Synopsis
Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend, a former lounge dancer. While also investigating the murder of a client and the theft of a jade necklace, Marlowe becomes entangled with seductress Helen Grayle and discovers a web of dark secrets that are better left hidden.
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Cast
- Robert MitchumPhilip Marlowe
- Charlotte RamplingMrs. Grayle
- John IrelandNulty
- Sylvia MilesMrs. Florian
- Anthony ZerbeBrunette
- Harry Dean StantonBilly Rolfe
- Jack O'HalloranMoose Malloy
- Joe SpinellNick
- Sylvester StalloneJonnie
- Kate MurtaghAmthor
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
Farewell, My Lovely is a great entertainment and a celebration of Robert Mitchum's absolute originality. - 90
The Guardian
Elegant neo-noir with a perfectly cast Robert Mitchum, at 58 the oldest actor to play Marlowe. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
An affectionate adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel that beautifully evokes the seamy side of 1940s Los Angeles via superb production design and the same period atmosphere cinematographer Alonzo previously evoked for Chinatown. - 70
Time Out
The film's triumph is Mitchum's definitive Marlowe, which captures perfectly the character's down-at-heel integrity and erratic emotional involvement with his cases. - 60
The New York Times
It's as if someone had put pillow springs, power-steering and a tape deck into a classic racing-car. It is still handsome and it still goes, but it is a handsome mediocrity. - 60
Village Voice
By simply rack-focusing Mitchum in an occasional close-up, Richards evokes an entire biography, a sense of weariness and reflection. [25 Aug 1975, p.66] - 50
Newsweek
Perversely, it is a reverence for langauge - the most exciting aspect of Chandler's novels - that does the movie in. With a face like an old catcher's mitt, a beat-up bulk anesthetized by booze, Mitchum as Marlowe doesn't have to tell us a thing about himself. But tell us he does - in gumshoe-ese that echoes Chandler's language without its hallucinatory sparkle. [18 Aug 1975, p.73] - 50
Variety
Farewell, My Lovely is a lethargic, vaguely campy tribute to Hollywood's private eye mellers of the 1940s and to writer Raymond Chandler, whose Phillip Marlowe character has inspired a number of features. Despite an impressive production and some firstrate performances, this third version fails to generate much suspense or excitement.
