I like Thompson a lot but prefer Willeford, especially his early stuff like The Pick Up and the High Priest of California and the Woman Chaser. (I have the movie version of the last on tape, starring Patrick Warburton.)
Mal: How drunk was I last night? Jayne: Well I dunno. I passed out.
'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
DavidS - Oct 09, 2007 5:56:39 pm PDT #4168 of 28222
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Scrappy - Oct 09, 2007 6:21:19 pm PDT #4169 of 28222
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Oh, Cor, I am Skimmy McSkimmerpants, and I bow my head in shame before you.
Hayden - Oct 09, 2007 6:57:35 pm PDT #4170 of 28222
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
Oh, I know how it is. I'm just so much noirish background blather to you. Like Edward G. Robinson playing Charlie Brown's teacher.
DavidS - Oct 09, 2007 7:02:02 pm PDT #4171 of 28222
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Like Edward G. Robinson playing Charlie Brown's teacher.
"MWOMP WOMP WOMP, See?"
megan walker - Oct 09, 2007 7:42:26 pm PDT #4172 of 28222
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
I understood that Roman Noir preceded Film Noir as a coinage, because American hard-boiled novelists were packaged in black covered books in France.
True, but not by much. The term film noir was first used in 1946, partly for the way they were shot, but mostly due to coming on the tail of the Série noire novels, which Gallimard started publishing in 1945.
Good to know the dissertation's good for something...
DavidS - Oct 09, 2007 7:52:27 pm PDT #4173 of 28222
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
In your face, Jasper Johns Nutty!
Frankenbuddha - Oct 10, 2007 2:47:24 am PDT #4174 of 28222
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
In the same way that Italian thrillers became known as Giallo - which means yellow, and refers to the yellow covers of the source novels.
That bring to mind that I was just reading (in VIDEO WATCHDOG) about a German variation called Krimis, which was a series of crime films in the 60s based on Edgar Wallace novels (often extremely loosely). They're almost unknown outside of Germany, and share several characteristics with the Giallos (decadent characters, violent murders by elaborately masked people, etc.), and are mostly set (ostensibly if not recognizably) in England. Klaus Kinski got his start in those, usually playing a depraved red herring/victim.
Though I guess that is more of a discussion for film, not literary.
Nutty - Oct 10, 2007 3:59:36 am PDT #4175 of 28222
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
"MWOMP WOMP WOMP, See?"
Ha! This is the tiniest Venn diagram of humor in the world.
(It always makes me sad how little Edward G. Robinson is remembered by the filmgoing public. It's possibly helped along by the fact that the first film I ever saw him in was Double Indemnity, where he's the conscience of the piece.)
Frankenbuddha - Oct 10, 2007 4:09:44 am PDT #4176 of 28222
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
It's possibly helped along by the fact that the first film I ever saw him in was Double Indemnity, where he's the conscience of the piece
True that. I'd seen plenty of parodies of him (most notably in Warner Brothers cartoons), but DI was the first actual film I saw him in. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen one of his gangster roles (the only other ones I can recall are THE STRANGER, where he's a nazi-hunter, and SOYLENT GREEN).
This is in contrast to Cagney (who got to play good guys more frequently then Edward G.), where WHITE HEAT was the first film I saw him in. That'll make a lasting impression.
DavidS - Oct 10, 2007 5:57:29 am PDT #4177 of 28222
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
That bring to mind that I was just reading (in VIDEO WATCHDOG) about a German variation called Krimis, which was a series of crime films in the 60s based on Edgar Wallace novels (often extremely loosely). They're almost unknown outside of Germany, and share several characteristics with the Giallos (decadent characters, violent murders by elaborately masked people, etc.), and are mostly set (ostensibly if not recognizably) in England. Klaus Kinski got his start in those, usually playing a depraved red herring/victim.
I've seen Krimi! They're pretty cool actually, and Lux Interiors listed his five favorite in the second Catalog of Cool.