Front cover of a first edition of Farewell, My Lovely.
Farewell, My Lovely is a mystery crime novel by the American-British author Raymond Chandler. It was first published in the United States in 1940. It is the second of seven completed novels that Chandler wrote in which the protagonist and narrator is the hard-boiled private detective Philip Marlowe. The title is taken from that of a song from the 1935 musical revue At Home Abroad. In writing Farewell, My Lovely, Chandler reused material from his earlier short stories "The Man Who Liked Dogs" (1936), "Try the Girl" (1937) and "Mandarin's Jade" (1937), all of which had been published in Cosmopolitan magazine.
The action takes place in Los Angeles and the fictional Bay City (a stand-in for Santa Monica). The plot is set in motion when Philip Marlowe, while investigating a routine, unimportant and unrelated case, notices a large man in distinctive colorful clothes. The man is soon revealed to be ex-convict Moose Malloy who has just completed an eight year prison sentence for robbery. Marlowe follows Malloy into a club called Florian's. The former convict is looking for his girlfriend Velma who used to work at the club as a showgirl. The club changed hands while Malloy was in prison. There are no showgirls working there now and nobody who works at the club knows anything about Velma. When the club's new owner fails to provide any information about Velma, Moose Malloy kills him and flees. Philip Marlowe agrees to help the police search for Moose Malloy. He decides to do so by looking for Velma first. Thus begins an investigation that involves further murders, the reported theft and holding to ransom of a highly valuable jade necklace, drug dealing, organized crime, police corruption, a suspicious doctor and a man who claims to be a psychic. Some of those elements turn out to be red herrings.
Farewell, My Lovely has been filmed three times, as The Falcon Takes Over (1942), Murder, My Sweet (1944) and Farewell, My Lovely (1975). It has also been adapted for radio in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Readers should be aware that Farewell, My Lovely contains ethnic slurs and descriptions of African-Americans, Native Americans and Italian-Americans that are likely to be found offensive.
Plot[]
While investigating a routine and unrelated case of a missing husband, private detective Philip Marlowe notices a large man dressed in garish clothes. The man's name is later revealed to be Moose Malloy. Out of curiosity, Marlowe follows Malloy into a club across the street called Florian's. It is revealed that Malloy has just been released from prison after serving eight years for robbery. He is looking for his old girlfriend Velma Valento who used to work at the club as a showgirl. The club has, however, changed hands since Malloy was last there. No showgirls are employed there anymore and it is now strictly a gambling club for Black customers only. None of the current staff can tell Malloy anything about Velma. Malloy goes into the office of the club's new Black owner, Sam Montgomery. When Mr. Montgomery is unable to provide any information about Velma, Malloy kills him and flees. Marlowe waits for the police to arrive. Lieutenant Nulty is assigned to the case. Since the press will take no interest in the murder of a Black man, Nulty has little interest in investigating it either. He does, however, think that Moose Malloy should be easy to find because of his large size and distinctive clothes. Nulty asks Marlowe to help with the investigation. Marlowe decides to do so by tracking down Velma Valento.
From the owner of a nearby Black hotel, Marlowe finds out that the club's name did not change when it changed ownership. Although the Mr. Florian who used to own the club is now dead, his widow Jessie is still alive. Marlowe goes to Jessie Florian's home. She becomes talkative when he gives her some bourbon. She tells him that Velma Valento is dead and reluctantly gives him a photograph of a young woman in a Pierrot costume signed Velma Valento.
Later that day, Marlowe receives a phone call from a man named Lindsay Marriott requesting help. When he gets to Marriott's house, Marriott tells him that a female friend had an extremely valuable jade necklace stolen from her. That evening, Marriott will be told to drive to a certain location and hand over a ransom in exchange for the necklace. Marriott is asking Marlowe to come with him as a bodyguard. At ten o'clock that evening, Marriott receives the phone call telling him where to go. He and Marlowe drive to a deserted canyon. When Marlowe steps out of the car, he is hit on the back of the head from behind. When he regains consciousness, Marlowe finds that Marriott has been murdered.
