What About the Falcon?

Even though he manages to reduce Dashiell Hammett’s contributions to the development of noir to a single use of his surname in a paragraph of names that most people won’t recognize, The Devil’s Wind author Richard Rayner’s article on Los Angeles noir hits some lovely moments.

In fairness, Hammett arguably didn’t contribute much to Los Angeles noir, although the reality of his work and his presence for a time in Hollywood make some of Rayner’s facts suspect.

Noir is the indigenous Los Angeles form: It was created here, it grew up here and from here it spread, not only as a genre but as a way of looking at life, character and fate.

Yeah, but ... what about all that pesky stuff with falcons that was set in San Francisco years before? What about Red Harvest and The Dain Curse (both from 1929)? What about ... oh, never mind my grumblings. There’s some good stuff here if you can look beyond a couple of flaws. The bulk of Rayner’s work here is first-rate.

Noir is the flip side to the city's sunstruck myth, darker, more ambiguous. As William Faulkner, who did serious L.A. time, once said, “They don’t worship money here; they worship death.”

Rayner’s L.A. Times piece is here.