Elliott Gould : Seventies Everyman

In this column we will present brief biographies and commentary on the careers contemporary film personas. In this month's column, Elliott Gould sheds a little light on the '70's updating of the Philip Marlowe character in The Long Goodbye.

Elliott Gould was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). He starred in Robert Altman's M*A*S*H, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in 1971. One of our most accomplished actors, Mr. Gould has also starred or played supporting roles in Getting Straight, Little Murders, The Touch, Harry And Walter Go To New York, A Bridge Too Far, Capricorn One, The Silent Partner, The Muppet Movie, The Lady Vanishes, The Big Picture, Bugsy, Naked Gun 33 1/3, The Big Hit, American History X and, most recently, the remake of Ocean's 11. On television he has performed in Stephen King's The Shining, the series Friends and ER (not current E/R but half hour situation comedy). He has also performed all of Raymond Chandler's novels on audiotape. A compleat performer, Mr. Gould recently granted an interview to discuss the making of Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye in 1973.

FM: Are you a fan of Raymond Chandler's mysteries?

Elliott Gould: Definitely. I've recorded every one of the Marlowe novels for audiotape.

Before we get into the details of The Long Goodbye, I would like to explain the steps that led to my playing that character. I feel that it is important to get the history correct. I had produced and starred in Little Murders, then went to Sweden to work with Ingmar Bergman on The Touch, which was quite a fine piece of work. Bergman was, in my mind, the foremost craftsman in the field. I was successful at the time and I thought I could do just about anything. My next project was A Glimpse of Tiger, by Herman Rauscher. But the film was not made. At the time, I thought I'd earned the right to create but I was wrong. What I did not realize was that I had earned the right to suggest, but I was swept away with the success of those other films, and I had no perspective or judgement. My collaborators at the time could not tell me this, because I could not recognize their wisdom. One of these people was Jack Brodsky, my producing partner both on Glimpse and Little Murders. I actually behaved unprofessionally, and could not understand why my decisions were misperceived by my partners. After working with Bergman, I felt out of focus. I could not finish Glimpse, and it was a year and a half between projects.

The next project would be The Long Goodbye. Between Glimpse and meeting David Picker, President of United Artists at the time, I simply could not work. David Picker gave me Leigh Brackett's script to read. It was a pastiche set during the 1940's. I was charmed by it, and had an imagination about it. Peter Bogdanovich was supposed to direct The Long Goodbye, but he wanted Lee Marvin or Robert Mitchum. He felt I was too new. Eventually Peter Bogdanovich was off the project, Robert Altman was on, and he picked me for the part of Marlowe.

I had fallen out of grace in the industry, was basically uncastable. When Robert Altman called from the set of Images I told him I had always wanted to play this guy. Robert said, "You ARE this guy." I knew then that the film would work.

FM: The character of private detective Philip Marlowe as portrayed by you in The Long Goodbye is a weary sort of character, seeming to go about in a shambles. Was that intentional? And why?

Elliott Gould: Marlowe is the only character with a conscience in the film. Marlowe is a vulnerable character. Imagination is often a threat to most businesses, and I was surprised to find this even more true in the film industry.

There's a scene at the end where Marlowe kills the Terry Lenox character [his best friend]. This was Altman's idea, not Brackett's and certainly not in the book. There was, I felt, a certain sense of justice to this action by Marlowe. It fits with his having the only sense of conscience. But then I spit after shooting him. In hindsight, I don't think I'd do that again. Characters like Terry Lenox are a product of human nature.

FM: There were an incredible number of talented people in the film, including the great Sterling Hayden as Roger Wade. What was it like to work with him?

Elliott Gould: Originally set to play that role was Dan Blocker, who played Hoss on the TV series Bonanza, but he died shortly before. So we were talking about getting John Huston, whom I was fortunate enough to be friends with until he passed away. But that didn't work out due to prior commitments. So someone suggested Sterling Hayden. I didn't know anything of Hayden's political past when I met him, only his work in The Killing and Johnny Guitar, so when I met him at Robert Altman's beach house I had no pre-existing concepts of the man.