A young female reporter named Anne Riordan happens to be passing by. She helps to examine Marriott's body before driving Marlowe back to his apartment. The following morning, Marlowe reports the murder to the police. Lieutenant Randall is assigned to the case. Marlowe does not mention Anne Riordan because he does not want her to get involved. Anne Riordan, however, goes to see the police herself and tells Marlowe about it soon afterwards. She explains that she is used to talking to police officers. Her father had been Chief of Police in Bay City before crime boss Laird Brunette took over the city and he was forced out by the ensuing corruption. Through her contacts as a reporter, Anne has also found out that the owner of the jade necklace was Mrs. Grayle. She is the young wife of the older and very wealthy Lerwin Lockridge Grayle. He met her when she sang for a radio station that he owned. Anne has contacted Mrs. Grayle and arranged for a meeting between her and Marlowe, suggesting that she hire Marlowe to find the stolen necklace.
Anne removed some marijuana cigarettes that were on Marriott's body so as to spare the dead man from being linked to a further scandal unrelated to his murder. Marlowe examines the cigarettes. He finds that their mouthpieces are made from business cards of a psychic named Jules Amthor. With some difficulty, Marlowe makes an appointment to see Amthor and is told that a car will come to collect him.
On a hunch, Marlowe investigates the ownership of Jessie Florian's house. He finds out that it was owned by Lindsay Marriott. Marlowe goes to see Jessie Florian again. She tells him that she used to be a servant in the Marriotts' home. A neighbor tells Marlowe that Mrs. Florian always received a letter by registered mail on the first day of every month. Marlowe suspects that Jessie Florian was blackmailing Lindsay Marriott.
Marlowe goes to see Mrs. Grayle. She hires him to find her stolen jade necklace. She says that Lindsay Marriott worked as an announcer at her husband's radio station and she suspects he was making a livng by blackmailing wealthy women. Mrs. Grayle also makes it clear she is interested in having a sexual relationship with Marlowe, something to which her husband is indifferent. She and Marlowe arrange to meet that night for a date at a nightclub belonging to crime boss Laird Brunette near the spot where Marriott was killed. Marlowe does not make that date.
A car takes Marlowe to the home of Jules Amthor. Although the house is in Los Angeles, two Bay City police detectives are there. Amthor tells the police officers that Marlowe was trying to blackmail him. They drive him away then tell him that he is free to go. When Marlowe steps out of the car, he is hit on the back of the head from behind. Marlowe regains consciousness a few days later in the private clinic of Dr. Sonderborg. Marlowe knows that he has been drugged and suspects Sonderborg of being an illegal drug dealer. Marlowe manages to escape from the clinic, passing Moose Malloy in a room as he does so. The room is a much more comfortable one than Marlowe had been in and it is obvious that Malloy is not there as a patient.
Marlowe tells Lieutenant Randall what happened to him. Randall suspects that Marriott and Amthor were working together to blackmail wealthy women. They go to question Jessie Florian. They find her dead. Marlowe believes that Moose Malloy accidentally killed her while trying in vain to get her to tell him about Velma.
Since two Bay City police detectives were present at Amthor's house, Marlowe goes to Bay City to talk to Chief of Police John Wax. Wax is not interested in anything Marlowe has to say until he mentions he is working for the wealthy and powerful Grayles. Wax then tells Marlowe that Moose Malloy may be on board a ship belonging to crime boss Laird Brunette. The ship operates as a casino. It is moored off the coast of Bay City just outside the United States' territorial waters so that restrictions on gambling in California do not apply to it. One of the police detectives who attacked Marlowe is brought to see him. The detective explains that he was unaware of any criminal activity by Dr. Sonderborg or of any connection between Amthor and Sonderborg. Amthor did not tell the detectives to take Marlowe to Sonderborg's clinic. They simply decided to take him there on the spur of the moment as a convenient place to have the wound to his head treated. Marlowe and the police detective part without any hard feelings towards each other.
