Farewell My Lovely
Amazon.co.uk Review
Of all the Philip Marlowes, Robert Mitchum’s in Farewell, My Lovely resonates most deeply. That’s because this is Marlowe past his prime, and Mitchum imbues Raymond Chandler’s legendary private detective with a sense of maturity as well as a melancholy spirit. And yet there is plenty of Mitchum’s renowned self-deprecating humour and charismatic charm to remind us of his own iconic presence. As in the previous 1944 film version, Murder, My Sweet, Marlowe searches all over L.A. for the elusive girlfriend of ex-con Moose Malloy, a loveable giant who might as well be King Kong. In typical Chandler fashion, the weary Marlowe uncovers a hotbed of lust, corruption and betrayal. Like Malloy, he’s disillusioned by it all, despite his tough exterior, and possesses a tinge of sentimentality for the good old days. About the only current dream he can hold onto is Joe DiMaggio and his fabulous hitting streak. Made in 1975, a year after Chinatown (shot by the same cinematographer, John Alonzo), Farewell, My Lovely is more straightforward and nostalgic, but still possesses a requisite hard-boiled edge, and the best kind of angst the 1970s had to offer. (By the way, you will notice Sylvester Stallone in a rather violent cameo, a year before his Rocky breakthrough.) –Bill Desowitz, Amazon.com
This is surely Mitchum’s best performance. Forget the earlier glamour-boy. Crumpled, aging and seedy but with a heart of gold – Mitchum plays Marlowe with a master’s touch. The careful under-playing of the sets and the characters fills the film with a believable atmosphere of corrupt and violent late-thirties Los Angeles. The plot never falters and the twist near the end, when Moose’s girlfriend is revealed, is excellent. Charlotte Rampling oozes erotic magnetism and the supporting actors are magnificent, although Jack O’Halloran’s “Moose Malloy” seems slightly wooden and Sylvester Stallone is quite forgettable. John Ireland and Harry Dean Stanton portray the ‘honest cop’ and ‘corrupt cop’ respectively to perfection; Stanton makes you want to count the cutlery every time he leaves the scene. Sylvia Miles’s ‘Jessie Florian’ – the failed and aging starlet, alcoholic and careless off her dress and appearance, is well played too. All this, plus an excellent score and lots of little subliminal touches, re-create the time and the place so well. Splash in the bourbon, light yet another cigarette, push your hat back on your head, heave a world-weary sigh, close the curtains on the neon lights and the wailing siren – and enjoy.
Rating: 5 / 5
The year is 1941 and Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio is on a hitting streak, and that is about the only thing in life that world-weary Philip Marlowe takes any pleasure in.
This is a workman-like adaptation of the novel by Raymond Chandler. Dimple-chinned Robert Mitchum at 58, an underrated actor with charisma and star appeal, is unfortunately a bit over the hill as Chandler’s hard-nosed, realist gumshoe Philip Marlowe, especially when romancing the babes. Still he does a good job and seems almost made for the part.
The main babe that needs romancing here is Charlotte Rampling who plays Helen Grayle, a scheming, trampy, psychopathic, sexy thing on the make for anything she can get. She’s the lovely who goes farewell–well, one of them.
Sylvia Miles got a supporting actress Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Mrs. Florian, one-time show girl turned lush. And Sylvester Stallone, looking almost as young as a choir boy, had a bit part as an anonymous thug. Jack O’Halloran played the very dense and obsessed Moose Malloy with a steady moronic malevolence. John Ireland is the good cop and Harry Dean Stanton the bad one. Kate Murtagh is the madam from hell who likes to throw her considerable weight around.
Comparing this to the original from 1944 entitled “Murder, My Sweet,” staring Dick Powell and Claire Trevor, I have to say it is more realistic and edgier, and wonderfully atmospheric, but not as enjoyable, perhaps because Mitchum seems a little dead compared to Powell. But that is entirely the point, as Chandler’s intent was to showcase a Philip Marlowe near the end of his tether, a man oppressed with the vileness of life and ready to toss it in.
In either case, the convoluted plot involving the missing “Velma,” various Los Angeles dives, dead bodies aplenty, and lots of police and political corruption remains somewhat opaque but still manages to hold our interest.
