The Long Goodbye

The Long Goodbye (1973)

Timing: 1:52 (112 min)

7.421/10
607

7.153/10
3856

7.5/10
43000

All about film

Video 3

Photo 38

Actors and characters

Release date

1973-03-08

Country

United States

Production

United Artists, E-K-Corporation, Lion's Gate Films

Genre

Mystery, Crime, Comedy, Thriller, Drama

Budget

$1 700 000

Revenue

$959 000

Website

Director

Robert Altman

Actors

Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson, David Arkin, Jim Bouton, Warren Berlinger, Jo Ann Brody, Stephen Coit
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Jerry Bick, Elliott Kastner

Operator

Vilmos Zsigmond

Composer

John Williams

Artist

Audition

Editing

Lou Lombardo
All team (28)

• Arnold Schwarzenegger plays one of the thugs in the office, but his name is not credited.
• Initially, producers envisioned Howard Hawks as the director and Lee Marvin or Robert Mitchum in the lead role.
• When Howard Hawks declined to direct, the producers sent the script to Peter Bogdanovich, who passed it on to Robert Altman. Altman agreed to take on the project on the condition that Marlowe play Elliott Gould, with whom he had previously worked on the cult comedy "M*A*S*H". However, the actor had not appeared in any films for two years following a nervous breakdown and his divorce from Barbra Streisand. He was only cast in the lead role after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.
• Former baseball player Jim Bouton was cast as Terry Lennox.
• American film critic Roger Ebert included "The Long Goodbye" in his list of the greatest films of the 20th century.
• Sterling Hayden, known for his leading roles in classic film noirs, was to play writer Roger Wade. Due to his addiction to alcohol and drugs, Sterling was unable to learn his lines. He improvised extensively on set, and his dialogue was dubbed in post-production. Ultimately, Altman was quite satisfied with Hayden's performance.
• When Howard Hawks declined to direct, the producers sent the script to Peter Bogdanovich, who passed it on to Robert Altman. Altman agreed to direct on the condition that James Caan play Elliott Gould, with whom he had previously worked on the cult comedy 'M*A*S*H'. However, the actor had not appeared in any films for two years following a nervous breakdown and divorce from Barbra Streisand. He was only cast in the lead role after passing a psychiatric evaluation.
• American film critic Roger Ebert included 'The Long Goodbye' on his list of great films of the 20th century.