I asked Robert if I could meet Sterling alone, and Robert suggested his house, which was the same house you see in the film. I knew that he had spent some time with R.D. Lang, author of "KNOTS," existential philosopher. So we sat alone and we talked. So I knew that he knew that he knew that I knew that he knew that I understood him. So we sat alone and talked, and he knew that I knew that he knew that I knew...we were in complete harmony. And, both during the filming and afterwards, I was very appreciative of his work and felt Sterling deserved to be nominated [for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor].

FM: There is one scene in particular that gets a jolt into the audience. It's when the character of Marty Augustine, played by director Mark Rydell, and his henchmen are waiting for you ar your apartment and, by way of example, he threatens you by smashing a bottle into his girlfriend's face. I always thought that was a daring choice. Who's idea was that?

Elliott Gould: That was completely Robert Altman's idea. You noticed one of Augustine's henchmen was Arnold Schwarzenegger? They cut the scene, but when he comes to collect me I look at the size of his arms and ask, "Do you have a gun in there?"

FM: You were one of the biggest stars of the 70's. Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice was groundbreaking. M*A*S*H, California Split were analogous of the times. You were top draw at the box office. With all the collected talent in The Long Goodbye, did you feel as though this would be another big hit for you?

Elliott Gould: You never know these things. The film premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, and they had a poster for the film that was me with a cat standing on my shoulder and a smoking gun in my hand. Which was wrong in terms of the iconoclastic meaning of the film, so I felt this image was wrong for what they were looking for. And [film reviewer] Charles Champlain almost single-handedly destroyed the film because he felt it went against the mold of the Marlowe films - he was a huge Bogie fan and compared me to him. After his review they closed the picture. So then Robert Altman put out the Mad Magazine-type of campaign with the Mort Drucker cartoon poster. After Robert Altman redesigned the campaign, they premiered the film in New York City to terrific reviews. A native New Yorker, I always felt they should have opened it there, as opposed to Los Angeles where anybody invested in Marlowe would feel that we were breaking the mold of tradition.

FM: That must have been disappointing to you, especially after a year and a half not working. Where does The Long Goodbye rank for you among your many works?

Elliott Gould: For a very long time it was my favorite, almost as though it were the first film I'd ever made.

FM: Would you be interested in doing another Marlowe film?

Elliott Gould: Of course. But there is the age thing.

FM: You've been very active in a number of popular TV shows recently. Do you think your having been a huge star in the 70's, and the recurrent popularity of that era, have anything to do with your current distinction?

Elliott Gould: My philosophy is that, in the here and now, we're all the same age, just some are "here" longer than others. People not being aware of what I've done before seems to make no difference where reality and opportunity are concerned. I hope to be able to work now and in the future without the past referencing that too much.

A grain of pride is good for the heart, but no more than that.

FM: Anything from your experience working on The Long Goodbye that most of us viewers might not know about?

Elliott Gould: The car we used in the film was mine. It was a 1948 Lincoln Continental, and I think John Wayne had one. I would not have used the car, but Robert Altman thought it would fit perfectly the character of Marlowe. But Altman was making a picture about anachronisms and wanted the car as a symbol of the Marlowe persona.

There is a scene along the Pacific Coast Highway where an ambulance is speeding into Malibu Colony. If you look closely you'll see it's Robert Altman riding shotgun, directing from that spot.

FM: You've made three films with Altman. I gather from what you've said that he helped you out quite a bit with The Long Goodbye.

Elliott Gould: He was trusting enough to let me be Marlowe. He wanted to direct the film, and told me to keep continuity in cigarette usage from scene to scene. I really enjoyed the experience.

FM: Thank you for talking with us about this great film noir classic. Your contribution to the Marlowe character is certainly one of the finest and I hope, in retrospect, will get the attention it deserves.

Elliott Gould: Thank you.

For more information on Elliott Gould, please visit this fan's very nice site: The Elliott Gould Homepage.

Del Harvey, founder of FM, has worked for The Walt Disney Company, Lucasfilm/THX, and The Directors Guild of America.

Got a problem? Email Del at filmmonthly@hotmail.com