Farewell, My Lovely

""I need another drink... I need a lot of life insurance... I need a vacation.... and all I've got is a coat, a hat, and a gun!""

1975 1h 35m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 195

CrimeMysteryThrillerDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“"I need another drink... I need a lot of life insurance... I need a vacation.... and all I've got is a coat, a hat, and a gun!"”

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Cast

Robert Mitchum
Philip Marlowe
Charlotte Rampling
Mrs. Grayle
John Ireland
Nulty
Sylvia Miles
Mrs. Florian
Anthony Zerbe
Brunette
Harry Dean Stanton
Billy Rolfe
Jack O'Halloran
Moose Malloy
Joe Spinell
Nick

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Dick Richards
Writers: David Zelag Goodman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 80% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

51 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Philip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Dick Richards, shot by John A. Alonzo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Shire. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Walter Thompson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Robert Mitchum and Charlotte Rampling and John Ireland carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Dick Richards directs. John A. Alonzo behind the camera. David Shire scores. Walter Thompson cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 80% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
351 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Part of the "Philip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Dick Richards, shot by John A. Alonzo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by David Shire. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Walter Thompson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Robert Mitchum and Charlotte Rampling and John Ireland carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: ""I need another drink... I need a lot of life insurance... I need a vacation.... and all I've got is a coat, a hat, and a gun!"".
10IMDB entry: tt0072973 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: John A. Alonzo
Original score: David Shire
Editing: Walter Thompson
Production design: Dean Tavoularis
Makeup / hair: Judith A. Cory
Sound: Don MacDougall
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Status: Released
Budget: $2,500,000
Box office: $2,000,000
Return: 80% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: Farewell, My Lovely (1975)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Philip Marlowe (Robert Mitchum) Collection

Movies starring Robert Mitchum as the private investigator Philip Marlowe, created by Raymond Chandler

Also by

Dick Richards

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Steve2017-05-18
www.noiroftheweek.com A few weeks ago, we talked about The Long Goodbye. Brilliant -- at least in my opinion. But purists sure disagreed. "We are fedora." film noir fans said. Well here's a neon-drenched, booze smelling, modern noir that treats Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe exactly as you would have imagined him from reading the books: Hard to argue with that clip. It's just the first few seconds of the film. I'm happy to say the film holds up to the strong open. Of course it's not as brilliant as Chinatown (released a little more than a year before this one) which dealt with larger issues. In fact it seems downright old fashioned compared side by side. But it's a great film -- and not done with a wink like so many other Chanderesque films of that time. Really. You'd think Robert Mitchum was a bit too old for the part, but they hit the age question head on in that opening clip. Mitchum's world-weary voice overs and attitude makes you wonder why he didn't play Marlowe in the 40s, 50s and 60s too. Professionally Mitchum would set himself on cruise control not long after this one. But this, The Yakuza and especially the Boston neo-noir The Friends of Eddie Coyle showed Mitchum could really deliver when he wanted to. In addition to Mitchum, there's Charlotte Rampling as the femme fatale. Rampling is having quite a third act as an actress. Model beautiful in the 1970s she's apparently resisted the urge for plastic surgery and has aged just right. Recently, she was the best part of the unfortunate end of TV's Dexter and played the worlds worst grandma in the haunting film noir I, Anna in 2012. She's quite good in Farewell, My Lovely. Mitchum clashed with the disciplined actress: "The girl on the picture,"[Mitchum] said, "was Charlotte Rampling. She was the chick who dug S-and-M in 'The Night Porter.' She arrived with an odd entourage, two husbands or something. Or they were friends and she married one of them and he grew a mustache and butched up. She kept exercising her mouth like she was trying to swallow her ear. "I played her on the right side because she had two great big blackheads on her left ear, and I was afraid they'd spring out and lodge on my lip. There were no tea breaks on THAT set." Pulp writer Jim Thompson (The Grifters, The Killing, The Getaway) plays Judge Baxter Wilson Grayle in his only film role. Some will recognize John Ireland. Probably known for his westerns, Ireland was the lead in tons of minor noirs like Open Secret and Railroaded! The most notable supporting actor is Sly Stallone playing a thug (his part is considerably bigger than Arnie's bit in The Long Goodbye). Sylvia Miles is fantastic in her role too. Check out how sympathetic Mitchum is to the old burlesque dancer. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role. A few pieces of trivia: Producers originally wanted Richard Burton for the part of Marlowe, but he was tied up with other work. Mitchum walked off the set (or was fired for drinking) of an Otto Preminger film Rosebud and was quickly snatched up for the role in Farewell, My Lovely. Mitchum's dark pinstripe suit (with no available backup) was originally made for Victor Mature during the 40s. He hated wearing "Victor Mature's old farted-up suit." Does anyone know what film Mature wore it in? Although the film took place in the 40s, the sequel The Big Sleep took place in the 70s. And it's horrible. Amazingly, Mitchum would be the first actor to play Marlowe in two films. The Chandler story was first made into a film as The Falcon Takes Over with George Sanders (but not playing Marlowe but The Falcon). Murder, My Sweet was made shortly after that. Mitchum's recommendation before filming Farewell, My Lovely? "I suggested we buy up the rights to Murder, My Sweet with Dick Powell, re-release it and go to the beach." Luckily, Mitchum didn't. It a film that's not to be missed. Top shelf Raymond Chandler.
CinemaSerf2025-01-24
★ 6/10
Robert Mitchum quite wittily narrates as well as acts in this rather dry adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel. He's the curmudgeonly PI eking out a living off the back of familial discord and martial peccadilloes. After saving him from an hail of bullets, "Marlowe" is engaged by the monosyllabic "Moose" (Jack O'Halloran) to help him track down his missing gal "Velma". The thing is, once his investigations begin to bear fruit he discovers himself in quite a pickle. She has moved on, and up, and has no desire to be found or to have her past life paraded in front of her new husband. Moreover, en route to his solution he also finds himself embroiled in some additional machinations with "Marriott" (Anthony Zerbe) who offers him an huge $15,000 just to hold his hand at a a dodgy blackmail exchange. Of course that doesn't go to plan and as the body counts start to mount up, he realises that the two jobs are perilously connected. Not as perilous for him as for poor old "Jessie" (a scene stealing but underused Sylvia Miles) who used to hang out with the missing "Velma" and should probably just have kept her head down. Meantime, his harassed police pal "Nulty" (John Ireland) is under increasing pressure to sort this mess out, and if that means throwing "Marlowe" to the wolves, then all the better for the powers that be. As these internecine threads all start to knit together, it's not too difficult for him (or us) to realise who has most to lose here, and is pulling the murderous strings. It's quite a decent story and Mitchum is always competent enough in these hard-man, boozy cynic, sort of roles, but Charlotte Rampling is really unconvincing and Zerbe totally one-dimensional as the pace of the film just never really gets out of first gear - despite there being plenty in the book to intrigue us. It's probably a thriller than would have delivered better forty years earlier, in monochrome, with more seediness and grime. As it is, there's something all a bit too sterile and verbose about it. It's all quite watchable but nothing special.

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