That's some interesting information about Chandler's work on
the script. I still don't think its any good, largely because
the gimmick detracts from the film and well, the changes
aren't any good. I hope it wasn't Chandler who had Marlowe
get engaged at the end. Also, I've never seen Altman's The
Long Goodbye,and I really didn't want to dredge all that up
again. There have been three separate outbreaks of Long
Goodbye Mania since I joined the list, and I don't want to be
responsible for another.
On Nov 7, 2007 12:43 PM, JIM DOHERTY <
jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Nathan,
>
> Re your comment below:
>
> "Whatever you do, don't watch the movie
adaptation.
> It's the worst Chandler adaptation ever, and it's
shot
> entirely in the first person-the only
time
> you see the detective is when he looks in the
mirror,
> and he's not a detective he's a writer and there's
a
> love story, and it's set at Christmas. In
short,
> Hollywood did everything possible to ruin one
of
> Chandler's best works."
>
> It's far from the best Chandler adaptation, but
it's
> nowhere near the worst. That distinction is now,
and
> ever shall be, the exclusive property of
Robert
> Altman's THE LONG GOODBYE.
>
> In the film version of TLITL, Marlowe IS a
private
> eye. He's TRYING to be a writer (not unlike
Dashiell
> Hammett) and has fictionalized one of his cases
and
> sent it off to a pulp publisher. One of the
editors
> of the magazine company becomes his
client.
>
> The original version of the script, with its
many
> changes from the original novel, was actually
by
> Chandler. The studio, of all things, objected to
the
> many changes Chandler made, and hired another,
lesser,
> mystery novelist, Steve Fisher, to do a
rewrite.
> Chandler was so displeased with the rewrite that
he
> removed his name from the credits, other than as
the
> writer of the source material.
>
> Fisher claimed that he did little other than
complete
> the script and make some fairly minor revisions to
the
> part Chandler had already completed. It
was,
> presumably, Chandler who changed the business
setting
> from, IIRC, a perfume company to a pulp
magazine
> publisher (a business both he and Fisher would
have
> been familiar with). And, IIRC, in the short
story
> version of TLITL, the business was something
else
> altogether. This lends some credence to
the
> conclusion that it was Chandler who made the
change
> when he adapted the novel into a screenplay, since
he
> had already made a a similar change when he
adapted
> the the short story into a novel
(incorporating
> elements of another short story, "Bay City
Blues,"
> when he did he expansion).
>
> As for the finished film directed by
Robert
> Montgomery, who also played Marlowe, a lot of
it
> doesn't work. The whole subjective camera gimmick
is
> just that, a gimmick. And Montgomery's Marlowe
comes
> across less as tough and clever than mean-spirited
and
> bloody-minded.
>
> On the other hand, there are fine performances
by
> Lloyd Nolan as the brutal Bay City cop,
DeGarmo,
> Joyce Meadows as a temptress, and Tom Tully as
a
> basically decent police captain. And a lot of
the
> dialog is sharp and distinctly
Chandler-like.
>
> Worth seeing if only because it's the only
Marlowe
> film on which Chandler actually contributed to
the
> script.
>
> JIM DOHERTY
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 07 Nov 2007 EST