I've never seen Altman's TLG but this thread will make me chase it down (I love most of Altman's earlier stuff so I'd be surprised if I find it a total turn off). I always liked the rather philosophical James M Cain response - to a moviegoer who told him she was "horrified at what they did you your book" - They didn't do anything to my book, it's still there on the shelf.
Neil ________________________________ From: Richard Halegua Posters + Comic Art <sa...@comic-art.com> To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Sent: Sunday, 26 August 2012, 21:09 Subject: Re: [MOPO] Anyone know what went on with the first campaign for The Long Goodbye? I might also mention that parts of the film are totally unintelligible and some very important issues are completely glossed over, like for instance why Nina Van Pallandt kills the woman and what the historical connection is between the victim and Sterling Hayden (who in my opinion is the single actor in the film that did a good job) that resulted in the crime. Why Terry Lennox is involved at all is almost completely ignored and to say that Jim Bouton was 100 times the ball player than he was an actor is an understatement of massive proportion At 12:49 PM 8/26/2012, Posteritati wrote: >rich, > >beg to differ but altman's deconstruction of marlowe is simply >brilliant and considered so by many influential film critics. in my >opinion book adaptations should not necessarily heed closely to the >original. > >fyi,i am also a big marlowe fan and have read & loved his books. > >regards, >sam > >Posteritati >239 Centre Street >New York, NY 10013 >212-226-2207/ Fax: 212-226-2102 >http://www.posteritati.com/ > > > > >On Aug 26, 2012, at 3:41 PM, Richard Halegua Posters + Comic Art wrote: > >>quick answer. Released with the original Amsel style A& B. >>film did poorly (because as a Raymond Chandler adaptation, the film >>sucks. more below) >>film was pulled & a new comedic ad campaign was designed with MAD >>artist Jack Davis. >>the film apparently didn't last a couple weeks in it's first release >>and it didn't get wide release either, so distribution of posters >>was minimal. >>it is interesting to note I have never been able to find a Pressbook >>with the original posters and Walt Reuben says there isn't one, >>although the pressbook for the re-issued campaign is very common. >>The international design is not in the pressbook. >>It is also interesting to note that all four styles do exist as 1sh, >>insert, hs & possibly 30x40. I have never seen 3sheets for the Amsel >>designs, although I do have the Davis & not too long ago got the >>International from Bruce's auctions. It is unusual for a film of >>this time period to have 4 different posters in those sizes mentioned. >> >> >>why Long Goodbye SUCKS >> >>this is really something that gets down to the basic content of the >>book and how Altman decided to translate it. >> >>#1 all Marlowe books are "first-person" stories. All scenes written >>contain Marlowe and what is described is what he sees. >> >>#2 Altman's movie making philosophy is diametrically opposed to such >>a structure. Altman's films are ensemble pieces where each character >>is equally as important as all others and even the starring actors >>are secondary concepts. Any single character standing out is >>anathema to Altman's style >> >>#3 Altman literally destroyed the Marlowe myth as a White Knight. He >>changed Marlowe from an intelligent chess player, college grad >>(Marlowe broke his nose as a football player in college), a former >>investigator in the District Attorney's office and the anti- >>misogynist into a bumbling detective who couldn't find his own shoes >>under his bed and then finally at the end of the film, a murderer >>who happily dances down the road after killing Terry Lennox in cold >>blood. >> >>the film should have been made as a standard vehicle without any >>attribution to Chandler. As a Marlowe movie, it's even worse than >>the Brasher Doubloon which also partially destroyed the Marlowe >>myth, but wasn't as pretentious as Altman's interpretation of >>Chandler's work. >> >> Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com >> ___________________________________________________________________ >> How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List >> Send a message addressed >> to: lists...@listserv.american.edu >> In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L >> The author of this message is >>solely responsible for its content. > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > > Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L > > The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.