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The Long Goodbye (film)

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This article is about the 1973 Robert Altman film. For the 1982 Hong Kong film, see The Head Hunter (1982 film). For the 2020 album, see The Long Goodbye (Riz Ahmed album).
The Long Goodbye
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Altman
Screenplay byLeigh Brackett
Based onThe Long Goodbye
(1953 novel)
by Raymond Chandler
Produced byJerry Bick
StarringElliott Gould
Nina van Pallandt
Sterling Hayden
CinematographyVilmos Zsigmond
Edited byLou Lombardo
Music byJohn Williams
Production
company
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • March 7, 1973 (1973-03-07)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.7 million[1]
Box office$959,000

The Long Goodbye is a 1973 American neo-noir film directed by Robert Altman, adapted by Leigh Brackett from Raymond Chandler's 1953 novel of the same name. The film stars Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe and features Sterling Hayden, Nina Van Pallandt, Jim Bouton, Mark Rydell, and an early, uncredited appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The story's setting was moved from the 1940s to 1970s Hollywood. The film has been called "a study of a moral and decent man cast adrift in a selfish, self-obsessed society where lives can be thrown away without a backward glance ... and any notions of friendship and loyalty are meaningless."[2]

United Artists released the film on March 7, 1973. It received mixed to positive reviews upon release, but its critical assessment has grown over time.[3] In 2021, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4]

Plot

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Down-on-his-luck private eye Philip Marlowe leaves his Los Angeles apartment to buy cat food. When he returns, he finds his close friend Terry Lennox, who begs him for a ride to Tijuana. Marlowe notices scratches on Terry's face, and Terry admits he is in trouble.

After Marlowe returns from Mexico, the police arrest him, explaining that Terry has been accused of killing his wife Sylvia and that Marlowe may be an accomplice. Marlowe spends three days in jail, but is released after Mexican authorities report that Terry has committed suicide in Mexico. Marlowe refuses to believe his friend could have done these things.

Eileen Wade hires Marlowe to find her missing husband, Roger Wade, a macho, alcoholic, and self-destructive novelist. Marlowe finds Roger at a rehab clinic and brings him home, but not before the clinician, Dr. Verringer, demands payment for his services and vows to see Roger again. Marlowe decides to investigate the Wades after learning that they were the Lennoxes' neighbors.

Gangster Marty Augustine roughs up Marlowe, demanding that he help recover $355,000 that Augustine hired Terry to deliver to Mexico City. To underscore the threat, Augustine smashes a broken bottle into his mistress's face.

Marlowe visits the Wades in Malibu. Roger worries that Eileen no longer loves him. To deter Marlowe from competing for Eileen's affections, he boasts to Marlowe that Augustine owes him $50,000. Eileen says that Roger actually owes Augustine money.

Marlowe travels to Mexico, but the Mexican police stick to their story. He returns to Malibu, where the Wades are hosting a party. Dr. Verringer crashes the party, demanding payment. Although Roger drunkenly insults him, he cannot stand being humiliated in front of his friends. He pays Dr. Verringer and walks into the ocean to commit suicide. Eileen and Marlowe chase him, but cannot save him.

Hoping that Terry is still alive, Marlowe theorizes that Roger was having an affair with Sylvia and killed her to hide his infidelity, forcing Terry to flee the country until Marlowe can reveal the truth. He badgers Eileen, who reluctantly confirms his theory. Marlowe asks the police to call off the Lennox investigation; they dismiss his theory, but confirm that Roger met with Sylvia before going to rehab.

Marlowe receives a goodbye letter signed "Terry", with a rare $5,000 bill enclosed. Goons drag him to Augustine's office. After discovering the $5,000 bill, Augustine grows suspicious, noting that Terry's money shipment contained three $5,000 bills. Augustine parades his bandaged mistress in front of Marlowe and threatens to forcibly circumcise him, but Terry's money arrives in the nick of time, and Augustine lets Marlowe go. Marlowe glimpses Eileen driving away. He runs after her, but she does not acknowledge him. During his pursuit, he is hit by a car. He wakes up in a hospital and is given a miniature harmonica by a heavily bandaged patient in the next bed. Eileen has disappeared.

Marlowe returns to Mexico, where he attempts to bribe a local official with the $5,000 bill. The official admits that a man with another $5,000 bill paid him to fake Terry's suicide. Marlowe finds Terry in a Mexican villa. It turns out that Marlowe's instincts were wrong and the cops were right. Terry explains that while there was in fact a Lennox-Wade affair, it was actually Terry who was sleeping with Eileen. Roger discovered the affair and disclosed it to Sylvia, who confronted Terry. Terry accidentally killed Sylvia during a violent argument.

