Most of those Ace Doubles sold a lot of copies, as eBay has
proven. They turn up all the time. One reason that they could
sell for 35 cents is that the writers weren't paid much. Even
if you convert the dollars into today's values, they won't
come up to anywhere near Robert B. Parker's advances.
Last night, driving home from a "literary festival," I was
listening to XM Radio and happened to hear the Screen Guild's
30-minute version of THE MALTESE FALCON with Bogart, Astor,
Greenstreet, and Lorre repeating their original roles. I've
avoided taking part in the discussion of whether the novel
itself is noir, but the radio show made me think about
Spade's being in love with Brigid. Bogart's reading of the
line makes is sound as if he was, or at least as much in love
as Spade could be. But that's just a line reading. I've
always thought of the ending of the novel as pretty downbeat.
Effie's going to send in Mrs. Archer. Spade's not in prison
or a wheelchair, but he's got Mrs. Archer to look forward
to.
Bill Crider
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