This is before noir. There aren't any noir elements in it. But there is something else: the type of tough guy that would become a staple. It seems to have started with Hammett. We already had the loyal man, strong and true and sometimes coming back from a beating. But this guy's a rascal, womanizer and gambler. A tough guy dedicated to someone who by ordinary standards isn't worth it. George Raft is as good in this as Bogart ever was later after the type had been established.
The story is pretty interesting too if you make allowances for the bizarre coincidences, the circular personal connections and the trite resolution. What's interesting is the twist. By itself, it is ordinary, but Hammett seems to have known that the twist also has to reinforce the types because the whole thing is about the types.
This surely is not the first time a hoodlum is portrayed sympathetically. But it is the first time I know that it is done well and integrated with the structure of the story. There's a particular scene worth noting. Our hero was nearly beaten to death by a big thug. He escapes. This really was brutal.
Later, he goes to a bar where he knows this guy is. The thug is drunk. They to an upstairs room by themselves to have some more drinks before the thug plans to finish off Raft. We know this thug has just violently killed a simple man. Raft is supremely cool and of course comes out more than okay. If this were noir, he wouldn't; he wouldn't be in control. But this is an anti-noir where a human can be in control. He is.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
The story is pretty interesting too if you make allowances for the bizarre coincidences, the circular personal connections and the trite resolution. What's interesting is the twist. By itself, it is ordinary, but Hammett seems to have known that the twist also has to reinforce the types because the whole thing is about the types.
This surely is not the first time a hoodlum is portrayed sympathetically. But it is the first time I know that it is done well and integrated with the structure of the story. There's a particular scene worth noting. Our hero was nearly beaten to death by a big thug. He escapes. This really was brutal.
Later, he goes to a bar where he knows this guy is. The thug is drunk. They to an upstairs room by themselves to have some more drinks before the thug plans to finish off Raft. We know this thug has just violently killed a simple man. Raft is supremely cool and of course comes out more than okay. If this were noir, he wouldn't; he wouldn't be in control. But this is an anti-noir where a human can be in control. He is.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.