Category Archives: Hardboiled

He Took It All Pretty Quietly

We’ve been playing around with the #6wordstory in the Hardboiled course, and this post by Sarah Clay gave me the idea to further build on Michael Branson Smith’s idea to have students summarize each story with a 6wordstory. Here is … Continue reading

Posted in Hardboiled | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Twin Oaks

That was when I hit this Twin Oaks Tavern. It was nothing but a roadside sandwich joint, like a million others in California. There was a lunchroom part, and over that the house part, where they lived, and off to … Continue reading

Posted in Hardboiled | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Lana Turner

Lana Turner is always hardboiled! I wanted to title this one Johnny Stompanato —if you don’t know the story of Turner’s turbid relationship with the LA Underworld you should (James Ellroy writes them both as characters in L.A. Confidential). This one is … Continue reading

Posted in Hardboiled | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reflections of Noir

Dick Powell plays an awesome Philip Marlowe in the 1944 noir Murder, My Sweet which is based on Raymond Chandler’s 1940 novel Farewell, My Lovely. I love this particular scene because the flashing lights and sinister reflections capture the aesthetic … Continue reading

Posted in Hardboiled | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Week 1: Hardboiled Domains, #6wordstory, and Hemingway

Last night was the second night of the Hardboiled: US Detective Fiction course and we covered a few things ranging from A Domain of One’s Own pilot project to writing a #6wordstory on Twitter as a way to introduce the semester’s first … Continue reading

Posted in detective fiction, Hardboiled | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Killers from The Killers

Happy with how this oen came out, gonna do some more The Killers GIFs tonight, and then jump into Double Indemnity—so much fun! Interesting that I can’t post a GIF to my Murder Inc tumblr and not blog it here … Continue reading

Posted in Hardboiled | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Armored Car

Another animated GIF from Criss Cross, this one of Burt Lancaster driving the armored car which he will soon play a part in robbing. One of the coolest elements of Criss Cross is the idea of how impossible it is … Continue reading

Posted in Hardboiled | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Rear-View Mirror

Another animated GIF from Robert Siodomak’s Criss Cross, notice the motif of driving at night with only the headlights to guide you, very much like the opening of Siodomak’s earlier noir The Killers.

Posted in Hardboiled | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Criss Cross: Sharpening Her Nails

I think the noir animated GIFs this semester are going to be fun! This GIF features Anna Dundee (played by Yvonne DeCarlo) sharpening her nails in Robert Siodomak’s 1948 noir Criss Cross, a film wherein Burt Lancaster reprises his role … Continue reading

Posted in Hardboiled, movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Designing a Hardboiled Course Site

Designing the Hardboiled lit course site over the last couple of weeks has been fun. I’m modeling it very much on the way I built the early ds106 course sites in the Spring and Fall of 2010. I love TwentyTen … Continue reading

Posted in Hardboiled | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments