Thread by @UlteriousFilm, Starting a long-ass thread on the genius of Elliott Gould as Philip [...]

Starting a long-ass thread on the genius of Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe in THE LONG GOODBYE. All GIFs are mine, but quotes come from various folks. First, from a Danny Peary interview quoted in CULT MOVIES, Gould: 'I don't have favorites, but THE LONG GOODBYE is my favorite.'

#ElliottGould on: 'the reasons I wanted to do the picture were that I needed a job & I wanted to create an original Chandler character based on the one I remembered Bogart & Dick Powell playing. I played the traditional classic hero in a world that he has no understanding of....'

'I chose my wardrobe: the white socks, the jacket, the pants, the shoes... you never saw my tie too closely because it had small American flags on it.' Okay, please someone, provide a super-HD blow-up of Elliott Gould's Marlowe tie! I will tie one on, if we can accomplish that.

'I loved Sterling Hayden. I never met anyone like him before. He was a father figure to me. I almost drowned going after him — really trying to save him (in my mind) — during a take of the Roger Wade suicide scene....'
~Elliott Gould, THE LONG GOODBYE (1973). #70sFilm

~Do you ever think about suicide, Marlboro?
~Me, I don't believe in it.
#SterlingHayden
#ElliottGould

'As always, [ #RobertAltman] gave me a lot of space.... [He] told me that I scared him a lot in the film because I really punctured myself and penetrated inside. I'm really crazy about THE LONG GOODBYE, and I'm really upset that it didn't do well....'

'And I loved working with the cat — actually two cats.'

Screenwriter Leigh Brackett: 'We stuck very closely to Chandler's own estimate of Marlowe as a loser, so we made him a real loser... Here is the totally honest man in a dishonest world, and it suddenly rears up and kicks him in the face, and he says, "The hell with you." Bang!'

More from that interview with Brackett: the studio 'had a commitment for a film with Elliott Gould, so either you take Elliott Gould or you don't make the film. Elliott Gould was not exactly my idea of Philip Marlowe, but anyway there we were... I thought he did a beautiful job.'

'...However, the thing about Elliott is that he isn't tough. His face is gentle, his eyes are kind, and he doesn't have that touch of cruelty that you associate with these characters.' ~Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s. Edited by
Pat McGilligan

Brackett also co-wrote THE BIG SLEEP (1946). 'I think [Gould] is one hell of an actor. But he is not Bogart, & nothing under the sun you were going to do... is going to make him [like Bogart]. And so you... had to do a whole new character.' Via audio here: http://tonymacklin.net/content.php?cID=242

Gould: “[Exec. Producer] Elliott Kastner & [Producer] Jerry Bick were trying to get Robert Altman. He wasn’t interested until somebody said, ‘What about Elliott Gould as Marlowe?’ and [Altman] says, ‘Okay, now I’m ready to have this conversation.’” http://brightlightsfilm.com/the-glare-of-the-city-adapting-the-long-goodbye

'Peter Bogdanovich was attached but couldn’t see Gould, who “always wanted to play this guy,” in the part. When Altman came aboard, the director assured [Gould], saying, “You are this guy.”'

Elliott Gould, at the 2016 TCM Classic Film Festival screening of THE LONG GOODBYE: 'To me, it’s like a jazz piece. It’s so different and even to this day, I’m gratified and pleased that it still holds up.'

'Oh, is there where I'm supposed to say, "What is all this about?" and he says, uh, "Shut up. I ask the questions"?' ~Elliott Gould, as Philip Marlowe, in THE LONG GOODBYE (1973), directed by Robert Altman. #70sFilm #ElliottGould #RobertAltman

'I didn’t understand realty with the business. But [Robert Altman] was certainly perfect for me and we really did great. I thought we might have done perhaps a Raymond Chandler every three years. Just to do the whole thing…' That would've been Heaven! Via http://thenewbev.com/blog/2019/01/elliott-gould-the-long-goodbye/

Gould continues: '...And what with Altman giving me the kind of freedom he gave me, and for to have played a classic character out of time and place, it was like, in a way, a first movie for me… THE LONG GOODBYE was the perfect vehicle for me to live in...'

'I decided that we were going to call him Rip Van Marlowe, as if he’d been asleep for 20 years, had woken up & was wandering through this landscape of the early 1970s, but trying to invoke the morals of a previous era.' ~Robert Altman, on Gould's version of Philip Marlowe

'With so many other actors around, why did you pick me?'

Side note: I love that one of the posters for THE LONG GOODBYE is by #MADMagazine artist Jack Davis. #RIPMadMagazine.

More on the film's other #MoviePosters here: https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/movie-poster-of-the-week-the-long-goodbye

'With so many other actors around, why did you pick me?' Side note: I love that one of the posters for THE LONG GOODBYE is by #MADMagazine artist Jack Davis. #RIPMadMagazine. More on the film's other #MoviePosters here: https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/movie-poster-of-the-week-the-long-goodbye

'All that talking to himself was not in the script. I was doing it as we made the picture. I said, “It’s okay with me” the very first day of shooting... He was a guy who lived alone. When he wakes up, he’s like Rip Van Winkle. He has nobody to talk to, so he talks to himself!'

'Then [Altman] called me & told me the whole opening of the film as he was envisioning it, the whole sequence with Marlowe & his cat. He loved that. He said, “This is what the picture is about!”' Gotta love it for #Caturday! Last two quotes via: http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2009/05/long-goodbye-elliott-gould-remembers.html

Side Note: It seems to be unclear if Marlowe's cat was actually portrayed by that famously finicky feline of the era, Morris the Cat. More here: http://www.cinemacats.com/?p=2670

Every dog has its day: Elliott Gould, with an off-screen Doberman, in THE LONG GOODBYE (1973).

'I put him in that dark suit, white shirt & tie, while everyone else was smelling incense & smoking pot & going topless; everything was health food & exercise & cool. So we just satirized that whole time.' ~Robert Altman, on Elliott Gould as Marlowe. Via https://cinephiliabeyond.org/long-goodbye-robert-altman-leigh-bracketts-unique-fascinating-take-chandler-film-noir/

Arnold Schwarzenegger ruffles Elliott Gould's right lapel, in THE LONG GOODBYE (1973). Part of this fantastic scene is here:

'I guess I have a great deal of affection for fools. I consider myself one. The only people you can have affection for are fools. It’s a matter of trust: if you don’t trust, then affection is not possible. I think being a fool is the only way to be.' ~Altman, on Marlowe = Fool

'It’s true that our Marlowe doesn’t have any of the heroics of the earlier... Marlowes. I don’t have any trust or distrust of heroics. I’m just trying to play devil’s advocate when so many people paint so many pictures of heroes.' Altman, on Marlowe = Hero http://www.filmcomment.com/article/robert-altman-speaks/

I somehow broke up this Elliott Gould-as-Marlowe appreciation thread. So, for the record, it concludes starting here: https://twitter.com/UlteriousFilm/status/1147874190176989185

https://twitter.com/UlteriousFilm/status/1147874190176989185

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