Marlowe, I have to agree - but I don't think it was just the wars that made the difference. I didn't realise until recently that Prohibition implicitly involved the American people! It was against the law to import or sell alcohol, but not to buy or consume it, so therefore making it officially legal to buy & consume goods that couldn't be imported or sold!!?? I ask ya, how can anyone stay honest in a world where the law makes no sense?

And allow an entire criminal element to become viable and competitive with honest folks trying to make a living. I totally agree that Prohibition made a difference as did the Depression. All these forces changed significantly the components of the American Dream Machine.

Can anybody help me out? What is the role of women in hard-boiled mysteries?

Good taste prevents me from answering that question.

HUD

What is the role of women in hard-boiled mysteries?

the world never abandoned the virtues of absolute right and wrong. they have always been a myth. in the twentieth century we have been slapped in the face with this truth enough that it's harder to ignore.

the role of women in hardboiled fiction has changed over time. early on women were the manipulators that caused most of the trouble, or they were the "lost daughters". with the advent of the dark ages in the 50's, writers like Spillane used women as furniture and targets. hardboiled detectives like Sharon McCone, Kinsey Milhone and V.I. Warshawski have taken their place beside their male counterparts in the true roles that belong to the hardboiled detective: witness and defender.

PLEASE!! go read my posting in the Raymond Chandler forum. It's too long to write again, but the questions and thoughts apply to ALL lovers of hard-boiled detectives.

I need your help, believers...

It seems as if this site has been quiet a while, but I'll try to get it going... Reviewing the past year of postings, a few thoughts/facts came to mind:

"The Drowning Pool" was made as a film with Paul Newman in '75. It was actually the sequel to "Harper", although not a very good one.

A film to check out is the pseudo-biographical "Hammett" made by Wim Wenders in 1982, starring Frederic Forrest. Interesting trivia - it was 2/3 completed by Francis Coppola starring Brian Keith, when they scrapped it and started over...

It's a shame there are so few great hard-boiled detective films. Why can the film never match the book? Perhaps it is the book's attention to details that draws one in, forcing one to use imagination. A film gives it all to you. Not as much fun.

The Maltese Falcon w/Bogart is still my favorite film version - perfect as it gets.

Darin Fenn, I dare say the movie LA Confidential was about as close to that book as any film I've seen in a long while.

However, in the 40s the material contained in the fiction of Chandler's and other pulp fiction writers work simply could not be translated to the screen in its entirety. This was because of the restrictions on film content. Really great directors (such as John Huston in The Maltese Falcon) could through character nuances and characterizations let you know all you need to know about the proclivities.

P. Marlowe!

Hey, I lived in L.A. in the 50's and it was just like the movie!!

Can you recommend another book like that is easier reading?

BrunoHawse@AOL.com