High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Long Goodbye is a 1973 neo noir, directed by Robert Altman and based on Raymond Chandler`s 1953 novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Leigh Brackett, who co-wrote the screenplay for The Big Sleep in 1946. The film stars Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe, as well as Sterling Hayden, Nina Van Pallandt, Jim Bouton and Mark Rydell.