Rating: 
Summary: Neo-noir at it's best, and above all classic Marlowe!!!!!!!!
Review: "Farewell, my Lovely" is one of the most faithful and well made adaptions of Chandler's work. I believe it's even better than it's predessessor which is a classic in itself. The problem with murder my sweet was Dick Powell. He is not a tough guy. This point is only accentuated if you watch the TCM video in which Powell is shown in full face make-up in a musical. These images shatter his tough facade even before picture start. Mitchum, like Bogart before him is an archetypal tough hero. This is what Marlowe is as well. Mitchum captures Marlowe world weary persona perfectly, never once appearing world-beaten instead. This film is almost completely faithful to the original story, with only minor changes. Some of which actually serve yo enhance the film rather than hinder it. For example, the skinny Indian psychic who beats Marlowe in the novel is replaced by a four hundred pound madame. This is hilarious to watch. So many times directors and screenwriters succumb to the urge to update or change Chandler's work, with diasterous results. "The Long Goodbye" "Marlowe" and "Lady in the Lake" to name a few. Perhaps worst of all was the remake of "The Big Sleep" which also starred Mitchum, but amazingly he carried this film as well, both his performances are excellent. "Farewell, my lovely does an excellent job evoking the mood of classic noir. Amazingly, a lot of the mood has to do with color. This is odd because the same mood was evoked in "Murder my Sweet" and that was because of the absence of color. Don't let this film pass you by, it's the best Mitchum I have ever seen and it deserves a lot of credit for staying faithful to the source material. It's beyond improvement. Marlowe is once again done justice. That is a rare accomplishment indeed.
Rating: 
Summary: The sets look really cheap.
Review: 'Farewell, My Lovely' is a likable detective film, but the sets look really cheap and fake. I didn't get the feeling I was back in Los Angeles in the 1930s; I felt like I was looking at a set that was trying to look like Los Angeles in the 30s. Robert Mitchum is alright, but he is a little too old.
Rating:
Summary: The sets look really cheap.
Review: 'Farewell, My Lovely' is a likable detective film, but the sets look really cheap and fake. I didn't get the feeling I was back in Los Angeles in the 1930s; I felt like I was looking at a set that was trying to look like Los Angeles in the 30s. Robert Mitchum is alright, but he is a little too old.
Rating:
Summary: Flawless .............!
Review: CHARLOTTE RAMPLING!It's really her movie - she ignites any red blooded male instantly with that first Mitchum meeting [and husband dearest, a beat away from a pacemaker - is present]. Intentionally sensual, yet, the girl can't help it - she was made that way, and how much we have subsequently missed. An aloof actress, she fortunately does make rare and always noteworthy appearances. Great story - smatterings of "CHINATOWN", Mitchum, also perfectly aged - spot-on as our Gumshoe, looking for "Big Mooses" lost love......Velma???? There's plenty of seedy little twists [that so necessary brothel!] / turns, including a great booze scene with Sylvia Miles and there's just the right ending . Kind of "LA Confidential" too..... BUT, and guys you must be numb it you don't agree - it's Miss Rampling who does that Voodoo. Imagine a teaming with Sharon Stone, Kim Basinger and Kathleen Turner [you'd have a few fatalities in the audience!] Other worth-while Rampling visits? "The Night Porter' "Foxtrot" [the rarely seen treat with Peter O'Toole], and "Orchid".
Rating:
Summary: MITCHUM IS MARLOWE
Review: Director Richard Rush presented us a valentine with this incredible film, the third version made from the the 1940 Raymond Chandler novel. At least seven actors have portrayed Philip Marlowe. Robert Mitchum, played the part twice. The first time, in this film, he was nothing short of brilliant; just world-weary, battered, meloncholy, and tough enough to spark this tale into a full flame. His voice-over narrative hit perfect pitch; all gravel, too many smokes, and cheap booze. Mitchum, himself the veteran of several Noir classics, played the gumshoe as comfortable as one's favorite overcoat; a perfect fit. He shuffled lazy-lidded yet irascible and alert, as ready for a sap behind the ear, as he was to be the recipient of the sexual energy radiated off of Charlotte Rampling as Helen, the femme. She, likewise, postured perfectly in the Noir 1940's clothes and hairstyles. John Alonzo, fresh from shooting CHINATOWN, presented us with an LA bathed in just the right mix of golden light and shadow. Jerry Goldsmith delivered another spectacular score, overlapping jazz, blues, and swing, underscoring the action and dialogue masterfully. John Ireland, also a veteran of classic Noir, Anthony Zerbe, and Harry Dean Stanton gave tremendous support with their roles. There was even a couple of glimpses of Sly Stallone ( pre-ROCKY ) as a viscious punk. Some of the critics felt that this lush color film had to try too hard for that Noir feel. I disagree. This movie is a modern Noir classic, even in living color.
