Subverting expectations even before cameras rolled, Altman cast Elliott Gould for a seemingly insouciant take on the iconic Philip Marlowe character, with the template of an adaptation of the Raymond Chandler novel by veteran screenwriter Leigh Brackett. A favor for friend Jim Bouton lands the private investigator in an undertow of murder and missing mob money. Rudolph’s first project with Altman, as second assistant director; Altman makes a rare Hitchcockian cameo.