LAFF picks #4
The Islander guys -- i.e., the creators and cast of Ian McCrudden and Thomas Hildreth's Maine-based drama prior to its L.A. Film Festival showing on Sunday evening, 6.25 (l. to r.): composer Billy Mallory, star-producer Hildreth, producer Forrest Murray, director-cowriter McCrudden, co-producer Melissa Davis, costar Amy Jo Johnson
(a) I met the great Eliott Gould, the greatest Phillip Marlowe of all time, at a SAG party in Westwood last night, and I was struck by how amazingly thin he's become since I last saw him as Reuben Tishkoff in Ocean's 12....Gould actually looks a good deal thinner that he does in this photo -- somewhere between this and his semi-emaciated Long Goodbye appearance...he said he's taken the weight off because "I've accepted supervision"...I said there will obviously have to be some kind of explanation in Ocean's 13 to explain his changed appearance, and Gould said "Yeah, there will be", and I asked what it will be, and he said, "See the movie"; (b) Islander rep Jeff Dowd, Hollywood Reporter columnist Anne Thompson, L.A. Film Festival director of programming Rachel Rosen at Sunday's steamed lobster, melted butter, cole slaw and potatoes party for Islander -- Sunday, 6.2.06, 5:55 pm; (c) Marc and Marla Halperin of Magic Lantern, at same lobster-bib party.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 26, 2006 at 3:00 PM
comment #1
richard crawford says ...
He is the GREAT ELLIOT GOULD! You are so right, Jeffery...I LOVED HIM IN ca SPLIT TOO.....and Nashville....and as a teddy bear in Bob and CArol and etc.
Posted by richard crawford at June 26, 2006 4:03 PM
comment #2
ArchiveGuy says ...
As great as the Altman is, Bogie (via Hawks) remains the greatest Marlowe.
Posted by ArchiveGuy at June 26, 2006 4:26 PM
comment #3
cathar says ...
Elliott Gould was, rather, the worst Philip Marlowe. Shambling, unshaven, murderous, mumbly and totally physically graceless (until the very end) and emotionally clueless, this was not a Marlowe Raymond Chandler would have recognized. Chandler, in fact, because Marlowe was written as someone outstanding for his handsomeness (other characters remark on this many times), said more than once that Cary Grant was his ideal choice to play Marlowe. With Grant never having played the part, perhaps that leaves Robert Montgomery at the height of his own physical appeal, in "The Lady In The Lake." Somebody's got to read more original source material, Jeffrey.
Posted by cathar at June 26, 2006 5:47 PM
comment #4
Joe Leydon says ...
I have to agree with Cathar. In terms of playing the character that Raymond Chandler wrote, Gould isn't even up to the level of Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe in "Farewell, My Lovely' (and the needless "Big Sleep" remake). Of course, if we're going to insist on fidelity to source material, I've said for years that Timothy Dalton came closer to playing the James Bond that Ian Fleming described than any other actor I've seen as 007. And I must agree with the Sherlockians who insist that Robert Duvall nailed Dr. Watson (in "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution") better than Nigel Bruce ever did.
Posted by Joe Leydon at June 26, 2006 6:35 PM
comment #5
Joe Leydon says ...
On the other hand, Gould is much better in Ingmar Bergman's "The Touch" than most people are willing to give him credit. And I'll admit to an inexcusable fondness for his work as an about-to-burn-out cop (opposite Robert Blake) in "Busting," and as the target of Christopher Plummer's terrorizing in "The Silent Partner."
Posted by Joe Leydon at June 26, 2006 6:43 PM
comment #6
gh says ...
Purist nerds. Gould may not have been Chandler's Marlowe but he was the coolest Marlowe.
Coury brand cat food bitches.
Posted by gh at June 27, 2006 12:43 AM
comment #7
Mike Gebert says ...
The whole point of Gould's Marlowe is deconstructing the character, so surely either praise or criticism is beside the point. What's great about that movie is that it gets to Chandler's moral take on a rotten society the long way around, via parody and deconstruction-- it's not the best Marlowe but Gould's anti-Marlowe is a big part of why it's the best movie about the California lifestyle.
Posted by Mike Gebert at June 27, 2006 9:37 AM