Rating:
Summary: Robert Mitchum at his best!
Review: I watched this movie yesterday and would have to say i was taken aback at how good this movie is. Arguably the best Phillip Marlowe recreation by an actor, showing how underrated Mitchum is, with his superb acting skills brought to the fore in this movie and also narrated in his superb gravel baritone voice. Basically if this is how you end up when you reach the over 50 age bracket, i can't wait! I won't waste my time with the plot but i'll go on to say that the twists and turns are superb, the usual snappy dialouge you'd come to expect from a Chandler book with tremendous support actors & with the very sexy Charlotte Rampling as the 'Femme Fatale'. Please keep your eyes peeled for Sylvester Stallone, who plays a young Hood. Also i can't but help not mention the scene where Mitchum comes face to face with a Hollywood 'Madam' all 350 pounds of her! Basically she (along with every other person in the film) just want's a little information about 'Moose Malloy' who has employed Mitchum to find his girlfriend, she want's a answer and persuades Marlowe with a few hefty slaps to which Mitchum gives his relpy, Punching a women is wrong, but i've never seen a better hit in a movie before!! Overall when "Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide" labeled the movie as trying too hard to set the scene of Hollwood in the early 40's, Lenoard was as usual talking out his backside.
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Summary: The last great film noir!
Review: Perfect cinematography, lush score, fantastic performances, great script with plenty of plot twists, great bit-part actors make this one of the best movies I have ever seen. I saw it's first theatrical release in 1975 and it has stuck with me ever since. Robert Mitchum is fantastic, Charlotte Rampling is hot, and even Sylvester Stallone puts in a tiny appearance! Done about the same time as Chinatown, this is so much better!
Rating:
Summary: the spirit is dead on
Review: purists might debate whether the deviancies from the novel are to positive or detrimental effect, but Mitchum captures Marlowe in a casual and powerful way. the entire Chandler spirit is kept faithfully intact, creatively filled out by excellent lighting & cinemetography, keeping the viewer involved in the neo-noir attitude as if the film was actually made in 1941. the anne riordan character is replaced by a newspaper hawker who is a little out of place and unexplained, but perhaps charlotte rampling was all the femme fatale they could afford so...better just hire some young kid to float the story. jack o'halloran is truly believable as moose malloy, and sylvester stallone performs some of his finest work.
Rating:
Summary: "You'll do anything for six bits."
Review: Set in Los Angeles in 1941, this moody film noir adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel includes a weary Phillip Marlowe played by 57-year old Robert Mitchum. Mitchum's Marlowe is perfection itself, and Mitchum's usual laconic style also includes a tired, patient acceptance of the general wickedness of human nature. Dick Powell played Marlowe in the 1944 version titled "Murder My Sweet." Watch the two back-to-back, and you will appreciate Mitchum's style. "Farewell My Lovely" is Mitchum's film.
Private Detective Marlowe is hired for a seemingly hopeless quest by an ex-con (named Moose) for his long-lost girlfriend, Velma. Marlowe seems to be humouring Moose more than anything else, but the quest for Velma leads Marlowe through some sleazy LA spots, and of course, there's a trail of dead bodies along the way. The film oozes with the idea that people somehow wash up in seedy corners of LA. There's Mrs. Florian (Sylvia Miles), for example, a woman whose alcohol-soaked memories may include some vital information, and there's a bordello madam who's big and mean enough to make all her girls behave. It's not an easy task to produce a film in the mid 70s that smacks of the 40s, but "Farewell My Lovely" carries off the ambience of the time. My favourite line ... "I was having some Chinese food when a dark shadow fell over my Chop Suey."--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: Movie Transcends the Material
Review: The photography is perfect, the score is magnificent. Robert Mitchum was made to play a middle aged Philip Marlowe, and his voice over has all the weariness and angst the most die hard noir fan could ask for. The mid-30's sets are impeccable. So what is there to complain about? I think the culprit is Raymond Chandler. One of the most quotable of the hard-boiled writers, his writing sang but his plots were so convoluted, the reader needs a scorecard to keep track of the story. Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his elusive love Velma. Until the bloody finale, that was the last time I was clear about the action. I commend all the actors for delivering fine performances, particularly Sylvia Myles who played the hopeless alcoholic, Mrs. Florian. She was piercingly pathetic as a nice girl who couldn't quite believe she was a middle-aged drunk. Robert Mitchum allowed merciless lighting that occasionally made him look like a guy who has had one too many face-lifts. This film version of "Farewell My Lovely" is probably as good as it gets. I recommend "Out of the Past" for Mitchum and noir fans.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer
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