Notes on Dashiell Hammett Fiction

Stories from Nightmare Town (Knopf, 1999)

• Does desert travel really whiten a Ford or does Hammett have something metaphorical in mind as in "He rode in on a white horse"? Was Hammett ever actually in the desert?
• Great bit on waking up drunk in jail, perhaps something that Hammett had done before?
• The main character's name is Threefall. Is the name meant to be reminiscent of wrestling? Note that he offers to wrestle the monstrous sheriff.
• Nice turn of phrase: "a man who perpetually grins at a loss". Interesting also, Bogart seemed to pick up this grin in the various hardboiled films that he did.
• Nice transition: character is thinking about all the things he will do when out of the air comes a voice saying "You will not!"
• What is the view of drunkenness in this story? Everyone seems to congratulate Threefall on it.
• Is "Vallance" a reference to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance?
• A Monticelli canvas is mentioned. Who in the art world was Monticelli? Did Hammett mean Botticelli? A lacuna in his knowledge?
• Mood: A dark and scary feeling is created in the story as the protagonist is constantly ambushed by unknown and faceless assailants.
• As the reader is going along, one has to wonder if so many coincidences of crime can really be coincidences. This contributes to the mood.
• The device of the dropped gold watch is a clever way to link the two crimes so that we have a feeling that they are committed by the same perpetrator.
• Sherwood Forest is mentioned. It seems an apt reference as our hero does seem to be as supernatural as Robin Hood, Natty Bumppo or D'artagnan. He drives through the desert drunk out of his mind, defeats several thugs at once, shakes off serious wounds as if they were nothing and naturally has the girl who starts off afraid of him practically swooning.
• As in most Hammett stories, women are not to be trusted. They have sex as a weapon to use on unwary males, so in some sense, they don't "play fair" in Hammett's world.
• The doctor shows surprisingly little emotion over the burglary of his home. Is this a weakness in characterization or a deliberate ploy, either by doctor or author, to throw us off?
• The name MacPhail is famous in baseball circles. Any significance here?
• Does Hammett have a thing about names that end in "-by"? Here "Ormsby" is rather villainous and I think there was a villainous "Thursby" in The Maltese Falcon.
• Exposition: The Kamp character is important to the exposition; after that, it is just as important that he be able to communicate no more as he might give away too much. Friends of the detective thus tend to end up like red shirts on Star Trek: dead. Note how economical Hammett is. He has already put the Kamp character to good use, then he uses him once more after he is dead by revealing a secret identity.
• Is Ormsby's big speech realistic? And does he really clear up all of our questions or are there some problems still left unsolved?
• Parallels: This story seems to be an early form of Red Harvest, but here a tad less virulent. Here there is a purpose behind the mayhem at least; in the latter even that is dispensed with. Both were probably inspired by Hammett's revulsion at the strikebreaking techniques he encountered in Montana.
• By the end, Larry has lost all interest in the girl. It seems to be a collision between the romantic notion of a Lady Fair and the reality of Hammett's female characters being helpless weaklings or worse.
• The story beings and ends with the girl, but fundamentally has nothing to do with her. In some sense she is the MacGuffin, in Alfred Hitchcock's parlance, the story element that the characters care a lot about but which the reader cares nothing about.
• Form: Threefall here is not really a detective at all, but a tough character thrown into desperate circumstances so it ends up working out to be about the same.

• Any guesses which hotel the Montgomery might represent? There is a Montgomery Street in SF, but I don't know of a hotel by that name.
• What is a clothes press actually?

  	clothes·press
  	Pronunciation: -"pres
  	Function: noun
  	Date: 1713
  	: a receptacle for clothes 
  	

