In Raymond Chandler's pulp mysteries of the '30s, '40s, and '50s, he exposed a benighted Los Angeles where seediness and corruption infect everyone, from Hollywood's elite to downtown's bottom dwellers. Independent producer Jacob Adelman moved to Los Angeles last year took his Chandler paperbacks with him to use as guidebooks to his new city. Through Chandler's eyes he saw the city's past and glimpsed its future.
More from Jacob Adelman
Self-Cleaning Fabric
(00:03:22)
From: Jacob Adelman
A Hong Kong researcher creates a fabric that cleans itself in sunlight.
Related Pieces
Piece Description
In Raymond Chandler's pulp mysteries of the '30s, '40s, and '50s, he exposed a benighted Los Angeles where seediness and corruption infect everyone, from Hollywood's elite to downtown's bottom dwellers. Independent producer Jacob Adelman moved to Los Angeles last year took his Chandler paperbacks with him to use as guidebooks to his new city. Through Chandler's eyes he saw the city's past and glimpsed its future.
Transcript
ACT: Movie 1
Marlow: No I'm a shamus.
Vivian: What's a shamus?
Marlow: It's a private detective?
(SCRIPT)
That's Humphry Bogart in the 1946 film version of The Big Sleep. He plays Philip Marlowe, the protagonist in just about all of Raymond Chandler's L-A-based pulp mysteries from the '30s, '40s and '50s.
ACT: Movie 1 continues
Vivian: You're cute.
MUSIC: Big Sleep theme
(SCRIPT)
I read the Big Sleep and a few other Chandler mysteries before I moved to Los Angeles a few months ago. Chandler got me excited about moving to L-A, a city I'd never even visited before. He doesn?t portray the city in a particularly flattering light. But there?s something weirdly appealing about the elegiac corruptness of his L-A.
MUSIC fades to AMBI: Street Noise
(SCRIPT)
Another thing I like about Chandler is how specific he gets with his geography. He tells you exactly where in Los An...
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Timing and Cues
In Raymond Chandler's pulp mysteries of the '30s, '40s, and '50s, he exposed a benighted Los Angeles where seediness and corruption infect everyone, from Hollywood's elite to downtown's bottom dwellers. Independent producer Jacob Adelman moved to Los Angeles last year took his Chandler paperbacks with him to use as guidebooks to his new city. Through Chandler's eyes he saw the city's past and glimpsed its future.
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haitian Fight Song | David Byrne | Lead Us Not Into Temptation. | Thrill Jockey | 2003 | 01:09 |
| Work Song | Charles Mingus | Mingus at the Bohemia. | Ojc | 1955 | 00:31 |
| Work Song | Charles Mingus | Mingus at the Bohemia. | Ojc | 1955 | 00:29 |
| Rainbirds | Tom Waits | Swordfishtrombones. | Island | 1983 | 00:52 |
| The Vietnamese Telephone Ministry | The Fiery Furnaces | Bitter Tea. | Fat Possum | 2006 | 00:15 |
| The Vietnamese Telephone Ministry | The Fiery Furnaces | Bitter Tea. | Fat Possum | 2006 | 00:16 |
| The Vietnamese Telephone Ministry | The Fiery Furnaces | Bitter Tea. | Fat Possum | 2006 | 00:10 |
| The Vietnamese Telephone Ministry | The Fiery Furnaces | Bitter Tea. | Fat Possum | 2006 | 00:11 |
| Pitter Patter Goes My Heart | Broken Social Scene | You Forgot It in People. | Arts & Crafts | 2002 | 00:58 |
