Film Noir and Hardboiled – Classic Detective Work?

Detectives in Literature, Television and Cinema

The classic detective is – and remains for most people – Sherlock Holmes! Because when it comes to deduction, that is, drawing conclusions from pure observation, the “old master detective” is unbeatable. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created the figure of the brilliant private investigator in 1887 in the novel A Study in Scarlet. Sherlock Holmes’s popularity has been immense ever since and remains unbroken even in the 21st century, as demonstrated, among other things, by the successful TV series Elementary (USA 2012 – today) and, above all, Sherlock (UK 2010 – today). A film with theatre and Hollywood great Ian McKellen as an ageing Sherlock Holmes, who has one last mystery to solve, will also be released in cinemas in December (Mr Holmes, USA 2015).

 

However, there are a number of other figures from literature and film that have had a lasting influence on the public image of the private detective to this day. Having dealt with Sherlock Holmes and his real-life model, the Scotsman Dr Joseph Bell, in a previous article, this piece focuses on the classic detectives of the “Black Series” or “Film Noir”, which for decades have been regarded as symbolic of the detective and his profession and therefore should not be overlooked.

Detective Films and Novels as Mirrors of Their Time

Classical literature and its (generally better-known) film adaptations are full of fictional colleagues of Kurtz Investigations Düsseldorf who have shaped the image of the detective:

 

• “Philip Marlowe” in the novels by Raymond Chandler

• Dashiell Hammett’s “Sam Spade”

• “Mike Hammer” by Mickey Spillane

 

From the 1930s onwards, they transformed the detective’s image from the pipe-smoking gentleman of the Victorian era into the tough investigator in Depression-era America. The influence of these authors can still be felt today in places where one might not expect it: for example, in Steven Spielberg’s 2002 film Minority Report, one of the three mutants who can predict murders is named, alongside Agatha (Christie) and Arthur (Conan Doyle), after Dashiell Hammett.

Disillusioned Detectives Who Look After Themselves First

While Sherlock Holmes appeared as an elegant artistic figure, the detectives of the so-called “hardboiled era” were mirrors of their time: pessimistic, cynical and committed to only one moral code – their own – when it came to their ideas of right and justice. Later, the film adaptations of the hardboiled novels became box office hits and remain stylistically influential to this day: the cigarette dangling from the corner of the mouth, trench coat and slouch hat, and always a witty remark ready. Who does not know Humphrey Bogart’s portrayal of Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941) or Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep (1946)?

 

A whisky often helped the detectives think, especially when an attractive client caused their thoughts to wander. Unfortunately, she all too often turned out to be a femme fatale who was not entirely pure herself and led our detective to ruin. Thus, in the pessimistic world of hardboiled crime fiction, a happy ending is rare. The journey there, however, can hardly be surpassed in suspense: car chases in “old bangers” and gunfights usually led to a climax at the end of which the case – and not infrequently a major conspiracy – was solved.

In Today’s Reality, Detectives Are Strictly Bound to the Limits of Law and Order

And in the real world? The everyday work of our Düsseldorf detectives often consists of long hours of observation in the car, where sometimes the radio programme provides the most exciting part of the day. Unlike their famous fictional predecessors, our investigators always follow the rules and do not take the law into their own hands. The detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Düsseldorf have fortunately not yet had to deal with a brilliant femme fatale capable of outwitting them. Above all, there is usually a happy ending, and the case is fundamentally solved without wild shoot-outs or fistfights. And whisky during working hours or dramatic car chases rarely occur in reality – but perhaps that is for the best.

Author: Gerrit Koehler

 

Kurtz Investigations Düsseldorf

Grafenberger Allee 293

D-40237 Düsseldorf

Tel.: +49 211 9874 0021

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-duesseldorf.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-duesseldorf.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-duesseldorf