History of crime fiction quite complicated, forcing him to embark on an odyssey through the urban landscape. He is involved with organized crime and other lowlifes on the "mean streets" of, preferably, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, or Chicago. A hard-boiled private eye has an ambivalent attitude towards the police. It is his ambition to save America and rid it of its mean elements all by himself. As Raymond Chandler's protagonist Philip Marlowe—immortalized by actor Humphrey Bogart in the movie adaptation (1946) of the novel "The Big Sleep" (1939)—admits to his client, General Sternwood, he finds it rather tiresome, as an individualist, to
Mystery film film was filmed entirely from Marlowe's viewpoint. The audience sees only what he does. Montgomery only appears on camera a few times, once in a mirror reflection. Another Chandler novel "The High Window" was made into the film "The Brasher Doubloon" (also 1947) starring George Montgomery. This was essentially a remake of "Time to Kill" (1942), a Michael Shayne adventure starring Lloyd Nolan. Chandler also wrote an original screenplay for "The Blue Dahlia" (1946) starring Alan Ladd. "The Glass Key" (1942), also starring Ladd, was the second film adaptation of Hammett's novel. Another standout film of this period is "Out