Farewell, My Lovely
Encyclopedia
Farewell, My Lovely is a 1940
novel by Raymond Chandler
, the second novel he wrote featuring Los Angeles
private eye
Philip Marlowe
. It was adapted for the screen three times.
Later that afternoon, Marlowe is hired by Lindsay Marriott, a curly-haired gigolo, to assist in handing over an $8,000 ransom
for a rare jade
necklace
owned by a woman friend of Marriott's. However, at the isolated meeting point—a lonely canyon in the middle of the night—Marlowe is knocked out. When Marlowe comes to, he chances upon a passerby, Anne Riordan, who has found Marriott murdered. Anne takes some marijuana cigarettes
off Marriott before Marlowe contacts the police. Later, Anne gives the cigarettes to Marlowe. With Anne's help, Marlowe learns that the owner of the necklace is a Mrs. Grayle. Marlowe visits Mrs. Grayle, a beautiful blonde married to an elderly millionaire, who backs up Marriott's story that she was robbed of the necklace.
Suspicious of Marriott's joints, Marlowe cuts one open and finds the business card of one "Jules Amthor", "Psychic Consultant". Marlowe also learns that the title to the house of Florian's widow was in Marriott's name. Marlowe meets Amthor at the latter's "modernistic" hilltop home. There, Marlowe is beaten up with the help of crooked policemen. Later removed to a "sanitorium", Marlowe is shot full of dope but manages to escape. With a policeman, Marlowe finds Florian's widow murdered in her house. Marlowe makes it to a gambling ship
off the coast where he attempts to get word to Malloy that he has information for him.
Marlowe lands back at his Hollywood apartment, takes a nap and awakes to find Malloy there. Mrs. Grayle then arrives while Malloy hides. Mrs. Grayle and Marlowe talk and it becomes clear that Velma and Mrs. Grayle are the same person. It is revealed that after realizing her new identity was in jeopardy from Marlowe's inquiries, she was anxious to stop his investigation. It is implied that she killed Marriott as well (the job done by an "amateur" who put his "brains all over his face"). When she encounters Malloy at the denouement, she kills him and flees. At the end of the novel, Marlowe relates that she committed suicide
in Baltimore
after her true identity was found out by police there.
Although written after The Big Sleep
(1939
), Farewell, My Lovely was the first Marlowe story to be filmed. In 1942, The Falcon Takes Over
, a 65 minute film, the third in the Falcon
series of films revolving around Michael Arlen
's gentleman sleuth Gay Lawrence (played by George Sanders
), used the plot of Farewell, My Lovely, with Lawrence substituted for Marlowe. Purists agree that fitting the two rather different characters of Marlowe and Lawrence into one seems absurd from today's point of view; however, in 1942, Marlowe was not yet a household word, not yet a fictional character people would immediately recognize, and so at the time many of his habits would not have been known to cinemagoers.
In 1944
, Dick Powell
played the part of the hard-boiled detective in a classic film noir
which was alternatively entitled Murder, My Sweet
and Farewell, My Lovely— two years before Humphrey Bogart
was offered the role of Philip Marlowe in 1946
for The Big Sleep. Thirty years later, Robert Mitchum
starred in a remake
of Farewell, My Lovely, again playing the tough private eye.
The Falcon Takes Over
by Bill Morrison, directed by John Tydeman and broadcast on 22 September 1988 starring Ed Bishop
as Marlowe. BBC Radio 4
, as part of its Classic Chandler series, also broadcast on 19 February 2011 a dramatic adaptation by Robin Brooks
, with Toby Stephens
as the hardboiled detective.
, Michael Caine
is seen reading a paperback copy of the book. In the opening episode of the television series Bored to Death
, Jason Schwartzman
's character Jonathan Ames is inspired to become a private detective after reading the book.
A novel's title was used as the subtitle in the japanese version of the video game Sakura Wars V
but this reference was lost during translation process.
1940 in literature
The year 1940 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Aldous Huxley is a screenwriter for the movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.*Jean-Paul Sartre is taken prisoner by the Germans....
novel by Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
, the second novel he wrote featuring Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
private eye
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. Marlowe first appeared under that name in The Big Sleep published in 1939...
