Director Dick Richards has another go at the Raymond Chandler story that had already been filmed in 1944 under the better title "Murder, My Sweet." Dick Powell played gumshoe Philip Marlowe in that one, while Robert Mitchum gets that honor here. While I think shot for shot I prefer the 1944 version (it's dripping with noir style and atmosphere), when it comes to the leading man, there's just no comparison. Mitchum was practically born to play roles like this.
Because this came out in 1975, "Farewell My Lovely" is a much less euphemistic version of Chandler's sordid story, and the film does a pretty good job of establishing a sleazy style of its own, much of it copped from "Chinatown," the classic that had come out the year before. Where this movie stumbles is in the casting of Charlotte Rampling as the femme fatale, especially considering that Claire Trevor played the role as a hotsy-totsy piece of something in the 1944 version. Rampling is a drip in the role, and she's not as sexy as the film needs her to be. She has relatively little screen time though, so it's not a huge detriment to the film. Mitchum picks up the slack, and he's helped by John Ireland in the role of police chief.
"Farewell My Lovely" earned a spot in film trivia annals when Sylvia Miles, in a brief role as a boozy informant, received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. Miles made a bit of a specialty out of getting Oscar nominated for tiny roles. She had done the same thing in "Midnight Cowboy" six years earlier.
Grade: A-
Because this came out in 1975, "Farewell My Lovely" is a much less euphemistic version of Chandler's sordid story, and the film does a pretty good job of establishing a sleazy style of its own, much of it copped from "Chinatown," the classic that had come out the year before. Where this movie stumbles is in the casting of Charlotte Rampling as the femme fatale, especially considering that Claire Trevor played the role as a hotsy-totsy piece of something in the 1944 version. Rampling is a drip in the role, and she's not as sexy as the film needs her to be. She has relatively little screen time though, so it's not a huge detriment to the film. Mitchum picks up the slack, and he's helped by John Ireland in the role of police chief.
"Farewell My Lovely" earned a spot in film trivia annals when Sylvia Miles, in a brief role as a boozy informant, received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. Miles made a bit of a specialty out of getting Oscar nominated for tiny roles. She had done the same thing in "Midnight Cowboy" six years earlier.
Grade: A-