Iconic Hardboiled Detective Fiction/Noir
A list featuring classic hardboiled detective capers—largely cynical novels (and a few story collections) hailing primarily from the 20’s-50’s, populated by quick thinking and hard drinking detectives, femme fatales, gangsters, murders, and periodic guns fights; where coffee is served late at night, and there is almost always an abundance of cigarette smoke…
created by TheMulletedWriter
last updated August, 2026
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ong i had no idea double indemnity was based on a book i freaking love that film
It was a controversial (and popular) book when it came out. It is an interesting read, and despite feeling a bit tame by modern day standards, I can see why it had such a big impact (and offended so many) people… I will say, in a rare exception to my usual belief in the book being better, I actually like the film adaptation more than the book (I think that the dialogue was better and characters as portrayed in the film were more interesting). Raymond Chandler was brought on to help write the screenplay after Billy Wilder’s usual script writing collaborator dropped out (he felt that there was room for much sex in the novel), and I think that Chanderler helped to overall elevate the dialogue and writing… Double Indemnity was a fascinating read from a historical and public sensibilities perspective!
It’s on my list! I’m not expecting it to improve on the film as double indemnity is hands down my favourite film noir and definitely in my top 3 forties films of all time (im a big film person this is high praise trust me) and also the book doesn’t have Barbara stanwyck (lmao). However ive never actually read a noir book and that is a massive oversight as I love love love films noir (also excited to read the Maltese falcon) and im interested to see stylistic differences as well
That is very high (and well deserved) praise for Double Indemnity! Barbara Stanwyck was such a good actress, and a huge draw to any movie (for me at least)! I am so excited to encounter someone else who loves film noir! I went through a noir film phase as a teenager, and I am now due to revisit it and watch my way through a more curated filmography (as a teenager I mostly watched came my way via late night television aimed at the age demographic of my grandparents and a local movie theatre). It’s a genre that I haven’t encountered very many other people who also enjoy it, so this is very exciting to me! I have recently reentered my Dashiell Hammett phase, and am delighted to find that I love his prose just as much as (if not more so than) when I first encountered him. The Maltese Falcon is a classic, and I hope you have fun reading it! I also recently listened to the audiobook version of Red Harvest and loved it!
Im not sorry to admit I am a shameless cinephile (inherited from my cinema-running mother) who watches indiscriminately. Fun fact, when I did my film studies a level, I wrote a screenplay for a short film that was a largely ridiculous pastiche of noir. It was a five minute story of a private investigator (in my head played by Bogart) who is hired by a beautiful dame (stanwyck in my head) to steal her cat back from her estranged husband, only to take its diamond-encrusted collar and leave kitty with the bamboozled detective. In my accompanying essay I cited as my biggest sources double indemnity, the Maltese falcon, and Wallace and gromit: the wrong trousers (if u can see my logic).
Recently though, ive been on a silent film kick after having a deep intense fixation on buster Keaton (after reading Dana Steven’s very good biography, The Camera Man) and when im a uni student (hopefully by this October) and unable to afford streaming services lmao im planning to do a German expressionist deep dive! I find it really interesting that at in the throes and aftermaths of two world wars, both Germany and the US utilised this stark, macabre way of visual storytelling. I’ve already seen a couple murnau films but catch me hitting up some lang in this autumn!!
That sounds like a fantastic screenplay! I love your ideal casting, as well as its influences!
I inherited a soft spot for Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton from my Mom (much like your cinephilia!), and am overdue for revisiting both of their filmography. I'll have to keep any eye out for that biography. Best of luck with university! I hope you are able to get in this October! The deep dive into German Expressionism sounds fascinating, I hope that you enjoy your further cinematic adventures!
Thank you for all your hopes and wishes! (icl I’m kinda a Charlie Chaplin hater (bad vibes, stupid face, nonce) but if u ever wanna get back into buster Keatons filmography might I suggest you start with Sherlock jr absolute all timer and possible the most intellectual film ever made by a staunch anti-intellectual lmao)
You are welcome!
Chaplin's legacy is complicated, and his behaviour left a lot to be desired... I'm not going to defend him, although I will say that I think his filmography is still incredibly worthwhile--The Great Dictator springing to mind immediately.
I'll keep an eye out for Sherlock Jr.--thanks for the recommendation!
Oh I mean it goes similar with Keaton. I love the man’s work but he was a horrific alcoholic, cheated relentlessly on his first two wives (although sort of consensually with his first there’s a weird relationship there im not going to try and unpack), and was racist by way of not questioning his upbringing and cultural education. I kinda just find chaplins whole shtick a bit grim. I don’t enjoy looking at him, his walk is a little too goofy for my tastes, I think his hat and ‘stache are dumb, and the fact that he couldn’t stop marrying teenagers doesn’t help. I really like Keatons persona but I do not really care for the tramp.
That's fair, and quite well stated! I do find the two of them fascinating in so far as what they both did in their careers that would end up having such a huge impact on cinema... This is probably an odd comparison to make (and I don't know if it even makes sense), but it kinda reminds me of the original Universal monster movies, namely in so far as how iconic and impactful they wound up being...
they’re very interesting to compare so far as how they were publicly perceived and how they fared under the studio system that came into existence at the height of their respective careers. Chaplin enjoyed the honour of being the first film director discussed lauded as an “artist”, whereas Keaton, who’s films were arguably more technically progressive and visually stunning, often lost money on his ambitious passion projects, never rising during his directorial career above the rank of comedian. Chaplin, more financially savvy than Keaton, was able to retain much of his creative control going into the classical Hollywood period while Keaton, driven by an endless supply of dependent family members and a lack of any idea what to do with himself once his production company was dissolved, signed a deal with MGM which stripped him of nearly all creative control and essentially ruined his life for the next 10-15 years. Chaplin, ever the technophobe, continued making silent films well into the thirties and had retired by the late fifties, while Keaton, always looking to find The Next Big Thing in entertainment, ably found a home in television as early as the late forties and continued working steadily up until his death. Their approaches to filmmaking and their legacies were both incredibly different and it’s really fascinating to see what two living legends did with a changing cinematic landscape.
