Search - Farewell, My Lovely on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Sexual Situations, Drug Content Movie Release: 1975 DVD Release: 06/29/1999 Format: DVD SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 38 mins Studio: Geneon Members Wishing: 13 Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Detective Film, Post-Noir (Modern Noir)

Previously filmed in 1942 as The Falcon Takes Over and in 1944 as Murder, My Sweet, Raymond Chandler's Farewell My Lovely was given its third cinematic go-round under its original title in 1975. Spouting the Chandlerish prose as if it were second nature, Robert Mitchum stars as 1940s private eye Philip Marlowe, hired by the goonish Moose Malloy (Jack O'Halloran) to locate his former girl friend. This involves Marlowe in the theft of a jade necklace, which in turn leads to murder. All roads seemingly lead to adventuress Mrs. Grayle (Charlotte Rampling), wealthily married but far from satisfied. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Mitchum - Philip Marlowe
Charlotte Rampling - Helen Grayle
John Ireland - Nulty
Sylvia Miles - Mrs. Florian
Jack O'Halloran - Moose Malloy

One of the finest Hollywood adaptations of a Raymond Chandler book, the 1975 version of -Farewell, My Lovely gets botched in this Artisan Home Entertainment DVD release. The movie is shown only in the pan-and-scan full-screen format and the shoddy transfer does cinematographer John A. Alonzo's beautifully overripe work further injustice. While Alonzo is justly famous for his trend-setting lensing of Chinatown, his approach here was completely different, and he shot this richly color-saturated movie like it was an old black-and-white noir. While the shoddy DVD transfer unfortunately ruins the visuals, the muddy audio track doesn't rate any higher. Hopefully a better DVD edition will be released shortly because Farewell, My Lovely is a gem of a movie that features a wonderful central performance by Robert Mitchum as a downbeat Philip Marlowe. While Farewell, My Lovely captures the feel of Chandler's novels better than any other cinematic adaptation of his work, this expensive DVD release commits a crime against the movie's memory. ~ Nick Dedina, All Movie Guide