The Long Goodbye 12/14/21

KL Studio Classics
Blu-ray

And it just got added to the National Film Registry!  Can Robert Altman and Leigh Brackett honestly find a place for Philip Marlowe in the laid-back 1970s?   Vilmos Zsigmond’s even more laid-back ‘pushed and pre-flashed’ cinematography made industry news by shooting in places that normally needed three times more artificial light. The characters are vivid, as portrayed by Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, and Mark Rydell. It’s also a terrific Los Angeles film, from Marlowe’s Hollywood apartment to the Malibu Colony, and a gangster’s Sunset Blvd. tower office suite. Elliott Gould’s mellow Marlowe may be unfocused and sloppy, but he still subscribes to the old ethics, particularly where friendship and betrayal are concerned. And darn it, he cares about his pet cat. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
12/14/21