The first and only screen rendering of 'The Long Goodbye' is not Grandma's vision of Philip Marlowe, but it's a break from convention that pays off. Innovative for its time in both direction and cinematography, the film still holds considerable weight in an era when detective stories have dropped off the radar.

Adapted from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett of 'The Big Sleep' fame, Robert Altman's 1973 thriller bases itself on an imaginative premise that succeeds thanks to excellent directing and the versatility of its cast. As Altman has many times explained, the 1940ish Philip Marlowe wakes up one morning to find himself in early 1970s Los Angeles, a city drenched in LSD, yoga, and capitalism gone mad. The hardboiled storytelling of Chandler is stood on its head, becoming a sort of expressionist montage: Marlowe adrift in a society he doesn't understand and can't be bothered trying to figure out.

In this film, as in others inspired by Chandler, character development becomes more important than plot because so much is happening. 'The Long Goodbye' uses the formula of a private detective who is misled and sent full circle. After an early-morning struggle with his cat, Marlowe drives his other 'friend' Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton) to the Mexican border and is soon taken into custody by the police, who explain that Lennox's wife had been murdered. Marlowe is released from jail and reads in a newspaper of Terry's apparent suicide in Mexico. While disbelieving either story - it's his 'friend' after all - Marlowe is called on a new case to the Malibu development where Terry lived. The client is Eileen Wade (Nina Van Pallandt), whose drunk author-husband Roger (Sterling Hayden) wandered off to a rehab facility without telling her. Marlowe's investigation hits some potholes when a local drug boss (Mark Rydell) jockeys for several thousand dollars in cash that Lennox toted across the border and Marlowe knew nothing about. Leigh Brackett ties up the loose ends in uncanny fashion, with an ending different from the original novel and quite surprising.

Chandler purists will find this movie hard to swallow, especially the opening half-hour when all detective story conventions are flipped into the trash. Elliott Gould, who paired with Altman in 1970's MASH, is not the dynamic, suave Marlowe of other films. Instead, he is an unkempt crackpot who finds solace in his pet cat and drives around in an old, bulky Lincoln convertible. The Gould version of Marlowe is okay at his work, but only good enough to stay in one piece or as few chunks as humanly possible. He smokes incessantly, is bewildered by those around him, and can't win the respect of anybody. While a Marlowe of this type is hard to imagine, Chandler's novel actually supplies the needed atmosphere for Altman's idea to work. 'The Long Goodbye' is another Chandler tale with a bewildering series of events, where characters brush, collide, and overlap. The L.A. of Chandler is so overloaded with deceit that you have to forget action and start concentrating on motive.

The Long Goodbye's outstanding feature is its look as a pseudo-noir, if such a thing were possible. The visuals by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (including his use of 'post-flash' technique) give this film a subdued tone, reminding us that Marlowe was created in the past but is living and breathing in the present. There is a certain Deco feel to the movie, emphasizing straight lines and pastel colors. The use of Malibu locations helps retain an exotic look for Chandler's story, much like his palm tree-filled backgrounds of the 40s.

Style leads the way in Altman-directed films, which bring strong love or intense hatred from viewers. There are indeed moments when we're begging Altman to step away and let the movie take care of itself. Altman's use of a free-moving camera may be as distracting to an audience as this initially was to the actors. The film's theme song by John Williams and Johnny Mercer is pleasing and fits the mood nicely, but it's just about the only melody heard. It keeps changing form based on the situation - sometimes a jazz theme, sometimes a funeral march, sometimes a doorbell ringing. The soundtrack, which Altman admitted was a 'conceit,' is in need of diversifying itself and reaches a point of overkill. But on the whole, this film is a leader of early 1970s craftsmanship and Chandler's writings never fail to generate sparks.

MGM Home Entertainment outdid itself when releasing its DVD of 'The Long Goodbye' in 2002. The film is nicely presented in widescreen with Dolby enhancement of the original mono track; French 'dubbing' is provided, along with subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. MGM supplies featurette interviews with Altman, Gould, and Vilmos Zsigmond, who first photographed with Altman on 'McCabe and Mrs. Miller' in 1971. Also reprinted is a 1973 American Cinematographer article on Zsigmond's post-flash photography that was revolutionary for its day. Completing this disc are the original theatrical trailer and five radio commercials used during The Long Goodbye's advertising campaign. For fans of Altman and the detective genre, you can't go wrong with an unusually full disc from the MGM penny-pinchers.

*** out of 4