Farewell, My Lovely | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Dick Richards |
Produced by |
Elliott Kastner Jerry Bruckheimer George Pappas |
Screenplay by | David Zelag Goodman |
Story by |
Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler |
Starring |
Robert Mitchum Charlotte Rampling John Ireland Sylvia Miles Anthony Zerbe |
Music by | David Shire |
Cinematography | John A. Alonzo |
Edited by |
Joel Cox Walter Thompson |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Avco Embassy Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2.5 million |
Box office | $2,000,000 (United States) |
Farewell, My Lovely is a 1975 American neo noir film, directed by Dick Richards and featuring Robert Mitchum as private detective Phillip Marlowe. The picture is based on Raymond Chandler's novel of the same name (1940), which had previously been adapted for film as Murder, My Sweet in 1944. The film also stars Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland, Jack O'Halloran, Sylvia Miles and Harry Dean Stanton, with an early screen appearance by Sylvester Stallone. Mitchum returned to the role of Marlowe three years later in a 1978 remake of The Big Sleep, making him the only actor to portray Philip Marlowe more than once on the big screen.
Set in Los Angeles in 1941, against a seamy backdrop of police corruption, cheap hotel rooms, illegal gambling and jewel trafficking, private detective Philip Marlowe is holed up in a hotel room and growing more weary by the hour. As he explains to his police lieutenant friend Nulty: "I've got a hat, a coat and a gun, that's it."
Marlowe has been hired by a huge and surly ex-convict, Moose Malloy, to find his old girlfriend Velma, whom he hasn't seen in seven years. At the same time, Marlowe is investigating the murder of a client named Marriott who was a victim of blackmail and a stolen necklace made of jade.
While encountering connections to both cases, Marlowe develops an attraction to the married and seductive Helen Grayle. As the body count mounts, Marlowe survives attempts on his life, which include being drugged and held captive by a psychotic brothel madam named Amthor and her thugs. The action comes to a head with a shootout on a gambling boat off the L.A. coast.