When he arrives by water taxi at Laird Brunette's casino ship, Marlowe is refused entry. On shore again, he is approached by boatman Red Norgaard who offers to sneak him on board. Norgaard had been a police officer in Bay City before he was forced out by Laird Brunette's corruption. Marlowe is discovered on board the ship and brought before Laird Brunette. Marlowe is made to leave but Brunette agrees to pass on a message to Moose Malloy.
Marlowe telephones Mrs. Grayle, asking her to come to his apartment so that they can finally go out together on their delayed date. Having received the message from Laird Brunette, Moose Malloy comes to the apartment first. He admits to having accidentally killed Mrs. Florian while trying to get her to tell him about Velma. He hides when Mrs. Grayle arrives. Marlowe puts it to Mrs. Grayle that she is Velma Valento. Mrs. Florian had deliberately given him a photograph of someone else. Mrs. Florian recognized Velma's voice on the radio. To keep her from talking about the wealthy woman's dubious past as a showgirl, Mrs. Grayle arranged to have Lindsay Marriott pay Mrs. Florian to keep quiet. There never was a stolen jade necklace. Mrs. Grayle told Marriott to take the interfering Marlowe to the canyon to kill him. Unknown to Marriott, however, he was always the person that Mrs. Grayle intended to have murdered at the canyon because she had decided that she could no longer trust him to keep quiet about her past. Mrs. Grayle also confesses that she was the one who informed on Moose Malloy for robbery resulting in his spending eight years in prison. When he hears this, Moose Malloy comes out of hiding to confront his former girlfriend. She shoots him dead and flees.
Although they were not directly involved in the case, Jules Amthor, Dr. Sonderborg and the Bay City police are investigated for possible illegal activities. Dr. Sonderborg was indeed a drug dealer who also allowed criminals, such as Moose Malloy, to hide out at his clinic. Red Norgaard is reinstated as a Bay City police officer.
Mrs. Grayle is recognized by a police detective in Baltimore. She shoots him dead when he tries to arrest her but commits suicide when she finds herself surrounded.
Adaptations[]
Farewell, My Lovely was first adapted for the screen as the 1942 American B-movie The Falcon Takes Over directed by Irving Reis. The setting is changed from Los Angeles to New York and the character of Philip Marlowe is replaced by that of the gentleman detective Gay Lawrence, also known as the Falcon, played by George Sanders. The Falcon had previously appeared in the films The Gay Falcon and A Date with the Falcon that had both been released in 1941.
Dick Powell and Claire Trevor in Murder, My Sweet
The novel was adapted again as the American film Murder, My Sweet (released as Farewell, My Lovely in the United Kingdom) directed by Edward Dmtryk. It stars Dick Powell as Philp Marlowe, Ann Shirley as Ann Grayle (equivalent to Anne Riordan from the novel who is Mrs. Grayle's stepdaughter in the adaptation) and Claire Trevor as Mrs. Helen Grayle/Velma Valento. Murder, My Sweet is the first film in which the character of Philip Marlowe appears. As one of the earliest film noir, it was highly influential on the genre.
The 1975 American film Farewell, My Lovely directed by Dick Richards is the third screen adaptation of the novel. The setting is in 1941 Los Angeles. It stars Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe and Charlotte Rampling as Helen Grayle/Velma Valento. A young Sylvester Stallone appears in a minor role.
The film adaptation Murder, My Sweet was itself adapted as an episode of the American radio anthology series Hollywood Star Time that first aired on CBS radio on June 8, 1946. Dick Powell reprised his role as Philip Marlowe for the radio adaptation.
A British radio play adaptation of Farewell, My Lovely starring Ed Bishop as Marlowe first aired on BBC Radio 4 on September 22, 1988. Another British radio adaptation of the novel, starring Toby Stephens as Marlowe, first aired on BBC Radio 4 on February 19, 2011.
External links[]
- Text of Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely on Faded Page.com. The website is based in Canada where the novel is in the public domain. It is still under copyright in the United States and many other countries.