Golden_Age_vs_Hardboiled

For Genre Review this week, we are presented with the genre of crime fiction and a question that has plagued us all since the 1920's, 'Which section, or sub-genre of crime fiction is most popular in 'modern' society: Golden Age, or Hard Boiled'' Of course, we are to ignore 'The Great Detective' sub-genre for the time being as there is no competition for its position: it constitutes the genre of crime. Golden Age writers have been criticised for their two-dimensional characters but have been praised for their intricate plot and ability to create a literary crescendo as the story progresses. Golden Age writing's framework is based on the expectations and conventions of the 'whodunit' style of crime writing. Hard Boiled writing could be described with a single word, or so much more. Based on America from the 1920's, Hard Boiled texts are often a blend of 'whodunit' and 'howcatchem'. Agatha Christie's Three Act Tragedy and Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon are two texts that bind very strongly to the conventions of Golden Age and Hard Boiled crime fiction. Critics dub the two authors as 'revolutionary' and naturally the pioneers do certainly abide the expectations, conventions and values set out by their sub-genre. Three Act Tragedy features Agatha Christie's popular 'Hercule Poirot'. A man dies at a dinner party held by 'Sir Charles Cartwright' and all the guests believe it to be natural. Poirot dismisses the case due to a lack of evidence and motive of murder. Soon after, a second death, of Dr. Bartholomew Strange, occurs under similar circumstances and Poirot takes up the case with Cartwright taking role of Poirot’s ‘Watson’. Cartwright’s social status proves to be useful in attaining information but this does not aid in preventing the third tragedy-- the death of Madam Rushbriger, which is revealed to be a red herring during the denouement scene. With the murderer’s identity revealed, Poirot closes the case. The Maltese Falcon features one of the most influential characters of the Hard Boiled sub-genre: ‘Sam Spade’. The private detective agency ‘Spade and Archer’ is given a visit by ‘Miss Ruth Wonderly’ who requests for someone to follow a man, ‘Floyd Thursby’, who is staying with her runaway sister. Miles Archer gets shot whilst tailing Thursby and the police suspect Sam Spade as the murderer of Thursby who also got killed in the same night. Ruth is revealed to actually be Brigid O’Shaughnessy but she cannot disclose the details of the real case. Later on, Sam finds out that the case is about an ancient falcon made of solid gold and jewels. After making a deal worth millions with the ‘fat man’, Spade gets hold of the falcon and sells it to the fat man. It is later on found out to be a fake and Brigid O’Shaughnessy is found to be the murderer of Miles. To be able to compare these two texts on the suitability for modern audiences, the themes, values, and ideas they convey must be gauged. Obviously a text with little relevance to the modern audience will be ineffective for its purpose however; it is a pleasure to see that these two texts exhibit core values, ideas, and themes of crime fiction. Poirot is charismatic and hence, has ‘friends in high places’ for example, Sir. Charles Cartwright. Poirot is also very intelligent; supported by his ability to make quick, educated judgements in a manner similar to Sherlock Holmes. Sam Spade is similar in a sense, but he keeps his deductions to himself until it is required to keep the action moving and this is very typical of a hard boiled character. What makes these characters believable and real is that they are not perfect. Poirot does not suspect Cartwright until the very end because he is his very close friend “And now my heart it is breaking and Charles... It is you...” and it resulted in the death of a person. Similarly the 1941 Maltese Falcon Spade is imperfect and in ways, immoral and this is shown by his affair with his co-worker’s wife. The authors and composers have effectively tried to present to us, characters that are human, because they have flaws, and to the modern audience (us) it is attractive. Both texts show us generic crime fiction values in logic, justice and the omnipotent-like powers of the detective, though Poirot’s arrogance in the final few minutes of the film diminishes this: “There is a possibility even more terrible mademoiselle... It could have been me.” Both texts attempt to show us the possibility of femme-fatale but only the Maltese Falcon presents it to us. Three Act Tragedy suggestively pins Miss Wills, and later on, Egg as the femme-fatale in the film but due to it having to conform to the conventions of Golden Age crime, it instead makes Miss Wills the intended fourth victim of Charles and Egg the innocent woman who is hurt by his deranged personality. Society in the Maltese Falcon is very similar to our society. Impoliteness and the idea that the individual is more right than the official police and standards of the law is shown by Spade’s quirky mannerism, “Look around, turn the dump upside down if you got a search warrant” “Now we don’t want to—” “What are you birds suckin’ around here for' Tell me or get out!” Poirot’s context is of a time where certain forms of speech and mannerism were highly unacceptable and henceforth, oppressed. Clearly shown by Poirot’s urbane behaviour, softening his voice after his outburst at Cartwright (“What have I done' It is you who have deceived me!”), which is said with a hesitant expression. The two texts and their following sub-genre compliment different forms of society. Ours is one which is dissimilar to the Golden Age society and as a result, there are many occasions where one may not understand the actions of the characters. This has been quite skilfully avoided by the directors in Three Act Tragedy and it allows the film to flow smoothly. Hard Boiled texts often pertain to society’s expectations to what and how a detective thinks and acts. Driven by westernisation and American society, on the matter of impulsive thinking and the importance of survival and self, the hard boiled sub-genre is able to integrate with the modern mindset. Simply due to the versatility of both genre due to the presence of a medium, the ‘winner’ is unclear, especially in film.