So can you tell I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this over the last two months lmao
It is fascinating how vastly different their approaches were--not to mention the public's and studio's views of them. Also, the line wherein you described Chaplin as being a technophobe made me laugh out loud and think Oh, this explains why I relate to him so well! Ha ha!.
Thank you for sharing and articulating all this! I have only ever really encountered the their filmographies from the lens of being a casual film fan, and reading all this has been a lot of fun and very interesting!
Some years ago, a local movie theatre had a screening of Keaton movie (the title of which currently escapes me) that was accompanied by a live orchestra. It was a really interesting viewing experience, and if you ever get the opportunity to experience a piece of cinema shown under those circumstances, I highly recommend doing so!
My dream to go to a live orchestra film screening! Particularly a silent film screening, I’d love to watch a film like that in a similar way to how people at that time period would have watched it.
And no problem about the infodump lmao literally any time I could talk a lot more. I find it funny also how in the course of this conversation neither of us have mentioned Harold Lloyd. Ah, Harold. Bless him for being one of the big three silent film comedians, and bless him again for being nobody’s favourite (although not too many blessings cuz irl he was a bit of a dickhead).
I highly recommend going to see a live orchestra accompanying a film screening. I hope that you're able to go to one soon!
I do love a good info dump! Anytime you want to talk more about old movies, I am happy to hear it!
I am not familiar with the movies of Harold Lloyd (although, a few days ago, I did encounter a surprise reference to his film career in the book about the Fast and the Furious movies that I was reading to one of our dogs). What would you recommend as a starting place for watching Lloyd's filmography?
Safety last is definitely his most iconic. His career hasn’t really endured in the way that chaplins and Keatons had, but they were at their time all considered the best of silent comedy. The decline in his legacy is partly because he didn’t let televisions run his old films without paying an exorbitant fee (Chaplin and Keaton weren’t so expensive), and partly because his go-getter all-American image didn’t age particularly well (not in a yeesh way just in a “it’s all very zeitgesty” way). However his estate was like. The most famous in Hollywood for a time and he was pretty cool for having half his hand blown off in an explosion and still doing the majority of his own stunts. But yeah I’m not the biggest Lloyd fan, however Safety Last is still has one of the most famous images in silent Hollywood (if you’ll watch it you’ll probably know it).
Interesting... Charging exorbitantly high prices to show your movies might seem like the right move in the short term, but is a good way to fade into obscurity...
Thanks for the recommendation! I'll keep an eye out for Safety Last!
he also lowk helped drive Clyde bruckman to take his own life and petitioned to keep black people out his neighbourhood so. complex guy.
Oh... He sounds like a really charming man. In all seriousness, "complex" is the right word...
Also, I don’t know if Peter Straub is your cup of tea, but he wrote the novella A Special Place, one of the characters in which references a lot of films noir. (Straub usually wrote literary horror, while A Special Place is in the thriller/crime novel vein…)
I can’t say I’ve ever encountered him but I shall investigate promptly and possibly add to my ever-growing list of books (I may even get round to double indemnity in the next five years!)
Peter Straub is probably most widely known for co-writing three books with Stephen King (the third of which is coming out later this year, albeit posthumously on Straub's part--it's based on his notes, but I digress), and primarily published horror. While A Special Place ties in with his novel A Dark Matter, it is also a worthwhile standalone that I think you would enjoy! I will say, it is very dark (as one might expect from the crime/noir genre), but also beautifully written. I hope you enjoy it whenever you get around to reading it! I also hope that you enjoy Double Indemnity. I also have a rapidly and ever-expanding TBR, and a lot of them I'll be getting to years from now, so you are in good company!
I’m also slightly ashamed to admit I’ve still never read a Stephen king novel. My grandma had a massive collection that I hoped to dive into but it transpired that when she passed it was easier just to haul all her books to a charity shop. One day I’ll read the shining (one day I’ll WATCH the shining my TBW is as long as my TBR) I’ve simply never gotten around to it.
Stephen King is one of my favourite authors, and he and Agatha Christie are the reasons that I have managed to retain my love of reading following my stints in the American public education system and college. I really enjoy how engaging his writing and world building is, and also how compelling his characters tend to be. The Shining is an absolutely fantastic book! I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother's passing. It's very cool to hear that she had a massive SK collection--she sounds like she was an awesome lady!
I think my interested shelf might be a bottomless pit. I genuinely don’t think there is an end 😭
Will we ever get to the bottom of our TBRs and TBWs? Who knows--but that won't stop me from perpetually adding to them!
Not a recommendation for the list itself but a recommedation for readers who like noir (so, obviously, you) I read Cadmium Red by Jerome Siegel earlier this month and it fits all the criteria for a noir, except in current day Philly. There's the femme fatale, violence, a MC's downward spiral, eroticism (but no open door sex scenes), murder, ... I can't compare it to any other books because it was my first forray into the genre, but it ticks the boxes so you might enjoy it
Thanks for the recommendation—it sounds like a great read! I’ll have to track down a copy!