See this for Robert Mitchum, one of Hollywood’s greatest with over a hundred and thirty films to his credit, a man who personified nonchalance on the screen, a guy who felt equally at home in a “B” Western as in a dramatic feature, a man who mesmerized audiences with seeming indifference.
Rating: 4 / 5
When this movie came out, I had just read all Raymond Chandler’s novels for the first time and was hooked. Mitchum captures the weary, romantic private eye perfect – and is helped out by a great cast, Charlotte Rampling, Harry Dean Stanton …besides Chinatown, the best noir-style movie of the seventies. Great pace and laden with atmosphere.
This movie made me a Mitchum-fan for life.
Philip Marlowe is in many ways a loser, and Mitchum is not afraid to
show this side of our hero, unlike so many other screen-versions of
this icon of crime novels.
Rating: 5 / 5
I had read the great Mitchum biography “Baby, I Don’t Care” (by Lee Server) which mentioned this was Robert’s last great film. It took me a while to get around to buying it and it and I have absolutely no regrets. I had seen his other film playing the role of Marlowe (The Big Sleep), which was made after this one and sadly is not as fine.
I can’t wait to watch FAREWELL, MY LOVELY again – there are not many films I feel that way about.
Don’t forget to check on Amazon for the American Criterion DVD of a film called THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE, another 70’s Mitchum picture worth your time.
Rating: 5 / 5
We begin in Los Angeles during the summer of 1941. Philip Marlowe was hiding up in a seedy hotel; of the kind where he always dreaded he might end up.
On the run from both sides of the law; facing on the one hand a murder rap and on the other the next knock on the door could be a hit-man. Also his major client the ex-convict Moose Malloy had disappeared once again.
He got the knock on the door he had been waiting for; it was his friend lieutenant Nulty, Snow White without the seven dwarves! At this time Nulty had a charge sheet on Marlowe running into several volumes and very little room to manoeuvre.
The only chance Marlowe had to avoid being taken in was to tell Nulty everything he knew, but the key was Moose Malloy who was still missing and the police weren’t interested in him.
The bulk of the film in flashback is the resulting subsequent conversation which lasted maybe 20 minutes or so.
We learn about the poor little rich girl runaway who kicked Marlowe’s shin when returned to her equally gracious parents. Marlowe further related about, the `chance` meeting with Moose Malloy, who liked his name in the phonebook, and the search for his one-time girlfriend Velma.
All the pieces of the puzzle were gradually introduced; from Florian’s bar where Velma used to work and other characters that used to hang out there such as Tommy Ray the band-man and Jessie Florian the bar owners widow. Also related to Nulty were the mystery of the ransomed jade necklace and the circumstances surrounding the murder of Marlowe’s other client Lindsay Marriott for which Marlowe himself was in the frame. Next was Marlowe’s unwanted stay at the house of brothel -keeper Frances Amthor, and his discovery of Tommy Ray’s corpse. Finally there was the trail leading back to mega rich Judge Grayle and his beautiful young wife Helen, and her connections to mobster Laird Brunette.
Marlowe just needed time to make the pieces fit. There was something going down on Brunette’s casino yacht and if Marlowe could just get Moose Malloy out there he was certain it would all fall into place. Trouble was just about every cop on the force was on Brunette’s payroll. The yacht was out of bounds to the L.A.P.D and any cop who boarded her risked losing more than his career. The only thing Marlowe could be certain of is that Nulty was not on the take as well.
Ever the glib talker Marlowe gained the time he needed and the rest was history as they say. However there were no winners in all this; Marlowe passed $2,000 badly needed bucks onto Tommy Ray’s family but Ray’s little boy’s face was going to haunt him forever.
The main differences from the book are that the Amthor character changes both sex and profession, in the book there is an Anne Riordan involved in the case of the necklace and the ending is substantially different too. Most people would opt for the book, but the film works well also.
There is no doubt in my mind that for the purposes of the screenplay Robert Mitchum is spot on as Marlowe. In addition to the world-weary look he also possessed a cynical, at times mischievous outlook which suited Marlowe perfectly. Add to this a fine supporting cast including Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland and Sylvia Miles and you have a sure-fire film noir winner.
Rating: 5 / 5