#344: The Unvarnished Sleuth Pt. 1: The Long Goodbye

The Next Picture Show

Filmspotting

Tv & Film, Film History, Film Reviews

4.6 • 858 Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2022

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Greg Motolla’s new CONFESS FLETCH revives the character of Irwin Fletcher, popularized by Chevy Chase in the mid-‘80s, but its low-key, shaggy-dog quality is less reminiscent of those films than Robert Altman’s 1973 comic neo-noir THE LONG GOODBYE. So we brought longtime friend of the show and Altman aficionado Noel Murray in to join us in revisiting the director’s hazy, distinctly ’70s Los Angeles take on Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould), a chain-smoking detective who’s like a magnet for trouble — but that’s okay with him. Plus, we address an oversight from our recent discussion of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE LONG GOODBYE, CONFESS FLETCH, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Outro music: “The Long Goodbye,” by John Williams, performed by Jack Sheldon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present.
0:05.1	Do you believe that someone out of the past can enter and take possession of a living being?
0:11.9	We may be through with the past, but the past is not through with us.
0:19.1	Welcome to The Next Picture Show, a movie the week podcast devoted to a classic film on how it shaped our thoughts on a recent release.
0:25.6	I'm Scott Tobias here with Keith Phipps.
0:28.2	Our regular co-hosts, Tasha Robinson and Genevieve Kosky, have gone missing, along with our cats, but we'll amble around for a while and find them in Mexico, maybe.
0:37.0	In the meantime, we're
0:38.2	broying out with our good friend and longtime co-worker, Noel Murray. Noel, welcome back to the show.
0:44.1	The Friends, it is great to be here. Wow. It seems like it was only yesterday that we were recording
0:49.6	something on a nightmare alley, right? That was the last one. Yeah, that must have been December,
0:53.9	maybe.
0:54.9	It's been a while.
0:55.7	It's been a while. But I believe you're familiar with the filmmaker we are talking about today.
1:00.8	I've heard of them, yeah.
1:02.9	So today we were talking about a couple of low-key comic mysteries, including Robert Altman's
1:07.4	The Long Goodbye.
1:08.5	But given that Noel is a huge Altman fan and considers McCabe and Mrs. Miller his favorite
1:12.5	film of all time or close to it, I wanted to ask you guys a question.
1:16.7	What's a non-obvious Altman gem that you'd like to recommend to people?
1:21.0	Taking films like McCabe and Nashville off the table.
1:24.4	My favorite kind of unseen Altman film, unfortunately, is not widely available,
1:29.1	which is a perfect couple, which came towards the end of his 70s era.
	...

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