Retro 1970s Movie: Farewell, My Lovely

Robert Mitchum in Farewell, My Lovely

Several actors have portrayed author Raymond Chandler's iconic private detective Philip Marlowe throughout the years, including Humphrey Bogart, Dick Powell, James Garner, Elliot Gould and James Caan. Only one actor has portrayed Marlowe more than once on film thus far: Robert Mitchum. When he first played Marlowe, Mitchum had recently appeared in a pair of well-made, noir-tinged crime dramas, the character driven The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) and the action-oriented The Yakuza (1974). Mitchum's next project would be an adaptation of Chandler's second Marlowe novel, Farewell, My Lovely (1975) which had been adapted twice before for the big screen. The story was first reworked as an entry in RKO's "Falcon" series, The Falcon Takes Over (1942), and two years later, a more faithful version of the novel, Murder, My Sweet (1944), was released by the same studio.

Farewell, My Lovely is set in 1941 Los Angeles, where a just released ex-con named Moose Malloy (played by Jack O'Halloran, who later appeared as one of the trio of Kryptonian super-villains in the first two Christopher Reeve Superman films) hires Marlowe to find his girlfriend Velma. Malloy lost touch with Velma while he was in prison for seven years after pulling a bank job, and wants to reunite with her. The search for Velma takes Philip Marlowe on a tour of both the high and low end worlds of LA, and his journey leads him through a labyrinthine plot (typical of Raymond Chandler's work) where there's a trail of dead bodies, a host of dark secrets, and no easy answers to the mystery. After all, this is a dark tale, and a movie that's based on one of the best known literary thrillers of the golden age of noir.

1970s cinema is filled with a lineup of excellent neo-noir tales, including Chinatown, Night Moves, and Charley Varrick, among many others. Farewell, My Lovely is actually more of a throwback to the older style noirs of the 1940s, with its moody cinematography by John A. Alonzo, and the lush score by David Shire. The direction by Dick Richards is solid, and David Zelag Goodman's screenplay pulls some key lines directly from Chandler's novel. There's a top notch cast, led by Mitchum's fine work as Marlowe, and featuring a host of familiar faces, including Charlotte Rampling, Anthony Zerbe, John Ireland, Sylvia Miles and Harry Dean Stanton. Sylvester Stallone and Joe Spinell, soon to appear together in Rocky, have small roles in the film. 

While many reviewers at the time of the movie's release remarked that Mitchum was too old to play of Marlowe, he projects just the right mix of low key charm and world weariness that's perfect for the role. He's got good chemistry with the cast, including Rampling's sultry Helen Grayle, Ireland's no-nonsense cop Lt. Nulty, and he even gets to sing a bit with Miles' careworn ex-chanteuse Jesse Florian. Farewell, My Lovely is worth seeing if you're a Mitchum fan, or a noir devotee. Mitchum reprised the role of Marlowe three years later in an inferior sequel, an adaptation of Chandler's The Big Sleep, which inexplicably moved the Marlowe character to the present day, and featured another all-star cast, including Joan Collins, Oliver Reed, Candy Clark and Sarah Miles. Here's the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NgK_-g5b3c.