Directed by Robert Altman • 1973 • United States
Starring Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden
Robert Altman updates Raymond Chandler for the liberated, hedonistic 1970s in this brilliantly idiosyncratic adaptation of one of the writer’s most renowned novels. Elliott Gould brings a sardonic wit to his portrayal of private eye Philip Marlowe, who helps out his old friend Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton) late one night by driving him across the border from Los Angeles to Tijuana—only to discover once he’s back that Lennox’s wife has been murdered. As Marlowe is drawn deeper into a labyrinthine investigation involving the search for a missing novelist (Sterling Hayden), Altman exposes the darkness lurking beneath California’s sun-splashed surface.
Up Next in Coastal Thrillers
-
The Ghost Writer
Directed by Roman Polanski • 2010 • United Kingdom, France, Germany
Starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim CattrallA ghostwriter unwittingly becomes part of the story he is hired to tell in Roman Polanski’s acclaimed, precision-crafted political thriller, brilliantly adapted from the novel...
-
The Beach
Directed by Danny Boyle • 2000 • United Kingdom, United States
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Virginie LedoyenA group of young vacationers uncover the dark side of paradise in Danny Boyle’s sleek adventure mystery, which doubles as a quintessential Y2K-era time capsule. Fresh from T...
-
The Lady From Shanghai
Directed by Orson Welles • 1947 • United States
Starring Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett SloaneOrson Welles’s puzzle-box noir scrambles the conventions of the genre to create a triumph of Hollywood surrealism. The director stars as an unwitting Irish sailor who finds himself drawn into a w...
