History Film / TheLongGoodbye

* {{Deconstruction}}: Supposedly Altman wanted the film to be one, UpToEleven, of the whole "Private-Eye" genre--to the point where it would actually more or less put an ''end'' [[GenreKiller to these kinds of movies.]] Didn't happen, of course.

* FakingTheDead: Lennox is still alive.

* PoliceAreUseless

* WritersBlock: Roger Wade suffers from this.

--> "[[ThisIsThePartWhere So, this is where I say]], 'What's all this about?'--and ''he'' says, uh, 'Shut up, ''I'' ask the questions'?"
--> "That's right!"

A pre-stardom Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger has a non-speaking part as a {{Mook}}.

'''''The Long Goodbye''''' is a 1973 film directed by Creator/RobertAltman and starring Elliott Gould as detective Literature/PhilipMarlowe. It was adapted from the Creator/RaymondChandler novel of the same name by Creator/LeighBrackett (who earlier co-wrote the most famous film version of Chandler's ''Film/TheBigSleep'').

* DistractedByTheSexy: One of the two cops grilling Marlowe keeps getting distracted by all the semi-naked women in the next apartment.

* NeverSuicide: [[spoiler: Although Wade really does kill himself, Terry Lennox [[FakingTheDead faked his death]].]]

* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler: Terry Lennox]]. "Yeah. I lost my cat."

* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles: The film celebrates the odd locales and characters that inhabit the city.

* VigilanteExecution: [[spoiler: Marlowe blows Terry Lennox away after discovering he murdered his wife and betrayed his best friend. This is a change from the novel, where Lennox didn't kill his wife, but still faked his death and left his friend with the mess...and gets away with it scot-free.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler: Eileen Wade is ''not'' the FemmeFatale she is in the book.]]
* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler: Terry Lennox IS the murderer, after all!]] While the book didn't exactly have this character come across as particularly clean by the end, still, [[spoiler: lying to your friend and letting him deal with the consequences]] still isn't as bad as [[spoiler: murder]]....

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Roger.]]
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: Lennox is still alive.]]

* {{Deconstruction}}: Supposedly Altman wanted the film to be one, UpToEleven, of the whole "Private-Eye" genre--to the point where it would actually more or less put an ''end'' to these kinds of movies. Didn't happen, of course.

* TheFilmOfTheBook: Although it changes the time period and the identity of the killer in the end. And Marlowe's OneTrueLove in the book, Linda Loring, is noticeably absent--apparently to make room for a more "fleshed-out" Mrs. Wade.

''The Long Goodbye'' is a 1973 film directed by Creator/RobertAltman and starring Elliott Gould as detective Literature/PhilipMarlowe. It was adapted from the Creator/RaymondChandler novel of the same name by Creator/LeighBrackett (who earlier co-wrote the most famous film version of Chandler's ''Film/TheBigSleep'').

* [[BornInTheWrongCentury Born in the Wrong Decade]]:Marlowe is man holding [[TheFifties fifties]] values, trying to survive in a cynical [[TheSeventies seventies]] L.A.

* RecurringRiff: Every piece of music, [[OverlyLongGag even a doorbell ring,]] is the tune of the titular song.

* RecurringRiff: Every piece of music, even a doorbell ring, is the tune of the titular song.

* VigilanteExecution: [[spoiler: Marlowe blows Terry Lennox away after discovering he murdered his wife and betrayed his best friend. This is a change from the novel, where Lennox gets away with it scot-free.]]

* AdaptedOut: Most blatantly, Linda Loring--the classy yet just-as-snarky-as-Marlowe SpiritedYoungLady whom Marlowe meets in the book during his investigation. She's the sister of Terry's late wife, and shares Marlowe's doubts that Terry killed anyone--and thus, becomes Marlowe's ally and uneasy assistant in his investigation. Chandler's purpose for her was to be the "Princess In Sour Dress" to Marlowe's KnightInSourArmor--and their parting near the book's end forces the detective to begin examining his love of isolation. In the movie, she's nowhere to be found, and instead Altman has Marlowe strike up a complicated relationship with Mrs. Wade--who, ironically, [[spoiler: was the murderer]] in the book.