. It was adapted for the screen three times.
Plot summary
A chance encounter (in late March 1939) with hulking ex-con Moose Malloy on Los Angeles' Central Avenue, the part that is "not yet all negro", gets Marlowe into all kinds of trouble. Just released from prison, Malloy is looking for his one-time girlfriend, red-haired Velma Valento, whom he last saw eight years ago. The nightclub where she used to sing, Florian's, is now a black "dine and dice emporium", and no one there has ever heard of her. Malloy leaves after flinging the black bouncer across the room, and Marlowe is asked by a detective on the case, Nulty, to look for Velma. He learns the address of Florian's widow, a drunken middle-aged floozy, and plies her with some bonded bourbon. She tells him, unconvincingly, that Velma is dead; but he finds a photo of her that the widow Florian was trying to hide from him.Later that afternoon, Marlowe is hired by Lindsay Marriott, a curly-haired gigolo, to assist in handing over an $8,000 ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
for a rare jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
necklace
Necklace
A necklace is an article of jewellery which is worn around the neck. Necklaces are frequently formed from a metal jewellery chain. Others are woven or manufactured from cloth using string or twine....
owned by a woman friend of Marriott's. However, at the isolated meeting point—a lonely canyon in the middle of the night—Marlowe is knocked out. When Marlowe comes to, he chances upon a passerby, Anne Riordan, who has found Marriott murdered. Anne takes some marijuana cigarettes
Joint (cannabis)
Joint is a slang term for a cigarette rolled using cannabis. Rolling papers are the most common rolling medium among industrialized countries, however brown paper, cigarettes with the tobacco removed, and newspaper are commonly used in developing countries. Modern papers are now made from a wide...
off Marriott before Marlowe contacts the police. Later, Anne gives the cigarettes to Marlowe. With Anne's help, Marlowe learns that the owner of the necklace is a Mrs. Grayle. Marlowe visits Mrs. Grayle, a beautiful blonde married to an elderly millionaire, who backs up Marriott's story that she was robbed of the necklace.
Suspicious of Marriott's joints, Marlowe cuts one open and finds the business card of one "Jules Amthor", "Psychic Consultant". Marlowe also learns that the title to the house of Florian's widow was in Marriott's name. Marlowe meets Amthor at the latter's "modernistic" hilltop home. There, Marlowe is beaten up with the help of crooked policemen. Later removed to a "sanitorium", Marlowe is shot full of dope but manages to escape. With a policeman, Marlowe finds Florian's widow murdered in her house. Marlowe makes it to a gambling ship
Gambling ship
A gambling ship was a barge or other large vessel used to house a casino and often other venues of entertainment. Under the old three-mile limit of territorial waters they were anchored usually just over three nautical miles off the United States coastline to avoid governmental interference...
off the coast where he attempts to get word to Malloy that he has information for him.
Marlowe lands back at his Hollywood apartment, takes a nap and awakes to find Malloy there. Mrs. Grayle then arrives while Malloy hides. Mrs. Grayle and Marlowe talk and it becomes clear that Velma and Mrs. Grayle are the same person. It is revealed that after realizing her new identity was in jeopardy from Marlowe's inquiries, she was anxious to stop his investigation. It is implied that she killed Marriott as well (the job done by an "amateur" who put his "brains all over his face"). When she encounters Malloy at the denouement, she kills him and flees. At the end of the novel, Marlowe relates that she committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
after her true identity was found out by police there.
Film adaptations
The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep is a hardboiled crime novel by Raymond Chandler, the first in his acclaimed series about detective Philip Marlowe. The work has been adapted twice into film, once in 1946 and again in 1978...
(1939
1939 in literature
The year 1939 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*December 25 - A Christmas Carol is read before a radio audience for the first time....
), Farewell, My Lovely was the first Marlowe story to be filmed. In 1942, The Falcon Takes Over
The Falcon Takes Over
The Falcon Takes Over, also known as The Falcon Steps Out, is a 1942 black-and-white mystery film directed by Irving Reis. The film was the third, following The Gay Falcon and A Date with the Falcon , to star George Sanders as the character Gay Lawrence, a gentleman detective known by the sobriquet...