Terry gloats that no one cares about the case anymore since he is legally dead and Augustine got his money back. Marlowe asks him why Terry framed him as a suspect, but Terry dismissively calls Marlowe a loser. In response, Marlowe fatally shoots Terry.

As Marlowe walks away, he passes Eileen, who is driving to meet Terry. She is shocked to see him in Mexico, and realizes that Terry's secret is out. Having obtained his revenge, Marlowe happily plays the harmonica while strolling down the road.

Cast

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Uncredited

Development

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It took a number of years for a film of The Long Goodbye to be made, although a television production was made in 1954 with Dick Powell.[7] By the time of Chandler's death in 1959, his only Marlowe novels that had not been made into films were The Little Sister, The Long Goodbye, and Playback. Playback remains unadapted.

In October 1965 it was announced that producers Elliott Kastner and Jerry Gershwin held the rights to Goodbye and would film it the following year in Los Angeles and Mexico.[8]

In 1967, producer Gabriel Katzka had the rights.[9] He wanted to make it as a follow-up to the adaptation of The Little Sister (which became Marlowe).[10] Stirling Silliphant, who wrote Marlowe, wrote a script, but the film was not made and MGM let its option lapse.[11]

Kastner and producer Jerry Bick bought the rights back and made a production deal with United Artists to finance a film.[12] Chandler's books were selling as well in the early 1970s as they had while he was alive.[13]

Leigh Brackett

[edit]

The producers commissioned a screenplay from Leigh Brackett, who had been Kastner's client when he was an agent and had written the script for the Humphrey Bogart version of The Big Sleep. Brackett:

set the deal with United Artists, and they had a commitment for a film with Elliott Gould, so either you take Elliott Gould or you don't make the film. Elliott Gould was not exactly my idea of Philip Marlowe, but anyway there we were. Also, as far as the story was concerned, time had gone by—it was twenty-odd years since the novel was written, and the private eye had become a cliché. It had become funny. You had to watch out what you were doing. If you had Humphrey Bogart at the same age that he was when he did The Big Sleep, he wouldn't do it the same way. Also, we were faced with a technical problem of this enormous book, which was the longest one Chandler ever wrote. It's tremendously involuted and convoluted. If you did it the way he wrote it, you would have a five-hour film.[14]

Brian G. Hutton, who had made a number of movies for Kastner, was originally attached as director and Brackett says Hutton wanted the script structured so that "the heavy had planned the whole thing from the start" but when writing it she found the idea contrived.[14]

The script deviates markedly from Chandler's novel. Brackett took many liberties with the story, plot, and characters. In the film, Marlowe kills his best friend, Terry Lennox. Lennox did kill his own wife, because she discovered he was having an affair with Eileen, and he admits this to Marlowe. Neither Sylvia Lennox, her sister, nor her father appears in the film; Roger Wade commits suicide, rather than being murdered; and gangster Marty Augustine and his subplots are additions to the film. Bernie Ohls, Marlowe's sometime friend on the LAPD, is also absent.

The film quotes from the novel when Marlowe, under police interrogation, asks, "Is this where I'm supposed to say, 'What's all this about?' and he [the cop] says, 'Shut up! I ask the questions'?"[15]

Throughout the film are stylistic nods to the Chandler novels and 1950s American culture. Marlowe drives a 1948 Lincoln Continental convertible Cabriolet, in contrast with the contemporary cars others drive. Marlowe also chain smokes in the film, in contrast with a health-conscious California; no one else smokes on screen.

A "making-of" featurette on the DVD is titled "Rip van Marlowe", a reference to the character Rip Van Winkle, to emphasize the contrast between Marlowe's anachronistic 1950s behavior and the film's 1970s setting.[16]

Robert Altman

[edit]

The producers offered the script to both Howard Hawks and Peter Bogdanovich to direct it. Both refused the offer, but Bogdanovich recommended Robert Altman.[12]

United Artists president David Picker may have picked Gould to play Marlowe as a ploy to get Altman to direct. At the time, Gould was in professional disfavor because of his rumored troubles on the set of A Glimpse of Tiger, in which he bickered with costar Kim Darby, fought with director Anthony Harvey, and acted erratically. Consequently, he had not worked in nearly two years; nevertheless, Altman convinced Bick that Gould suited the role.[12] United Artists had Gould undergo the usual employment medical examination, and a psychological examination attesting to his mental stability.[17]

