Rich is as passionate about Marlowe as I am about Bond....but I would say that the Marlowe myth was not broken just damaged with the films that were set in the present as opposed to the period films (Powell, Bogart and later Mitchum). Marlowe is a hard boiled product of the 1930's to 50's as Sherlock Holmes is a product of the late 19th and early 20th century...Holmes has gained a resurgence for todays audiences. Marlow deserves a revisit...film noir is not dead. There are arguments that Marlowe is not a character for todays audiences. The cinema fans on here will add to that argument.
As for the posters on The Long Goodbye...the film tanked as Rich has said, it didn't do any favours at the box office so it came down to re marketing the vehicle and Elliot Gould was known more for MASH and his less than serious rules. The film is painful to watch just as Robert Mitchum as Marlowe bumbling along in MIchael Winner's The Big Sleep. Mitchum's performance in Farewell My Lovely nails the story and character more so than any of the others (IMHO). Gould could never play the hard boiled film noir character that Chandler created. So we had an elongated marketing campaign to con audiences to se the film...the poster campaign didn't work the film was still poor with or without the Jack Davis art. I still think Marlowe could stand a revisit...Ridley Scott directing in the manner of Blade Runner, maybe Tarantino doing film noir? But to find an actor...I nominate Karl Urban. This Never Happend to the Other Fella... Adrian Cowdry [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: Richard Halegua Posters + Comic Art <[email protected]> To: MoPo-L <[email protected]> Sent: Sun, 26 Aug 2012 20:41 Subject: Re: [MOPO] Anyone know what went on with the first campaign for The Long Goodbye? quick answer. Released with the original Amsel style A& B. film did poorly (because as a Raymond Chandler adaptation, the film sucks. more below) film was pulled & a new comedic ad campaign was designed with MAD artist Jack Davis. the film apparently didn't last a couple weeks in it's first release and it didn't get wide release either, so distribution of posters was minimal. it is interesting to note I have never been able to find a Pressbook with the original posters and Walt Reuben says there isn't one, although the pressbook for the re-issued campaign is very common. The international design is not in the pressbook. It is also interesting to note that all four styles do exist as 1sh, insert, hs & possibly 30x40. I have never seen 3sheets for the Amsel designs, although I do have the Davis & not too long ago got the International from Bruce's auctions. It is unusual for a film of this time period to have 4 different posters in those sizes mentioned. why Long Goodbye SUCKS this is really something that gets down to the basic content of the book and how Altman decided to translate it. #1 all Marlowe books are "first-person" stories. All scenes written contain Marlowe and what is described is what he sees. #2 Altman's movie making philosophy is diametrically opposed to such a structure. Altman's films are ensemble pieces where each character is equally as important as all others and even the starring actors are secondary concepts. Any single character standing out is anathema to Altman's style #3 Altman literally destroyed the Marlowe myth as a White Knight. He changed Marlowe from an intelligent chess player, college grad (Marlowe broke his nose as a football player in college), a former investigator in the District Attorney's office and the anti- misogynist into a bumbling detective who couldn't find his own shoes under his bed and then finally at the end of the film, a murderer who happily dances down the road after killing Terry Lennox in cold blood. the film should have been made as a standard vehicle without any attribution to Chandler. As a Marlowe movie, it's even worse than the Brasher Doubloon which also partially destroyed the Marlowe myth, but wasn't as pretentious as Altman's interpretation of Chandler's work. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
