Greg Clark Noir Art

  GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #50 THE FALCON Who is the Falcon and who created him?  That's a mystery that hasn't truly been solved in 80 years.  The man who gets the most credit for the creation is Michael Arlen who wrote a 1940 short story "Gay Falcon".  In the story, Gay Stanhope Falcon is a hardboiled character, tall with a long, slim, dark face and deep-set penetrating eyes.  He earns his living by keeping his mouth shut and handling dangerous assignments.  In that short story of 1940 he breaks into the bedroom of beautiful Diana Temple and burglarizes her safe, confident that she will not call the police.  He takes his haul to an insurance company, the officials of which are happy to see the stolen jewelry on which claims of a quarter million dollars have been paid during the past few years. The other Falcon was created by Drexel Drake (pseudonym of Charles H. Huff) in a 1936 novel "The Falcon's Prey".  His Falcon was Malcolm J....

GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #49 THE CRIME DOCTOR   Created by Max Marcin, "The Crime Doctor" was a long running radio series that began in 1940 on CBS.  Sponsored by Philip Morris cigarettes it was broadcast from August 4, 1940 to October 19, 1947.  "The Crime Doctor" was unique as a radio crime drama in that the central character, Dr. Benjamin Ordway, was originally a criminal mastermind named Phil Morgan who suffers a head injury and loses his memory.  With the help of a kind doctor he builds a new life and identity, studies medicine and eventually goes into psychiatry.  He specializes in criminal psychiatry because of his intense interest and understanding of the criminal mind.  A photographic story about the program in a 1946 issue of Radio Mirror  magazine explained, "Dr. Ordway has become such a favorite with the police department of his city that he is constantly being called upon for his shrewd and eager opinions in baffling murder...

  GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #48 MR. DICTRICT ATTORNEY "Mr. District Attorney" was a radio crime drama produced by Samuel Bischoff, a movie producer, that aired on NBC and ABC from April 3, 1939 to June 13, 1952 (and in syndication through 1953).  Created, written, and directed by former law student Ed Byron, the series was inspired by the early years of New York governor Thomas E. Dewey when he was the crusading District Attorney of NYC who successfully went after Lucky Luciano, Waxey Gordon of the mob, and Jimmy Hines, the corrupt political boss of Tammany Hall.  At one point Dewey was closing in on Dutch Schultz, who was feeling the heat.  The Dutchman decided to assassinate the crusading D.A., but Luciano, head of the underworld then, knew that the murder of Dewey would result in a ton of trouble descending upon the mob, and Lucky had Dutch killed.  Dewey's public war against racketeering led to his election as governor and a two-time president...

  GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #47 MICHAEL SHAYNE Created by Brett Halliday, Miami's most famous private detective began his literary career in 1939.  His backstory places him in New York in 1935 working as a detective for the Worldwide Agency.  Following the death of his wife Phyllis in 1943, Shayne temporarily deserts Miami and sets up an office in New Orleans.  Mike Shayne is a rugged 6'1" redhead who, though adept at the cerebral side of detection, is best known as a two-fisted operative, always extricating himself from danger.  In "A Taste for Violence" Shayne settles a long-lasting Kentucky coal mine strike, cleans up a corrupt government, catches a murderer, and accepts an appointment as reform police chief for six months.  Shayne's loyalty extends not only to his clients but also to his small circle of friends - his secretary Lucy Hamilton; his friend Timothy Rourke, reporter for the Miami Daily News ; and Will Gentry, chief of Miami det...

  GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #46 PHILIP MARLOWE Created by Raymond Chandler, Marlowe has come to epitomize the private eye in detective fiction.  More thoughtful than his brethren, who rely on guns and fists, he has a college education and can quote Browning, Eliot, and Flaubert.  He relaxes by solving chess problems and enjoys classical art and symphonies.  Marlowe clearly has not chosen his occupation for the money, as his one-man detective agency is only marginally successful.  He will not knowingly accept a client who is dishonest.  When he discovers that a $5000 check he has received as a fee represents "tainted money", he places it in his office safe - uncashed.  Trouble, as Marlowe has said, is his business, but it is a business chosen out of a desire to restore some decency to the world about him. Unswervingly loyal to those clients he will serve, Marlowe accepts arrest rather than betray their interests.  In "The Lady in the...