Elliott Gould’s portrayal of the private detective Philip Marlowe, in Robert Altman’s 1973 adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s novel The Long Goodbye, may be the greatest performance of his career. The film, which turned 50 this year, is considered the first neo-noir (followed in short order by Chinatown, Night Moves, and The Late Show). Earlier this year, revival screenings were held at the Castro Theatre, in San Francisco, and Quentin Tarantino’s New Beverly Cinema. Back when it was released, “there were people who were enraged that we would break the mold, that we would go against the grain, and for it not to be the traditional Philip Marlowe,” Gould told the Altman biographer Mitchell Zuckoff. “But people came around.” One of the primary reasons they did was Pauline Kael’s review in The New Yorker, in which she declared The Long Goodbye to be “the best American movie ever made that almost didn’t open in New York.” (Roger Ebert loved it as well.) —Josh Karp

A 4K Blue-ray restoration of The Long Goodbye is available for purchase online.