Thu 17 Dec 2020
A PI Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: GOODBYE PARADISE (1982).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[6] Comments
GOODBYE PARADISE. Australia, 1982. Ray Barrett, Robyn Nevin, Guy Doleman, Lex Marinos, Paul Chubb, Janet Scrivener, and Carole Skinner. Written by Bob Ellis and Denny Lawrence. Directed by Carl Schultz. Released on DVD in Australia (Region 0.)
Okay, drop what you’re doing, put down your book, stop watching whatever’s on TV and go out and find this. Watch it. Then watch it again. It’s that good.
Ray Barrett (Australia’s Pat O’Brien) stars as a boozy ex-cop-turned-writer, on the verge of a major exposé when his book contract is pulled out from under him under pressure from above. Minutes later he’s summoned to the estate of an old friend, now a senator, who wants him to chase after his runaway daughter.
What follows is a gaudy Technicolor echo of THE BIG SLEEP, THE GLASS KEY, FAREWELL MY LOVELY and DOUBLE INDEMNITY, with touches of BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN tossed in. And it works. Beautifully. Schultz’s graceful camera work is backed up by Ellis’ and Lawrence’s Chandleresque voice-over narration, read by Barrett with a wry shrug in his voice:
Even better is the sense of feeling Schultz and his actors evoke. When Barrett meets up with an old friend or an ex-lover (as he does about every ten minutes) one gets the impression that they really care for each other, and the effect is to draw us even closer to the character and his goofball style.
Schultz & co even extend this to the bad guys. Barrett finds an old buddy getting rich as a Hefner-style guru, bullshitting teenagers for a living, and the look he gives his old friend speaks a mega-series. Third-billed Guy Doleman turns up about two-thirds of the way through as a punctilious military type, and when his ramrod spine bends for a moment in reminiscence, the character achieves dimensions that make his later misdeeds somehow even more depraved.
Throw in an icy doctor-for-hire, a few greedy politicians and brutal cops, some young space-cadets and a tour-guide pornographer and you have a cast as diverse and exotic as a Russian novel.
And let me spoil one big surprise here. No, I’m not going to throw in a (SPOILER ALERT!) because this is too good not to share. There’s a moment here where a helpful suspect tells Barrett to come back tomorrow for a vital piece of evidence. And when Barrett does come back tomorrow, the helpful suspect is STILL ALIVE!
This is ground-breaking!
December 17th, 2020 at 2:59 pm
Between your review, Dan, and the video clip I found, it is quite frustrating that a cheap and easy way to see this film has been so difficult to come by. Maybe I haven’t been looking in the right places!
December 17th, 2020 at 5:22 pm
It’ll run you about $25 on ebay. More than I usually pay, but I had a gift card….
December 17th, 2020 at 5:33 pm
Yes. Thanks Dan, but yes, more than I usually pay too. And no gift card in sight. (This is NOT a hint!)
December 17th, 2020 at 6:19 pm
Well, Steve, maybe Santa reads M*F and if he thinks you’ve been as good boy this year…
As for me, I’m angling for a Pony.
November 23rd, 2023 at 9:43 pm
It looks like I’m three years too late, but for those still looking for a way to watch this film without cost or obligation, try this link. It just worked for me.
https://archive.org/details/goodbye-paradise-1982
November 24th, 2023 at 11:06 am
Thank you!