, a 65 minute film, the third in the Falcon
The Falcon (literary character)
The character of Gay Stanhope Falcon, also known simply as The Falcon, was created in 1940 by Michael Arlen in his short story, "Gay Falcon", which was first published in 1940 in Town & Country magazine...
series of films revolving around Michael Arlen
Michael Arlen
Michael Arlen , original name Dikran Kouyoumdjian, was an Armenian essayist, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and scriptwriter, who had his greatest successes in the 1920s while living and writing in England...
's gentleman sleuth Gay Lawrence (played by George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
), used the plot of Farewell, My Lovely, with Lawrence substituted for Marlowe. Purists agree that fitting the two rather different characters of Marlowe and Lawrence into one seems absurd from today's point of view; however, in 1942, Marlowe was not yet a household word, not yet a fictional character people would immediately recognize, and so at the time many of his habits would not have been known to cinemagoers.
In 1944
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
, Dick Powell
Dick Powell
Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.Despite the same last name he was not related to William Powell, Eleanor Powell or Jane Powell.-Biography:...
played the part of the hard-boiled detective in a classic film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
which was alternatively entitled Murder, My Sweet
Murder, My Sweet
Murder, My Sweet is a 1944 American film noir directed by Edward Dmytryk, and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, and Anne Shirley. The film was released in the United Kingdom under the title Farewell, My Lovely, which is the title of the 1940 Raymond Chandler novel it is based on, and also the...
and Farewell, My Lovely— two years before Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
was offered the role of Philip Marlowe in 1946
1946 in film
The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
for The Big Sleep. Thirty years later, Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
starred in a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of Farewell, My Lovely, again playing the tough private eye.
| Murder, My Sweet Murder, My Sweet Murder, My Sweet is a 1944 American film noir directed by Edward Dmytryk, and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, and Anne Shirley. The film was released in the United Kingdom under the title Farewell, My Lovely, which is the title of the 1940 Raymond Chandler novel it is based on, and also the... |
Farewell, My Lovely Farewell, My Lovely (1975 film) Farewell, My Lovely is a neo-noir film directed by Dick Richards and featuring Robert Mitchum and Charlotte Rampling. The picture is based on the novel Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler.-Plot:... |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of release | 1942 | 1944 | 1975 |
| Director | Irving Reis Irving Reis Irving Reis, born May 7, 1906, in New York City – died July 3, 1953, in Woodland Hills, California, was a radio program producer & director, and a film director.Reis was the creator of the experimental anthology program on the radio, Columbia Workshop... |
Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk was an American film director who was amongst the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who served time in prison for being in contempt of Congress during the McCarthy-era 'red scare'.-Early life:Dmytryk was born in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada,... |
Dick Richards Dick Richards Dick Richards is an American film director, producer and writer.After working as a photographer, Richards went on to direct commercials. His career in film began by writing and directing a western, The Culpepper Cattle Co. , and continued with such films as Farewell, My Lovely , March or Die , and... |
| Screenwriter | Lynn Root and Frank Fenton Frank Fenton (writer) Frank Edgington Fenton was an English-born but American-bred writer of screenplays, short stories, magazine articles, and novels. He was the brother of noted actor and director Leslie Fenton.-Working Writer:... |
John Paxton John Paxton John Paxton was an American screenwriter.-Biography:Some of his films include Murder, My Sweet in 1944, Cornered in 1945, Crossfire in 1947... |
David Zelag Goodman David Zelag Goodman David Zelag Goodman was a playwright and screenwriter for both TV and film. His most prolific period was from the 1960s to the early 1980s. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Lovers and Other Strangers, though he did not win. He co-wrote, with Sam Peckinpah, the screenplay for 1971's... |
| Setting | New York New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... |
Los Angeles Los Ángeles Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants... |
Los Angeles Los Ángeles Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants... |
| Philip Marlowe | George Sanders George Sanders George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I... (as "Gay Lawrence") |
Dick Powell Dick Powell Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.Despite the same last name he was not related to William Powell, Eleanor Powell or Jane Powell.-Biography:... |
