The Long Goodbye to the Third Man

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I've always admired this film for upending the morals of the book and somehow getting closer to the point that Chandler was making by doing so. The most striking decision was at the end - Marlowe kills Terry whereas in the book he shrugs and just tells him to leave. That would be too subtle and mellow, whereas there's a shocking quality to Marlowe's righteous anger in the film, after all the *beep* he takes for this character, he laughs at him for being a schmuck! It's a brilliant and unexpected moment that makes perfect sense.

There's one other point that has always struck me, and that is the similarity to another classic noir film, the Third Man. There are a number of discreet references to this film in Long Goodbye, not least the final shot, which replaces the emptiness felt by Harry Lime's friend after his death, with a sort of joyful relief felt by Marlowe, who starts to dance up the street while playing a mouth organ. It is ultimately a film about friendship, and how Marlowe is loyal to an ideal of friendship even after his friend has proved unworthy of his loyalty. Exactly the same message as The Third Man, where Holly Martens learns that his friend was an evil character, and has to choose between betraying him or walking away.

What I think makes this film so memorable and worth re-watching is that it is made with such an airy floating almost jokey style, and yet is about very dark and disturbing ideas. The best illustration of that is the opening scene where Marlowe's cat deserts him because he tried to fool him over the brand of cat food. The cat is the only character in the film with higher standards of behavious than Marlowe.