The Long Goodbye, a short stay with Elliott, by Madelaine

This week, I have a special treat, inspired by my house guest, Elliott the cat. Elliott has been with me for ten days, so in honor of his short stay, I am going to talk about The Long Goodbye starring Elliott Gould and his orange cat. The book on which it is based was first published in 1953 and was the 6th in Raymond Chandler's detective series featuring Philip Marlowe. It was adapted for the screen in 1973 by famed female fiction and screenwriter Leigh Brackett, whose credits also include the 1946 film noir The Big Sleep. Directed by Robert Altman and with cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, whose work is credited with crafting the look of the 1970s in film. The Long Goodbye was the height of Neo-noir and part of what I consider to be one of the best periods in American film. It is also a quintessentially Los Angeles story, primarily filmed in the city at landmark locations with symbolism aligned with the very heart of this town.