  Apparently sort of what is now called an armoire or standalone closet.
• Surprisingly, there is no mention of anyone paying for the Op to take on the case after the hotel presumably loses interest.
• In terms of trying to figure out the mystery, in Hammett stories, anytime anyone gets their mail at General Delivery, it's suspicious.
• The Darkman was later the name of a comic book series and a film. Wonder if there is any connection.
• Wonder also about the origin of this term "egg". As in "bad egg"? Is it related to "yegg"?
• During the crucial scene, the Op could have removed his phony scar and thus quickly put his life out of danger, but instead, of course, he plunges headfirst into danger.
• A gun duel arises in a dance hall, but no mention of what the bystanders do. Why not? A weakness of the story? An attempt to stay under a word count? A desire not to detract from the intensity of the main action?
• The Op is willing to tell the apparently-dying Orrett which one was Cudner. Is this a sign of grudging respect?
• Is the deathbed confession by Cudner a little too convenient?
• Orrett decides to "tell a story". Hammett loved stories as we know, even including one, "The Flitcraft Story", in The Maltese Falcon (probably the biggest omission from the book to the film).

• Margaret seems surprisingly unresentful that her lock has been broken.
• In the previous story there was a casual mention of a character who is something of a ruffian who has been separated from, but is still friendly with his wife. This story seems to want to show us what that relationship could be like.
• Doucas seems a lot like a precursor to The Maltese Falcon's Gutman. Mention of the Crusades is another link to that novel.
• Doucas' slow way of talking seems to only add to the tension of what will happen in the showdown.

• Woody Allen mercilessly parodied this idea of a gun made from soap in his film Take the Money and Run
• Wonder that Hammett means by a "plain deal table". How many modern readers have seen what cigarette foil paper looks like? Are Hammett's wonderful stories slowly becoming unintelligible with the march of time?

• The Mokelumne River is real, in California's Central Valley. Wonder if Hammett ever visited there. I never heard of a Knownburg though. Maybe it stands for Lodi? (Maybe some know the Creedence Clearwater Revival song)
• There are some elements of the British mystery here I thought. Wealthy surroundings, a cast of upstairs/downstairs characters, some of whom have snooty-sounding surnames like Gallaway, Caywood and Rigg, plus some exotics. The sheriff looking for footprints seems to be echoing Sherlock Holmes.
• There also seem to be echoes of The Glass Key as the detective must suspect the person to whom he is closest.
• Funny that there are 2 shootings via the window yet no one suggests that Exon, the apparent target, move rooms.
• Exon's silence certainly is convenient to the ratiocination.
• Strangely, I felt that I had read this one before, though I don't think I've ever seen any of the editions in which it was published. Perplexing.

• Hammett really gets into the shadowing business in this one, even sharing with us when to start shadowing and its 4 basic rules.
• Bob Teal (of course) and O'Gar and Dick Foley appear in other stories.
• Great atmospheric pictures of San Francisco life and we don't usually think of Hammett as a very descriptive writer.
• We may not be able to understand it, but world of cops and criminals seems to have rules all its own.
• Hammett sets the Op (and thus himself) on a tough task here. Neither one of the primary witnesses will talk, nor are financial and vital statistics records available, so the Op does it all the hard way. Definitely one of the better entries in the series.

• The "Norfolk jacket" may be another specific reference in danger of obscurity as time marches on.

  	Nor·folk jacket
  	Pronunciation: 'nor-f&k-, -"fok-
  	Function: noun
  	Etymology: Norfolk, England
  	Date: 1866
  	: a loose-fitting belted single-breasted jacket with box pleats 
  	

• The fine art of shadowing is further in evidence in this one. The editors of the anthology have done a nice job of finding transitions from story to story.
• Considering what the detectives do to gain entry, two of the stories in the anthology (so far) have gone quite a ways in explaining the popular expression "to get one's foot in the door."
• The reader is left depressed about human nature after the end of a rather long back story. No one here apart from the detective has really demonstrated any admirable characteristic whatsoever, whether it be the heiress for whom the ends justify the means, the partner who becomes murderous when plans go awry or even the original client who lacked the strength to do the right things when his employee was in trouble.

• A boxing match is also featured in Red Harvest.
• The expression "long coat but no hat" is another one that may be lost on modern readers.
• Hammett showing that he doesn't have to write in the mystery genre to write well.
• Perhaps this story influenced Requiem for a Heavyweight?

• One of the few stories told from the point of view of the cops.
• Even though well-realized, seems a bit rambling and disjointed, at least in comparison to other Hammett tales.

