I would suggest that hardboiled shares with noir an
existential base. This is perhaps more true of Hammett than
Chandler. Why does Sam Spade do what he does in the Maltese
Falcon? To save the world? To do what is
"right" or "moral"? Simply put he does what he does because
he is what he is. Someone kills your partner and you are
supposed to do something about it. Why? Because of the way he
is, his existential nature defined by his own actions, not
for any external goals. Hammett develops the same view in a
lengthy rant on why he is about to shoot a beautiful woman in
The Gutting of Couffignal. And, in The Maltese Falcon, there
is that pure existential story within a story about the beam
that almost hits a very ordinary man causing him to chose an
indeterminant life and run away from his family.
A similar outlook can be found in some of Eastwood's
westerns.
Yes, in hardboiled the protagonist is a bit of a knight in
shining armor in a sick world. But his shining comes from
himself, his motivations are personal, the product of
character, created by his own actions and decisions.
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