Robert Mitchum Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time... |
| Helen Grayle | Helen Gilbert (as "Diana Kenyon") | Claire Trevor Claire Trevor Claire Trevor was an Academy Award-winning American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers... |
Charlotte Rampling Charlotte Rampling Charlotte Rampling, OBE is an English actress. Her career spans four decades in English-language as well as French and Italian cinema.- Early life :... |
| Moose Malloy | Ward Bond Ward Bond Wardell Edwin "Ward" Bond was an American film actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in over 200 movies and the television series Wagon Train.-Early life:... |
Mike Mazurki Mike Mazurki Mike Mazurki was an Austrian-born American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in over 100 movies. His towering 6' 5" presence and intimidating face usually got him roles playing tough guys, thugs, strong men, and gangsters.Mazurki was born as Mikhail Mazurkevych in Tarnopol, Galicia,... |
Jack O'Halloran Jack O'Halloran Jack O'Halloran is an American ex-boxer and actor.-Boxing:O'Halloran was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fighting as "Irish" Jack O'Halloran out of Boston, Massachusetts, he was a heavyweight boxing contender active from 1966 to 1974... |
| Mr. Grayle | — | Miles Mander Miles Mander Miles Mander , born Lionel Henry Mander , was a well-known and versatile English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist.-Early life:Miles Mander was the second son of Theodore Mander, builder of Wightwick Manor, of the prominent... |
Jim Thompson Jim Thompson (writer) James Myers Thompson was an American author and screenwriter, known for his pulp crime fiction.... |
| Lindsay Marriott | Hans Conried Hans Conried Hans Georg Conried, Jr. was an American comedian, character actor and voice actor.-Early years:He was born on April 15, 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland to Hans Georg Conried, Sr. and Edith Beyr Gildersleeve. His mother was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna,... |
Douglas Walton | John O'Leary John O'Leary John O'Leary may refer to:* John O'Leary , Irish nationalist who was imprisoned in England during the nineteenth century*John O'Leary , former Irish Fianna Fáil party politician and TD for Kerry South... |
Radio Adaptations
The novel was adapted on BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
by Bill Morrison, directed by John Tydeman and broadcast on 22 September 1988 starring Ed Bishop
Ed Bishop
Ed Bishop was an American film, television, stage and radio actor based in Britain.-Early life:Bishop served in the US Army from 8 October 1952 to 24 September 1954, working as a disc jockey with the Armed Forces Radio at St. Johns in Newfoundland...
as Marlowe. BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, as part of its Classic Chandler series, also broadcast on 19 February 2011 a dramatic adaptation by Robin Brooks
Robin Brooks
-Adaptations:* 2000 - The Art of Love, a comedy, emphasizing Ovid's role as lover, with Bill Nighy and Anne-Marie Duff* 2004 - Mort by Terry Pratchett* 2006 - Small Gods by Terry Pratchett* 2008 - An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson...
, with Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day , Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and Philip...
as the hardboiled detective.
Cultural references
In the first shot after the opening titles of Get CarterGet Carter
Get Carter is a 1971 British crime film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Michael Caine as Jack Carter, a gangster who sets out to avenge the death of his brother in a series of unrelenting and brutal killings played out against the grim background of derelict urban housing in the city of...
, Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
is seen reading a paperback copy of the book. In the opening episode of the television series Bored to Death
Bored to Death
Bored to Death is an American comedy series, which premiered on HBO on September 20, 2009. , three seasons have aired, each consisting of eight episodes. The show was created by author Jonathan Ames, and stars Jason Schwartzman as a fictional Jonathan Ames – a writer based in Brooklyn, New York...
, Jason Schwartzman
Jason Schwartzman
Jason Francesco Schwartzman is an American actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Rushmore, Spun, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl, Marie Antoinette, The Darjeeling Limited, Funny People, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World...
's character Jonathan Ames is inspired to become a private detective after reading the book.
A novel's title was used as the subtitle in the japanese version of the video game Sakura Wars V
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love
is a tactical role-playing game with dating sim elements. It was developed and published by Sega, and licensed by Red Entertainment, as the fifth title in the Sakura Wars series for PlayStation 2 and Wii...
but this reference was lost during translation process.
External links
- Outline of the plot by William Marling (includes an explanation of some literary allusionAllusionAn allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. M. H...
s)