TOUGH GUY, HUH?

by Steven Steinbock

All this week, and until next weekend, I’m hosting a forum on hard-boiled heroes at AudioBook Community. I hope you’ll stop by if you haven’t already.

The landing page features interviews with tough-guy narrators Stacy Keach and Richard Ferrone, as well as my own interview with “Jack Reacher” and narrator Dick Hill. It also includes a link to download ten episodes of Tom Lopez’s “2-Minute Noir”, an amusing twist on the tough-guy theme.

(I’ve been a fan of Tom Lopez and his ZBS radio dramas for thirty years. If you don’t know them, you owe it to yourself to check them out. Hmmm, do I perceive an idea for a future column?)

Each weekday at the Get Caught Listening discussion area, I’m profiling a different “tough guy” character. I thought I’d share the first five with you here:

Sam Spade

You can’t begin talking about hard-boiled heroes without beginning with Samuel Spade, the tough-guy private eye hero of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon and a small handful of short stories. When I picture Spade, like most people who have seen the 1941 movie, I picture Humphrey Bogart as the jaded, smart-talking private eye. But Spade appeared on the silver screen on two earlier occasions, first in a 1931 adaptation starring Ricardo Cortez, and then in 1936 in a mediocre humorous adaptation, “Satan Met a Lady” starring Warren William.

Spade was heard on the radio in several audio-adaptations of The Maltese Falcon, including a half-hour version starring the cast of the 1941 film, and a full-hour version starring Edward G. Robinson as Spade. “The Adventures of Sam Spade” ran from 1946 to 1951 and starred Howard Duff, and later Steve Dunne.

Philip Marlowe

I can say without hesitation that Philip Marlowe is my favorite Tough Guy. I have read and reread all seven novels featuring the Los Angeles private detective, and my enjoyment of them hasn’t diminished. Raymond Chandler was a big fan of Hammett’s work, and tried—successfully, I think—to take the tough private eye to the next level. Chandler did it by telling the stories in first person, from the cynical, sarcastic, and witty perspective of Marlowe.

Marlowe was portrayed on film by Humphrey Bogart, Dick Powell, Robert Montgomery, George Montgomery, James Garner, Robert Mitchum, and Elliott Gould. (George Sanders and Lloyd Nolan each appeared in a film based on the Marlowe novels, but with the detective’s name changed). Since the 1940s there have been numerous radio versions of the great PI, including a BBC Radio series (1977-1988) starring Ed Bishop.

Mike Hammer

Mike Hammer is the ultimate tough guy. When he created Hammer for the 1947 novel I, the Jury, Mickey Spillane took the archetype established by Hammett and embellished by Chandler, and took him to the nth level. Hammer is violent, misogynist, and carries his own sense of justice (along with a Colt .45 called “Betsy”) that he’s willing to cross the line to defend. Hammer was judge, jury, and executioner rolled into one.

Two notable audiobook narrators have portrayed Hammer on television. Darren McGavin played Hammer in the 1958-1960 syndicated series “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer.” Stacy Keach took on the role in the more successful 1980s series. (Incidentally, Brian Keith of all people starred in an unsuccessful pilot of Hammer prior to the McGavin series. It was directed by Blake Edwards, who later went on to produce and direct “Peter Gunn”).

Keach has narrated several audio adaptations of the Hammer canon, including two posthumous novels that were completed by Max Allan Collins (creator of more than a few great Tough Guys of his own).

Lew Archer

Ross Macdonald named his Tough Guy private eye for Miles Archer, the partner of Sam Spade who was killed at the beginning of The Maltese Falcon. But ultimately, in Lew Archer, Macdonald created a softer, more thoughtful incarnation of Philip Marlowe. While Archer is softer, I’m not suggesting he was soft. There is a grim and dark honesty to Macdonald’s style and to the cases that Archer covers, working along the scenic California coast, often tracking down missing sons, daughters, and wives of the wealthy.

The books are intelligent and well written. Audiobook adaptations have been read by Tom Parker and by Grover Gardner, and KCRW produced two full-cast adaptations directed by Harris Yulin.

Archie Goodwin

With his “Nero Wolfe” novels, author Rex Stout managed to blur the lines between “cozy” detective fiction and the “hard-boiled” school. Nero Wolfe is the pompous, corpulent genius who seldom leaves his New York brownstone, and takes on cases only as a way to pay for his love of good food, beer, and orchids.

Mr. Wolfe is no softy, but it’s his assistant, the young and sometimes hard-edged Archie Goodwin, who is our fifth Tough Guy. Archie narrates the novels and performs most of Wolfe’s legwork. Goodwin has savvy, street-smarts, attitude, and good looks. Over the course of more than sixty novels and novellas, Archie found the favors of numerous ladies. Goodwin has been portrayed by numerous actors on film and television, but today most viewers associate him with Timothy Hutton (whose father, Jim, played “Ellery Queen” three decades earlier), who appeared in the A&E TV series. Unlike most tough guys, his favorite drink is milk.

Those are my first five. Again, come on over to join the discussion and check out the interviews. The Tough Guy will be waiting for you.