* AdaptedOut: Most blatantly, Linda Loring--the classy yet just-as-snarky-as-Marlowe SpiritedYoungLady whom Marlowe meets in the book during his investigation. She's the sister of Terry's late wife, and shares Marlowe's doubts that Terry killed anyone--and thus, becomes Marlowe's ally and uneasy assistant in his investigation. Chandler's purpose for her was to be Marlowe's "Princess In Sour Dress" to Marlowe's KnightInSourArmor--and their parting near the book's end forces the detective to begin examining his love of isolation. In the movie, she's nowhere to be found, and instead Altman has Marlowe strike up a complicated relationship with Mrs. Wade--who, ironically, [[spoiler: was the murderer]] in the book.

* AdaptedOut: Most blatantly, Linda Loring--the classy yet just as snarky as Marlowe SpiritedYoungLady who Marlowe meets during his investigation. She's the sister of Terry's late wife, and shares Marlowe's doubts that Terry killed anyone--and thus, becomes Marlowe's ally and uneasy assistant in his investigation. Chandler's purpose for her was to be Marlowe's "Princess In Sour Dress" to Marlowe's KnightInSourArmor--and their parting near the book's end forces the detective to begin examining his love of isolation. In the movie, she's nowhere to be found, and instead Altman has Marlowe strike up a complicated relationship with Mrs. Wade--who, ironically, [[spoiler: was the murderer]] in the book.

* AdaptedOut: Most blatantly, Linda Loring--the classy yet just as snarky as Marlowe SpiritedYoungLady who Marlowe meets during his investigation. She's the sister of Terry's late wife, and shares Marlowe's doubts that Terry killed anyone--and thus, becomes Marlowe's ally and uneasy assistant in his investigation. Chandler's purpose for her was to be Marlowe's "Princess In Sour Dress" to Marlowe's KnightInSourArmor)--and their parting near the book's end forces the detective to begin examining his love of isolation. In the movie, she's nowhere to be found, and instead Altman has Marlowe strike up a complicated relationship with Mrs. Wade--who, ironically, [[spoiler: was the murderer]] in the book.

* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler: TerryLennox IS the murderer, after all!]] While the book didn't exactly have this character come across as particularly clean by the end, still, [[spoiler: lying to your friend and letting him deal with the consequences]] still isn't as bad as [[spoiler: murder]]....

* WritersBlock: Roger Wade suffers from this.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Altman originally wanted Dan Blocker (TV's Hoss Cartwright) whom he originally directed in early episodes of ''{{Series/Bonanza}}'' to play Wade. Tragically Blocker died from a post-surgery complication at the age of 44. The film is dedicated to him.

* [[BornInTheWrongCentury Born in the Wrong Decade]]:Marlowe is man holding [[TheFifties fifties] values, trying to survive in a cynical [[TheSeventies seventies]] L.A.

* ButtMonkey: Marlowe as part of the deconstruction of private eyes. He's a man who lacks a FriendOnTheForce as the police have no idea who he is. He is no ladies man, as the girls next door make fun of him and the villains frequently get the better of him in fights. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking He also loses his cat.]

* AngryGuardDog: The Wade's dog is never violent, but it is always barking angrily whenever Marlowe is around.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The DVD cover shows Marlowe holding a Beretta 92SB, even though it didn't even exist when the film was made, and a poster has him holding a snub nosed revolver with the TagLine "Nothing says goodbye like a bullet", a line from an early script that was never incorperated into the final movie, yet he never handles any snub nosed revolvers.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The DVD cover shows Marlowe holding a Beretta 92SB (even though it didn't even exist when the film was made), yet he never even handles one, and a poster has him holding a snub nosed revolver with the TagLine "Nothing says goodbye like a bullet", a line from an early script that was never incorperated into the final movie.