In January 1972 it was announced Altman and Gould would make the film.[18] Altman called it "a satire in melancholy".[19]

Brackett had problems with Chandler's plot, which she felt was "riddled with cliches", and faced the choice of making it a period piece or updating it.[20] Altman received a copy of the script while shooting Images in Ireland. He liked the ending because it was so out of character for Marlowe. He agreed to direct as long as the ending was not changed.[21]

Brackett recalled meeting Altman while he was doing Images. "We conferred about ten o'clock in the morning and yakked all day, and I went back to the hotel and typed all the notes and went back the next day. In a week we had it all worked out. He was a joy to work with. He had a very keen story mind."[14]

Altman and Brackett spent a lot of time discussing the plot. Altman wanted Marlowe to be a loser. He even nicknamed Gould's character Rip Van Marlowe, as if he had been asleep for 20 years, woken up, and was wandering around Los Angeles in the early 1970s but "trying to invoke the morals of a previous era".[22]

Brackett said her first draft was too long, and she shortened it, but the ending was inconclusive.[20] She had Marlowe shooting Terry Lennox.[23] Altman made several changes to the script, like having Roger Wade commit suicide and having Marty Augustine smash a Coke bottle across his girlfriend's face.[23] Altman said, "it was supposed to get the attention of the audience and remind them that, in spite of Marlowe, there is a real world out there, and it is a violent world".[24]

"Chandler fans will hate my guts", Altman said. "I don't give a damn."[13]

Production

[edit]

Casting

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Many of the film's roles were unconventionally cast. Jim Bouton was not an actor; he was a former Major League Baseball pitcher and the author of the bestselling book Ball Four. Nina Van Pallandt was best known at the time as the ex-lover of writer Clifford Irving, who had written a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes that turned into a major scandal.[25] Mark Rydell had an acting background, but was better known as the director of films like The Cowboys and The Reivers.[26] Henry Gibson was another odd choice, having just completed four years as a cast member of the TV comedy-variety series Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.[27]

In May 1972 it was announced that Dan Blocker would appear.[28] He was cast as Roger Wade, but died before filming started. The film is dedicated to his memory in the closing credits.

In June it was announced that Vilmos Zsigmond would be cinematographer.[29]

Near the midpoint of the film, during a scene in which Marlowe meets with Marty Augustine, Augustine orders everyone to strip and we see Arnold Schwarzenegger in briefs portraying a thug working for Augustine.[30] Schwarzenegger received neither screen credit nor lines in this appearance.

Filming

[edit]

Altman did not read all of Chandler's book and instead used Raymond Chandler Speaking, a collection of letters and essays, copies of which he gave the cast and crew, advising them to study the essays.[23] The opening scene with Marlowe and his cat came from a story a friend of Altman's told him about his cat only eating one type of cat food. Altman saw it as a comment on friendship.[21] He decided that the camera should never stop moving and put it on a dolly.[31] The camera movements counter the characters' actions so that the viewer feels like a voyeur. To compensate for Southern California's harsh light, Altman gave the film a soft pastel look reminiscent of postcards from the 1940s.[31]

Altman had Gould and Hayden ad lib most of their dialogue because, according to the director, Hayden was drunk and stoned on marijuana most of the time.[23] Altman was reportedly thrilled by Hayden's performance. Altman's home in Malibu Colony was used as Wade's house. "I hope it works", Altman said during filming. "We've got a script but we don't follow it closely."[13]

As a reference to the American iconography of Chandler's novels, Marlowe wears a tie with American flags on it (the tie looks plain red in the movie due to Zsigmond's post-flashing).[16]

Music

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The soundtrack of The Long Goodbye features two songs, "Hooray for Hollywood" and "The Long Goodbye", composed by John Williams and Johnny Mercer. It was Altman's idea to have every occurrence of the latter song arranged differently, from hippie chant to supermarket muzak to radio music, setting the mood for Marlowe's encounters with eccentric Californians while pursuing his case.[32]

Release

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The Long Goodbye was previewed at the Tarrytown Conference Center in Tarrytown, New York. Judith Crist, then the film critic for New York magazine, hosted the gala.[24] The film was not well received by the audience, except for Nina van Pallandt's performance. Altman attended a question-and-answer session afterward, where the mood was "vaguely hostile", reportedly leaving the director "depressed".[24] The Long Goodbye was not well received by critics during its limited release in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Miami.[1][24] The New York opening was canceled at the last minute after several advance screenings had already been held for the press. The film was abruptly withdrawn from release with rumors that it would be reedited.[24]

Studio executives analyzed the reviews for months, concluding that the reason for the film's failure was the misleading advertising campaign in which it had been promoted as a "detective story". They spent $40,000 on a new release campaign that included a poster by Mad magazine artist Jack Davis.[33][34]

MGM Home Entertainment released the film on DVD on September 17, 2002.[35]

Varèse Sarabande released selections from Williams's score on a CD in 2004 paired with the album rerecording of Williams's music from Fitzwilly; in 2015 Quartet Records issued a CD entirely devoted to The Long Goodbye.