• All of the streets are based on San Francisco reality. California Street was where one of the major cable car lines ran. Appreciating the story is probably limited to those who know the city well, unless one first consults online map of the neighborhood.
• Hammett is very specific about locations here. Makes one wonder if he had even particular buildings in mind. Interesting to note that he was living on Eddy Street at the time, just a few blocks south of the action.
• Note that the term "dope" was already being used in this period, both in the sense of illegal drugs and that of information.

  	dope
  	Pronunciation: 'dOp
  	Function: noun
  	Etymology: Dutch doop sauce, from dopen to dip; akin to Old English dyppan to dip
  	Date: 1807
  	1 a : a thick liquid or pasty preparation b : a preparation
  	for giving a desired quality to a substance or surface
  	2 : absorbent or adsorbent material used in various
  	manufacturing processes (as the making of dynamite)
  	3 a (1) : an illicit, habit-forming, or narcotic drug (2)
  	: a preparation given to a racehorse to help or hinder its
  	performance b chiefly Southern : a cola drink c : a stupid
  	person
  	4 : information especially from a reliable source  
  	

• The term "Central" to mean the telephone company is another one that may be lost on modern readers.

  	central
  	Function: noun
  	Date: 1889
  	1 : a telephone exchange or operator
  	

  Another one is "Morris chair".

  	morris chair
  	Function: noun
  	Etymology: William Morris
  	Date: 1900
  	: an easy chair with adjustable back and removable cushions 
  	

• Wonder if there are any other Op stories where, as the Op says, someone tries to frame him?
• By the end, the Op has once again demonstrated his independent soul.
• The Hall of Justice, now razed, really did exist at Portsmouth Square, which is now the center of Chinatown.

• The writer lives on the second story. Did Hammett live on the second story or is it just to provide the title and harken back to the expression "second-story man"? To what extent does Carter Brigham represent Hammett? Or does he represent a detective writer that he would like to make fun of for not being a real detective?
• The gripping beginning of the tale is unusual.
• Reference to Great Falls, Montana.
• The story seems to be a bit of a writer's fantasy.

• Starts out as if Hammett wanted to illustrate the famous quote attributed to Julius Caesar: "Cowards die many times before their deaths."
• Hammett was fascinated by Australia, but never made it there. Once as a detective he was almost forced there by a case, but luckily, or unluckily, solved the case before the ship sailed.

• This story probably had considerably more power to shock and surprise in its own time than it does today.

• The set-up is similar to that of Miles Archer in The Maltese Falcon. Both victims were shot close-up and the suspect they were shadowing is suspected. Both also prove the detective rule, "The shadower cannot be killed close-up by the shadowed, unless ..."
• The Old Man gets more worked up than usual, but still remains relatively cold and unemotional. In this story we seem to see the three stages in the life of the detective, young Bob Teal who is just starting out, the veteran Op and his possible future, the Old Man.
• As far as I know, this is the only time that Hammett employed the "true story, names have been changed" routine. Perhaps because it was originally published in True Detective Stories Perhaps the magazine editor added the line?
• Ogburn's distress is a device for adding even more urgency to what is already there. When the revelation comes, it is accompanied with dramatic violence. It's as if Hammett is feeling his way into writing and when in doubt, throws in everything he can think of. Or maybe like the character in the story, in four days the rent would be due and he wanted to make absolutely sure of publication.
• The Op is not altogether pleased with his police counterpart for a change. Detective Dean serves as more of a Lestrade to the Op's Holmes here, voicing the stupid conclusions that we the readers might reach, leaving the brilliant leaps to the Op.
• The term "settle" may be unfamiliar here:

  	settle
  	Function: noun
  	Etymology: Middle English, place for sitting, seat, chair, from Old
  	English setl; akin to Old High German sezzal seat, Latin sella
  	seat, chair, Old English sittan to sit
  	Date: 1553
  	: a wooden bench with arms, a high solid back, and an enclosed 
  	foundation which can be used as a chest 
  	illustration
  	

• The I.W.W. or Industrial Workers of the World, called Wobblies, were an important trade union in San Francisco. Led by Harry Bridges, at one time they virtually shut down business in San Francisco with a strike.

