Comparison of Big Clock and Maltese Falcon - Essay Example

?Compare and Contrast Big Clock with Maltese Falcon INTRODUCTION Since the inception of cinema into the genre of modern art, it has been noticed evidently that directors from time to time have been inspired by great novels. At times, they directly took the plot and transcribed into a screenplay and at other places there are storylines twisted and turned according to the convenience and demand of the cinema. Directors sometimes change the title of the film and make it seem quite deviated from the original text or in order to make it inspirational. With the change in time and a huge acceptability of visual medium among the populace has also lead many writers to get a true inspiration from the kind of films that were being showcased within a particular span of time. If not the plot or the screenplay have directly inspired the writers, the genre and practice of different genre of art and literature through cinema have directly influenced and inspired many writers. In this way, through the passage of time a unique co-relation and collaboration of film and literature have been asserted across the globe. Bruce Morrissette in his book, “ Novel and Film: Essays in Two Genres” has rightly asserted, “ What was some years ago a highly contested critical view, that novel and film were not only thematically but also structurally interrelated , is now so widely accepted that to many it seems self-evident” (Morrissette 15). THESIS STATEMENT This essay intends to focus on the comparative aspect of the novel, The Big Clock with the film The Maltese Falcon. At the same time, the essay shall lay its foundation on the close textual analysis of the novel, The Big Clock and draw a comparative study with the film belonging to the same genre. COMPARATIVE STUDY: THE BIG CLOCK WITH THE MALTESE FALCON After the devastation of the Second World War, during the latter half of the 1940s till the beginning of 1960s, Hollywood and American literature witnessed a phenomenal change in its themes and subject content. Noir genre remarkably both in the medium of visual arts and literature evolved and flourished gradually during these years. A dystopia pervaded the skyline of America, and the tattered image of a society in the post colonial era started to evolve before the generation. Spaces of modernism and post-modernism gradually found its remarkable entries through literature and film of the time. Edward Dimendberg in his book, “Film Noir and the Spaces of Modernity” very aptly commented, “Growing up in New York City during the 1960s, I encountered residues of a vanished world, a receding horizon of the post-war culture of the 1940s and 1950s that I later would come to recognise in the films noir I viewed as a teenager” (Dimendberg 1). Rightfully, Dimendberg mentions about the effect of noir genre upon the films of post-war culture, but it is quite noteworthy at this juncture, that even the novels of the time could not ignore the valor and the strength of adventure and thrill that was engulfing the entire cultural paradox at that moment. In the year 1946, consequently Kenneth Fearing brought before the readers, one of the finest gems of noir novels, “The Big Clock”. Published by Harcourt Brace, this thriller appeared after his three consecutive thrillers published already. On the other hand, a very contemporary cinema to the novel, “The Big Clock” is the Hollywood’s all time biggest and sensational thriller featuring Humphrey Bogart, Sam Space and Mary Astor in the film noir, ‘The Maltese Falcon’ released in the year 1941 and was directed by renowned John Huston. The film was written by John Huston himself and was adapted from the novel by Dashiell Hammett bearing the same title. Both the film and the novel has a suspect, victim, femme fatal and a supervising investigator, but then a mundane co-relation of this kind between the film, ‘ The Maltese Falcon’ and the novel, “The Big Clock” does not launch the pieces into the same paradigm. At any level, the thrill, suspense, a chilling gust through the spine or a goose bump is not missing at all while navigating through the pages of the thriller novel, “The Big Clock”. After watching the film, “The Maltese Falcon” and reading the novel, “The Big Clock”, one can readily attain a conclusion that though the novel is devoid of a pictorial depiction of its action, background sound or prolific reactions of the characters yet it is never the less thrilling than the film, “The Maltese Falcon”. Actually, the syntax, plot structure and most importantly the abundant use of rhetoric within the plot structure of the novel makes it more alluring. The net of paradoxes and antithetical elements decked up with anticlimactic turns imports a film-like quality to the novel. These qualities of the novel, “The Big Clock” can be noticed from the very outset of the novel, “I first met Pauline Delos at one of those substantial parties Earl Janoth like to give every two or three months, attended by members of the staff, his personal friends, private moguls, and public nobodies, all in haphazard rotation” (Fearing and Christopher 1). Contrarily, if the film, “The Maltese Falcon” is given a close introspection it is inferred quite potently that Humphrey Bogart, the prime investigator in the film has actually launched the film alone into a different realm. Definitely, the complimentary association and support of his “femme fatal” , their voluptuous sensuality on screen and definitely the three layered adventures through which the private detective of San Francisco undergoes back to back in the pursuit of achieving the falcon statue which is jewel encrusted. However, it is evident that though both the films and the novel fall under the genre of noir particularly urban noir yet the novel, “The Big Clock” has more enchantment, more enigma to attract its readers surpassing any specific frame of age, society or time. Nevertheless, there are also areas where the grace of the film, “The Maltese Falcon” cannot be undermined at any level which has made this movie one of the classics of Hollywood cinema. Jerry Mosher in the essay, “Hard Boiled and Soft Bellied: The Fat Heavy in the Film Noir” rightfully points towards the grace of the “The Maltese Falcon”, “....but many critics have made a persuasive case for the coalescence of classical film noir elements in The Maltese Falcon: its taut narrative, hard-boiled dialogue, femme fatale character, modern style and decor, and especially casting” (Gabbard and Luhr 141). CONCLUSION There is a huge matrix of comparative analysis of the film, “The Maltese Falcon” with the novel, “The Big Clock”. Yet both the novel and the film separately have continued enchanting the readers and the audiences respectively over the years. It is very tough to conclude that as a piece of aesthetic imbibed with the stark tinge of modernism and post-modernism within, to quote for its degree of superiority. Yet the novel, “The Big Clock” with its more plane plot has able to leave a mark on the memory of its readers with its remarkable and minute description of its characters, situations and the actions which take place very systematically within the plot. The film ‘The Maltese Falcon’ on the other edge with some of the typical features of a noir film marks a signatory appeal and plunges to reform the mindset of the audience watching Hollywood’s dark cinemas or adventure thrillers. Works Cited Dimendberg, Edward. Film Noir and the Spaces of Modernity. The United States of America: Harvard University Press, 2004. Print. Fearing, Kenneth, and Nicholas Christopher. The Big Clock (New York Review Books Classics). New York: NYRB Classics, 2006. Print. Gabbard, Krin, and William Luhr. Screening Genders: Edited and with an Introduction by Krin Gabbard and William Luhr. The United States of America: Rutgers University Press, 2008. Print. Morrissette, Bruce. Novel and Film: Essays in Two Genres. The United States of America: University of Chicago Press, 1985. Print. Read More