When the film screened on TV in 1977, ABC cut Marlowe's shooting of Lennox.[36]

Reception

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Though the film has been lauded by critics in the decades since its release, contemporaneous reviews complained of Altman's handling of the noir genre and Gould's portrayal of Marlowe. Time magazine's Jay Cocks wrote, "Altman's lazy, haphazard putdown is without affection or understanding, a nose-thumb not only at the idea of Philip Marlowe but at the genre that his tough-guy-soft-heart character epitomized. It is a curious spectacle to see Altman mocking a level of achievement to which, at his best, he could only aspire".[37] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times found the film "quite sleek, marvelously and inventively photographed ... The problem is that the Altman-Brackett Marlowe, played by Elliott Gould, is an untidy, unshaven, semiliterate, dim-wit slob who could not locate a missing skyscraper and would be refused service at a hot dog stand. He is not Chandler's Marlowe, or mine, and I can't find him interesting, sympathetic or amusing, and I can't be sure who will."[38] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote that the film "is not a movie version of the Chandler mystery that anyone with a liking for Chandler could possibly enjoy ... If you are not prepared to shuffle along from scene to pointless, protracted scene with klutzy old Elliott, there will be little to occupy your time or offset your annoyance."[39]

Roger Ebert, however, gave the film three out of four stars and praised Gould's performance, "particularly the virtuoso ten-minute stretch at the beginning of the movie when he goes out to buy food for his cat. Gould has enough of the paranoid in his acting style to really put over Altman's revised view of the private eye".[40] Gene Siskel also liked the film and gave it three-and-a-half out of four stars, calling it "a most satisfying motion picture" with Gould displaying "surprising finesse and reserve" in his performance, though he faulted the "convoluted and too quickly resolved plot".[41]

When The Long Goodbye was rereleased, reviewer Vincent Canby wrote, "it's an original work, complex without being obscure, visually breathtaking without seeming to be inappropriately fancy".[42]

Pauline Kael's lengthy review in The New Yorker called the film "a high-flying rap on Chandler and the movies", hailed Gould's performance as "his best yet" and praised Altman for achieving "a self-mocking fairy-tale poetry".[43]

Despite Kael's effusive endorsement and its influence among younger critics, The Long Goodbye was relatively unpopular and earned poorly in the rest of the United States. The New York Times listed it in its Ten Best List for film for that year, while Zsigmond was awarded the National Society of Film Critics' prize for Best Cinematographer.[34][44] Ebert later ranked it among his Great Movies collection and wrote, "Most of its effect comes from the way it pushes against the genre, and the way Altman undermines the premise of all private eye movies, which is that the hero can walk down mean streets, see clearly, and tell right from wrong".[45]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 8.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "An ice-cold noir that retains Robert Altman's idiosyncratic sensibilities, The Long Goodbye ranks among the smartest and most satisfying Marlowe mysteries."[3] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 87 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[46]

Awards and nominations

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Institution Year Category Nominee Result
National Society of Film Critics 1974 Best Cinematography Vilmos Zsigmond Won
San Sebastián International Film Festival 1974 Golden Shell Robert Altman Lost to Terence Malick for Badlands