• Not sure about Point Loma, but there are still Rosicrucians in San Jose. See http://www.rosicrucian.org/
• Here the more experienced Hammett gives us a more balanced portrait of the police and a more nuanced (and perhaps more cynical?) relationship between them and the detective.
• O'Gar appears, albeit "offstage", giving us a link between Spade and the Op.
• Julius' Castle restaurant (the story incorrectly gets it as "Julius's") is still there on Telegraph Hill and even has a website with a photo: http://www.juliuscastlerestaurant.com/
• The multiple suspects device doesn't seem to work here as brilliantly as it might otherwise. For one thing, the times and alibis are rather muddled up and difficult to follow. This device would seem better suited to a "Thin Man" type of case.

• The San Francisco Chronicle still exists.
• "to put in a ruble" is an expression that probably doesn't have much currency anymore.

• Notice the different kind of story that is told when the shady Spade rather than the Op is the detective.
• We learn Spade's age: 38.
• The veteran writer puts in many more nuances in this and the previous Spade tale than in his earlier work. Notice the little touches like the tough accidentally jabbing himself with the nail file, the nail file itself, and the fascinating byplay with his secretary Effie.

• Hammett has created here a rather different sort of protagonist, a dandified poet. He can still write well for him, however, showing great range. This type of character might limit the types of story Hammett could use him for however.
• "upas" might be an unfamiliar term:

  upas
  Pronunciation: 'yü-p&s
  Etymology: Indonesian Malay pohon upas poison tree
  Date: 1783
  1 : a tall tropical Asian tree (Antiaris toxicaria) of the mulberry
  family with a latex that contains poisonous glucosides used as an
  arrow poison; also : a poisonous concentrate of the juice or latex
  of a upas
  2 : a poisonous or harmful influence or institution 
  

• One wonders whether the new poem ending would really receive the editor's approbation much better than the original one.

• I suspect Hammett might have made a good actor had he tried. He noticed everything about human behavior. The cabbie arrives on the murder scene and "his manner suddenly became important. He put importance in the nod he gave the three men." I think it is this kind of observational power, especially of what is otherwise regarded as "normal human behavior", that is part of Hammett's greatness. Little mentioned as well.
• Cute playfulness with the reader as the severity of the murders is progressively reduced.
• Employs tension between detective John Guild and the authorities to advance what might otherwise be a slow and too-boring exposition.
• "Blue sport suit" is a term which may not be as clear as it once was.
• An unusually non-nosy apartment manager!
• Cute in joke to name a character "Erle Gardner", which is the name of the creator of the Perry Mason stories. (Unless the name was put in by the editor?) Presumably a friend of Hammett's, certainly that is the conceit of editor William F. Nolan's The Black Mask Murders novel.
• Hammett makes the police and attorney characters interesting, each having distinctive worked-out needs and emotions.
• The title character, Wynant, is described as tubercular, thin, a genius and 45 years of age. Sounds like Hammett himself! (Although in 1930 Hammett was only 36.)
• The young, boyish district attorney is named Boyer.
• Many characters and much background information is presented here. Even philosophy which would pass well in the New Age speak of the 1990's. Hammett was presumably well-read in the area.
• Hammett who seems to have loved words here describes one character's eyes with a somewhat obscure term:

  lan·ce·o·late
  Pronunciation: 'lan(t)-sE-&-"lAt
  Etymology: Late Latin lanceolatus, from Latin lanceola, diminutive of lancea
  Date: circa 1760
  : shaped like a lance head; specifically : tapering to a point at the apex and sometimes at the base 
  

• This story seems to be a rare team approach. It must have occurred to Hammett that the two detectives were so unequal in abilities that it would make more sense to make them a man-woman couple instead. Even here it seems a bit strange that the experienced detective Guild is even willing to give Boyer the time of day. That problem goes away if the assistant detective becomes a woman.

See also my Dashiell Hammett Checklist and this very interesting typology of Dashiell Hammett pieces.