goodbye' (or the more conventional noir homage 'Chinatown' for that matter) was this film ever labelled a straight 'film-noir' genre piece in it's conventional sense. As far as the casting goes, I think moviegoers are accurate if gut instincts tell you Elliot Gould isn't your ideal movie gumshoe especially if the point of reference is a Bob Mitchum-type but like someone else said, this was not a literal homage to classical American noir and 70s audiences back then weren't complaining when counterculture symbols like Gould, George Segal, Jack Nicholson, Dick Benjamin and Don Sutherland (Kiefer's dad) defied old Hollywood conventions with their performances.

Correct me if I'm wrong, what new viewers may be judging their experiences on now are with the paradigms of the present; well America both in the movies and real life have been through many different paradigms of thought since the release of this film and my only suggestion is that dialing in to the Zeitgeist of the 60-70s (if viewers are old enough to remember) would help in it's appreciation. IMO, the pairing of Gould and Altman were like the DeNiro and Scorcese pairings of the time. 'Goodbye', 'MASH' and 'California Split' are prime examples of Elliot Gould at his best. Coming from someone who's watch this theatrically upon release, I can say it was never blockbuster material but Gould was most certainly hot property in everything he was in back then including this one, his best.



reply

Elliot Gould is PERFECT and I wouldn't want anyone else in this, which as Altman explained was "Chandler's Marlowe waking up 20 years later, in the strange 70s..."

Altman is revisionist to the core, and the whole point here was to have a Marlowe that was NOT Humphrey Bogart. This was to be a new Marlowe for a new age, and Elliot's slightly bumbling, somewhat off-kilter, off-key, Marlowe is just right.

And I agree with Kenichiku, all three Altman/Gould + that cameo in NASHVILLE films are priceless! Gould is one of my faves...


THE FREDRIC MARCH ARCHIVE
http://www.geocities.com/fredric_march/march01.html

reply

[deleted]

20 years earlier, Mitchum would have been better -- maybe the best of them all. But by 1975 he was past his Marlowe prime. Good version, though.

"I think it would be fun to run a newspaper"

reply

[deleted]

8-yr old reply: Mitch reprised Marlowe twice in the 70s! Once brilliantly in FAREWELL MY LOVELY & less so in a modernized BIG SLEEP misfire.

reply

Gould's performance in TLGG was one of the better pieces of acting in the 1970s.

Nothing left except Clorox bottles and plastic fly swatters with red dots on them!

reply

I saw this movie when it came out. It took me a while to get that Altman was working against the traditional representation of Chandler's character. After seeing it three times I got it. One of my favorite movies and a welcome addition to the collection of Chandler stories.

What a great cast of quirky characters.

reply