History Creator / DashiellHammett

Hammett's third novel, ''Literature/TheMalteseFalcon'', introduced the world to prototypical private eye Sam Spade, and is perhaps his single most famous work, though many people [[AdaptationDisplacement know it only via]] [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon1941 the 1941 film version]] starring Creator/HumphreyBogart, which is one of the defining examples of FilmNoir.

* AFistfulOfRehashes: ''Literature/RedHarvest'' and ''Literature/TheGlassKey''

-->-- '''Creator/RaymondChandler''', [[http://www.en.utexas.edu/amlit/amlitprivate/scans/chandlerart.html "The Simple Art of Murder"]]

His fourth novel, ''The Glass Key'', was adapted for film several times, is another influence on Kurosawa and the Coens, and has a crime fiction award named after it.[[note]]The Glass Key award is maintained by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia; recipients include ''Literature/MissSmillasFeelingForSnow'' and ''[[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo]]''.[[/note]]

Hammett was played by Jason Robards in the 1977 film ''{{Film/Julia}}'', which was adapted from the memoirs of his longtime lover Creator/LillianHellman.

* AntiHero

Hammett's third novel, ''Literature/TheMalteseFalcon'', introduced the world to prototypical private eye Sam Spade, and is perhaps his single most famous work, though many people [[AdaptationDisplacement know it only via]] [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon the 1941 film version]] starring Creator/HumphreyBogart, which is one of the defining examples of FilmNoir.

Hammett's first major character was Literature/TheContinentalOp, an anonymous operative of the Continental Detective Agency, who first appeared in print in 1923 and went on to feature in over 30 stories and two novels, ''Literature/RedHarvest'' and ''Literature/TheDainCurse''. ''Red Harvest'' is thought to have been an influence on Creator/AkiraKurosawa's film ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'', and combined with ''The Glass Key'' is a heavy influence on the Coen Brothers' noir film ''Film/MillersCrossing''. The Coen Brothers also named their film debut ''Film/BloodSimple'' after an expression coined in ''Red Harvest''; the phrase refers to the addled, fearful mindset people are in after a prolonged immersion in violent situations.

Hammett's first major character was Literature/TheContinentalOp, an anonymous operative of the Continental Detective Agency, who first appeared in print in 1923 and went on to feature in over 30 stories and two novels, ''Literature/RedHarvest'' and ''Literature/TheDainCurse''. ''Red Harvest'' is thought to have been an influence on Creator/AkiraKurosawa's film ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'', and combined with ''The Glass Key'' is a heavy influence on Coen Brothers's noir film ''Film/MillersCrossing''. The Coen Brothers also named their film debut ''Film/BloodSimple'' after an expression coined in ''Red Harvest''; the phrase refers to the addled, fearful mindset people are in after a prolonged immersion in violent situations.

Samuel Dashiell Hammett (1894--1961) was a pioneering writer of HardboiledDetective fiction. His stories were backed up by personal experience; he had been a PinkertonDetective himself. He left the job after refusing to assassinate a union leader, an event that marked much of his life and politics. He was a Marxist and this, despite his popularity, led to him being a victim of the blacklists.

** PunchedAcrossTheRoom: Also shows up from time to time.

->''The chief difference between the exceptionally knotty problem facing the detective of fiction and that facing the real detective is that in the former there is usually a paucity of clues, and in the latter altogether too many.''
-->-- '''Dashiell Hammett'''

->''Hammett took murder out of the Venetian vase and dropped it into the alley ... . He wrote at first (and almost to the end) for people with a sharp, aggressive attitude to life. They were not afraid of the seamy side of things; they lived there. Violence did not dismay them; it was right down their street.''
-->-- '''Creator/RaymondChandler''', [[http://www.en.utexas.edu/amlit/amlitprivate/scans/chandlerart.html "The Simple Art of Murder"]]

In 1982, the German director Wim Wenders made a BiographyAClef ''Hammett'' (produced by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola) which casts the author in a mystery that ends up a pastiche of his most famous stories, as an {{Homage}} to the man.

In 1982, the German director Wim Wenders made a film ''Hammett'' (produced by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola) which casts the author in a mystery that ends up a pastiche of his most famous stories, as an {{Homage}} to the man.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Before taking up writing, Hammett had been an agent for the Pinkerton Detective Agency.

Hammett was played by Jason Robards in the 1977 film ''{{Film/Julia}}'', which was adapted from the memoirs of his longtime lover Lillian Hellman.

His fourth novel, ''The Glass Key'', was adapted for film several times, is another influence on Kurosawa and the Cohens, and has a crime fiction award named after it.[[note]]The Glass Key award is maintained by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia; recipients include ''Literature/MissSmillasFeelingForSnow'' and ''[[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo]]''.[[/note]]

* TwilightOfTheOldWest[=/=]NewOldWest: "The Man Who Killed Dan Odams" is a Hammett short story that carries the conventions of TheWestern into the Twentieth Century. "Nightmare Town" and "Literature/RedHarvest" both have Western aspects, and the latter inspired the outright Western film ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars''. The Literature/ContinentalOp story "Corkscrew" is also a good example.

His fifth and final novel, ''Literature/TheThinMan'', received a LighterAndSofter [[Film/TheThinMan film adaptation starring Creator/WilliamPowell and Myrna Loy]], which launched a popular film series.

His fifth and final novel, ''Literature/TheThinMan'', received a LighterAndSofter [[Film/TheThinMan film adaptation starring William Powell and Myrna Loy]], which launched a popular film series.

* SelfPlagiarism: Some have noted that The Maltese Falcon in particular draws on ideas from some of Hammett's previous works.

* TwilightOfTheOldWest[=/=]NewOldWest: "The Man Who Killed Dan Odams" is a Hammett short story that carries the conventions of TheWestern into the Twentieth Century. "Nightmare Town" and "Literature/RedHarvest" both have Western aspects, and the latter inspired the outright Western film ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars''.

Hammett's third novel, ''Literature/TheMalteseFalcon'', introduced the world to prototypical private eye Sam Spade, and is perhaps his single most famous work, though many people [[AdaptationDisplacement know it only via]] [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon the 1941 film version]] starring HumphreyBogart, which is one of the defining examples of FilmNoir.

Hammett's third novel, ''Literature/TheMalteseFalcon'', introduced the world to prototypical private eye Sam Spade, and is perhaps his single most famous work, though many people [[AdaptationDisplacement know it only via]] [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon the 1941 film version starring Humphrey Bogart]], which is one of the defining examples of FilmNoir.