Robert Mitchum was a bit long in the tooth when he played Philip Marlowe in this deliberately artificial remake of "Farewell, My Lovely" which, by the mid-seventies, seemed incongruously like a fish out of water. Despite an excellent cast that included Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland, Harry Dean Stanton, an Oscar-nominated Sylvia Miles and, in his only acting role, the novelist Jim Thompson the film looked and sounded like something of a museum piece. Maybe it needed someone other than the merely workmanlike Dick Richards to breathe some life into it in the way Altman did with the vastly superior "The Long Goodbye". When set beside Polanski's "Chinatown", which appeared the following year, or even the original 1944 version of the same story, this is decidedly second-rate; a fancy dress parade of character actors in search of a story.

I needed a drink and all the bars were closed - Raymond ChandlerFarewell, My Lovely is a film that can be enjoyed for the visuals alone, especially the awesome set design. Dick Richards the director treats us to a pallet of neon, blue and yellow lights. even though some of the rooms and alleyways are dinghy, you wish that you lived during the time. The lush score by David Shire (who also did the score for The Conversation) evokes the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke in a bar.Robert Mitchum is very good as Marlowe, though maybe a bit too old. Obviously a lot of the clever dialogues were written by Chandler for his novel. The plot is preposterous but the dialogues and the visuals keep you going.Jack O Halloran who played Moose Malloy didn't really cut it. Nobody can replace Mike Mazurki in Murder, My Sweet (1944). Sylvester Stallone makes an impression in a guest appearance as one of the heavies who kidnaps Mitchum. Charlotte Rampling was smoking hot though I'm not sure if she looked very American. I liked this film a lot.(8/10)

Robert Mitchum made two films for ITC in which he played the famous Raymond Chandler character, Philip Marlowe...."Farewell, My Lovely" and "The Big Sleep". "Farewell My Lovely" is by far the best of the two, as the studio took a lot of care to get the 1940s look just right. In contract, the follow-up film was set in the present day and was a big disappointment. So if you have to see one of these, DEFINITELY make it "Farewell, My Lovely".A huge, hulking man, Moose Malloy (Jack O'Halloran) has been in prison 7 years and cannot find his old girlfriend, Velma. So he demands the Marlowe take the case...of the implication is that he'll rearrange Marlowe's face. This, and the fact he can pay, result in Marlowe taking the case. However, it soon becomes pretty obvious that Vera doesn't wanna be found and soon all sorts of bad things start happening to Marlowe. Can he somehow survive all this and get to the bottom of this?The best version of this story was the 1944 film "Murder, My Sweet" with Dick Powell. However, one of the problems with the film was that the Chandler novel was heavily sanitized. After all, there was the Production Code which forbade much of what happens in the sordid story. So, in this 1970s Robert Mitchum version, you hear cursing, see Marlowe slug a 'lady' in the mouth, hear references to a character being a homosexual and you see a bit of nudity. It certainly is a tougher version of the story. However, this alone don't make it better...though the Mitchum version is quite good. He's fine in the role--world- weary, cynical and worth seeing even if he is a tad old for the part. However, I still think Dick Powell was a bit better--a bit more cynical and smart-mouthed. However, for me I love the story so much it's a no-brainer...see them both. Or, better yet, see the first version as well--"The Falcon Takes Over". While it's the farthest from the original source material, it is very good as well because Chandler's story idea was so good...it can't help but be enjoyable.

Farewell, My Lovely (1975) *** (out of 4) Private eye Phillip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) is hired by a goon just out of prison to track down an old flame of his. As Marlowe begins to investigate he finds himself wrapped up in murder, deceit and one mysterious character after another. This here was the third version of Raymond Chandler's novel following THE FALCON TAKES OVER and MURDER, MY SWEET. The later of those two titles is considered the best of the trio but there's no question that this one here gives it a very good run for its money. One major benefit of making this story in 1975 instead of 1944 is the fact that there wasn't any Hayes Office to deal with so this version here can stay much closer to the original novel and include some major plot points including prostitution but you also get some darker language and violence. Another major factor to the success of this version is the casting of Mitchum who even at the age here was able to be one of the toughest and baddest guys you're going meet. I think it's fair to say that Mitchum was born to play this role with that laid back attitude, the perfect voice for the narration and of course you can believe him in this seedy world. Just take a look at the opening shot of him and that very look lets you know what you're in for and you can't help but crack a smile just by the way the actor's coolness comes across. The screenplay features a lot of dialogue straight from the novel and Mitchum does a very good job with this as well including a running gag about Joe DiMaggio's hit streak. It also doesn't hurt that the supporting cast features some terrific actors including Charlotte Rampling as the femme fetale who comes onto Marlowe. Sylvia Miles is also extremely good in her part as a drunk, John Ireland really packs a punch as a detective and Harry Dean Stanton is fun as a crooked cop who is constantly going against Marlowe. We even get Joe Spinell and Sylvester Stallone playing thugs. The screenplay is pretty strong from start to finish as it does a very good job at capturing the spirit of the film noir movies from the 1940s. Director Dick Richards handles the material very well and he manages to build a very good atmosphere that helps the story. The seedy Los Angeles atmosphere is very thick and mixes perfectly well with the cast. Fans of the novel should be happy with the results here but I think everyone will agree that there was no one better for Marlowe than Robert Mitchum.