See also

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References

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Notes

  1. ^ a b Long Goodbye' Proves a Big Sleeper Here By PAUL GARDNER. New York Times 8 Nov 1973: 59.
  2. ^ O'Brien, Daniel. Robert Altman: Hollywood Survivor. London: B.T. Batsford, 1995. p. 53. ISBN 9780713474817. See also:
    Phillips, Gene C. (2000). Creatures of Darkness: Raymond Chandler, Detective Fiction and Film Noir. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 156 and 265. ISBN 0813121744
  3. ^ a b "The Long Goodbye (1973)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  4. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (December 14, 2021). "National Film Registry Adds Return Of The Jedi, Fellowship Of The Ring, Strangers On A Train, Sounder, WALL-E & More". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d "The Long Goodbye (1973)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  6. ^ "A true 'hot property': Elliott Gould's 'Long Goodbye' apartment is for rent!". Los Angeles Times. 3 December 2014. Archived from the original on 3 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  7. ^ Television in Review: 'Climax': Raymond Chandler Play Opens C.B.S. Series Teresa Wright and Dick Powell in Lead Roles By JACK GOULD. New York Times 08 Oct 1954: 34.
  8. ^ Gene Kelly Readies Musical Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 13 Oct 1965: d12.
  9. ^ Bobby Morse to Co-Star Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 10 June 1967: b7.
  10. ^ MOVIE CALL SHEET: 'Little Sister' on Schedule Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 12 Mar 1968: c13.
  11. ^ Fade-out on Raymond Chandler Lochte, Richard S. Chicago Tribune 14 Dec 1969: 60.
  12. ^ a b c McGilligan 1989, p. 360.
  13. ^ a b c Goodbye, Mr. Marlowe Michaels, Ken. Chicago Tribune (1963-1996); Chicago, Ill. [Chicago, Ill]03 Dec 1972: 88.
  14. ^ a b c "Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s By Patrick McGilligan p23". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-31.
  15. ^ The Long Goodbye, Houghton Mifflin, p. 28
  16. ^ a b Rip Van Marlowe, Director Greg Carson, 2002.
  17. ^ McGilligan 1989, p. 361.
  18. ^ Gould, Altman Team for 'Long Goodbye' Haber, Joyce. Los Angeles Times 27 Jan 1972: f12.
  19. ^ Altman, Gould Reunited for 'Goodbye' Warga, Wayne. Los Angeles Times 23 July 1972: u1
  20. ^ a b McGilligan 1989, p. 363.
  21. ^ a b Thompson 2005, p. 75.
  22. ^ Thompson 2005, p. 76.
  23. ^ a b c d McGilligan 1989, p. 364.
  24. ^ a b c d e McGilligan 1989, p. 365.
  25. ^ Smith, Harrison (December 29, 2017). "Clifford Irving: Author whose literary hoax fooled America in the Seventies and inspired a Hollywood film". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  26. ^ "Mark Rydell". IMDb. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  27. ^ "Henry Gibson". IMDb. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  28. ^ MOVIE CALL SHEET: Blocker, Gould to Costar Los Angeles Times (1923-1995); Los Angeles, Calif. [Los Angeles, Calif]05 May 1972: g22.
  29. ^ MOVIE CALL SHEET: Redford Picked as 'Gatsby' Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times (1923-1995); Los Angeles, Calif. [Los Angeles, Calif]08 June 1972: h17.
  30. ^ "Robert Altman's 20 best films – ranked!". the Guardian. 2021-06-17. Archived from the original on 2022-12-26. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  31. ^ a b Thompson 2005, p. 77.
  32. ^ Thompson 2005, p. 80.
  33. ^ Gardner, Paul (November 8, 1973). "Long Goodbye Proves a Big Sleeper Here". The New York Times.
  34. ^ a b McGilligan 1989, p. 367.
  35. ^ Rivero, Enrique (May 23, 2002). "MGM Preserves Zsigmond's Vision With 'Goodbye". hive4media.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2002. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  36. ^ Deeb, Gary (29 July 1977). "'Long Goodbye' was a short one". Chicago Tribune. p. II-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ Cocks, Jay (April 9, 1973). "A Curious Spectacle". Time. Archived from the original on January 13, 2005. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  38. ^ Champlin, Charles (March 8, 1973). "A Private Eye's Honor, Blackened". Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 1.
  39. ^ Arnold, Gary (March 22, 1973). "The Long Goodbye". The Washington Post. D19.
  40. ^ Ebert, Roger (March 7, 1973). "The Long Goodbye". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  41. ^ Siskel, Gene (March 27, 1973). "The Long Goodbye". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 4.
  42. ^ Canby, Vincent (November 18, 1973). "For The Long Goodbye A Warm Hello". The New York Times.
  43. ^ Kael, Pauline (October 22, 1973). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker. 133-137.
  44. ^ McGilligan 1989, p. 362.
  45. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 23, 2006). "Great Movies: The Long Goodbye". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  46. ^ The Long Goodbye at Metacritic Edit this at Wikidata

Bibliography

  • McGilligan, Patrick. Robert Altman: Jumping off the Cliff. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989.
  • Thompson, David. Altman on Altman. London: Faber and Faber. 2005.
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