Hardboiled Detectives

Mystery shows featuring detectives are very popular among old time radio fans. But even within the genre, there are two kinds of detectives – hardboiled and softboiled detectives.

They differ in their attitudes, danger levels, and their settings. If you love Sam Spade, Pat Novak, and Philip Marlowe, you’re already a fan of hardboiled detectives. These detectives aren’t afraid of walking down a dark alley in a seedy neighborhood. They’re not afraid of facing danger around every turn. Hardboiled detectives are also a little more likely to take the law into their own hands or ignore law enforcement altogether. They’re mavericks in a profession that’s already a little bit unconventional.

The writers of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe are thought to be the originators of this genre. After they succeeded with their tough as nails characters, many other novelists took their cue and hardboiled detective fiction became easy to find.

Once the popularity of these characters became evident they easily made the leap to the radio. Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe could both be heard on the radio and they gave birth to a slew of shows that were written in the same vein.

One of the marks of hardboiled detectives is their edgy dialogue. They were a little harsher than their golden age counterparts. They spoke figuratively and often used metaphors to describe situations such as: “he always got a lot of fun out of acting like the other half of a half-wit.”

In fact, the use of metaphors is so rampant in hardboiled detective stories, that it became a cliché that’s often parodied even now. Hardboiled detectives didn’t spend a lot of time on sentimentality. They had a “tell it like it is” attitude and didn’t mince words. 

Hardboiled detectives made the leap easily from radio to film where you could find Humphrey Bogart playing both Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe.  These tough-guy characters are the epitome of the genre. But they’re not the only characters that are popular from this field. 

If you like your mysteries a little rough around the edges, you’ll love listening to hardboiled detective stories.  In addition to Phillip Marlowe and Sam Spade, you may enjoy Richard Diamond, Johnny Dollar, The Fat Man, The Falcon, and Michael Shayne to name a few.

If you haven't done so already why not cast your vote in the mini poll opposite for who you think is the most hardboiled detective.

Happy listening my friends,