Top 100 Directors Challenge: 46. Robert Altman

Elliott Gould is private eye Philip Marlowe, a witty and cool cat indeed, investigating and getting caught up in the dirty deeds of a seedy Californian underbelly. As a character that might be considered a "smart ass" in many a crime thriller, here he comes across as nothing less than endearing. His initial interactions with his feline flatmate and the boisterous, often semi-naked girls that share his building complex set the scene for this suave and likeable P.I.

The Long Goodbye comes across as a vehicle for Gould to just 'do his thing', and he totally carries the film. The visuals are lush and moody in equal amounts, with a slick jazz score that results in a feel that is the polar opposite of a Safdie brothers tension-fest, instead staying entirely calm as it methodically goes about its business. Even when its business is dangerous and violent.

There's a nice little cameo from Arnold 'the meat' Schwarzenegger as an unnamed hood, four years before he gained some notoriety in his bodybuilding biopic Pumping Iron. To be honest, I didn't recognise him until he took his clothes off.