MovieChat Forums > Harper (1966) Discussion > Ross Macdonald

Ross Macdonald

posted 19 years ago by grubstaker58
19 replies | jump to latest

After reading most of the reviews for Harper,only one mentioned that Paul Newman's "Harper" character was based on novelist Ross Macdonald's private detective, "Lew Archer" not Raymond Chandler as (ironicly) a Canadian reviewer stated -Ironic because Ross Macdonald aka Kenneth Millar grew up in western Canada.William Goldman scripted another "Harper" around 1968 but Newman turned it down.He thought he would become typed-cast ala Sean Connery.Huh?...Anyways ,anyone who enjoys extremely well written mystery novels set in 1960's-70's California must read Ross Macdonald. He is legendary.

[–] archer1949 19 years ago

It seems that of the "Big Three" (Hammett, Chandler, MacDonald) Ross MacDonald has gone out of fashion and been forgotten. People still invoke Hammett and Chandler to sell their book or movie, but when was the last time you have heard of anyone talking about being influenced by Ross MacDonald?

But when you actually look at the modern PI novel authors' works and their influeneces, the shadow of Lew Archer is far more prevalent in modern detective fiction than Hammett or Chandler.

"Cate Blanchett is a creature sent by the Gods to delight us."

[–] jawebster2000 13 years ago

archer1949, I see the shadow of Lew Archer over someone I read back in the 50's. A fellow by the name of Mike Hammer by Mickey Spillane. Problem is they were almost contemporaries. Which came first the chicken or the egg?

[–] dgcrow 19 years ago

The script wasn't written by William Goldman, but Paul Newman did star in another movie version of a Ross Macdonald book in 1975: "The Drowning Pool". Again he played "Lew Harper" instead of Lew Archer.

[–] TheMemphian 17 years ago

Well, I'll take MacDonald over all others. He's the noble underdog, among underdogs, just like Archer.
I think he is only less popular because of his era. Chandler and Hammett didn't have to compete with TV over their market's leisure time activites.

"What rotten sins I've got working for me. I suppose it's the wages." -Bedazzled (1967)

[–] fanaticita 16 years ago

I'm going to try and find a copy of Macdonald's book Moving Target and see if it ends the same way as the film Harper. If not, I'll let you know!

[–] mpeachhead 15 years ago

Macdonald was superior to Hammett and Chandler. They came first, but he perfected the genre. All of his novels are awesome, and they all have these great twist endings. I'm sure Newman didn't want to be typecast, but I wish someone would because all 18 of these books need to be brought to the big screen..

[–] rpniew 14 years ago

I'm not sure who today would make a good Archer. In spite of my fondness for Newman's role, I actually picture Archer as being more like Brian Keith, who played Archer in a rather lackluster TV series (the lackluster aspect was certainly not Mr. Keith's fault.)

[–] jawebster2000 13 years ago

rpniew, have you seen the movie "Kill Me Again"? Val Kilmer did a pretty good job of playing a down and almost out private detective. The movie was made in 1989 so they'd have to get someone younger (and skinnier) to play the part today. Mark Wahlberg might work.

[–] lewis-51 14 years ago

Couldn't agree more. Ross Macdonald is my favorite author of fiction. I'd love to see some serious movies done on his works.

- henry

[–] misspaddylee 13 years ago

Macdonald was the real deal. Once you start reading his stuff, nothing else measures up.

"Tell me about the squares, Buzzie."

[–] Eric-1226 13 years ago

I'm enthused and excited to hear all this praise for Ross MacDonald, because my parents were HUGE Ross MacDonald fans back in the 80's. They were retired and loved to spend their time reading murder mysteries and detective novels, and RM was always being discussed around the house. Me, back then I was too busy with life's bigger problems to be bothered with reading detective novels, but now, some 25 years later, I find I have much more free time on my hands, AND... my parent's basement has a whole slew of detective novels sitting on a bookshelf, including many written by Ross MacDonald. Heck, for all I know, they have nearly ALL of his novels! lol So I will soon start picking up these books and start to read them.

[–] nutsberryfarm 9 years ago

indeed. huge fan of 'the galton case'.

🌴"I'm not making art, I'm making sushi." Masaharu Morimoto🌴

[–] jawebster2000 13 years ago

grubstaker58, I'm reading "The Moving Target" right now. As I got into it, I thought it was familiar, I even imagined Mrs. Sampson as Lauren Bacall, then I remembered the movie "Harper" with Paul Newman and that is when I went to this web site.

[–] badge7213 13 years ago

The site thrillingdetective.com may have said it best about the Lew Archer (aka Harper) character - "The greatest P.I. series ever written ? Probably."

Macdonald deserves to be part of the classic "trinity" (including Hammett and Chandler), and in fact 'Spenser' author Robert B. Parker wrote his college thesis on the influence of the three writers. But unfortunately he (author OR character) does not seem to have the name recognition, perhaps because Hammett had the iconic characters (Sam Spade, Nick & Nora) and movies (Maltese Falcon, Thin Man) while Chandler was considered the man who defined / perfected the American private eye story.

[–] heyuactor 12 years ago

Just finished The Blue Hammer, an Archer mystery novel. Pretty good but the story's twists and turns and multiple characters lessened my enjoyment of it because I had to think so much!
Would make a good movie if some of the intricate interweaving of family and lovers and other characters were taken out.
It's Archer in the 1970's and he's bit tired, but not too tired to fall for a cute newspaper reporter.

"Did you make coffee...? Make it!"--Cheyenne.

[–] mpeachhead 11 years ago

Blue Hammer is the worst of the late novels. MacDonald was already succumbing to Alzheimer's as he wrote it. Still, it's pretty darned good. Everything after The Galton Case is considered superior to what came before it. Still, if I were writing these novels into screenplays for movies. I'd start with The Way Some People Die or Find a Victim. Those are the best of the early ones. Ivory Grin is good, too.

He wrote his best stuff in the 60s. He was a Freudian, and he examined the neuroses of his characters in a way that Chandler and Hammett and indeed no one else ever did. His novels are deep and full of substance. You can read them over and over again and discover something new each time. Lots to think about.

Amazing that Hollywood started with the first one and then remade the second one in the 70s. The Drowning Pool is his worst in my opinion. I don't understand why they made that film when they had over a dozen novels to choose from, all of them objectively better than that one.

[–] filmklassik 9 years ago

I read a few of MacDonald's novels in my early 20s, but I plan to go back and read all of his work in the next year or two. (I'm in my 50s now)

But not The Blue Hammer. Never The Blue Hammer. If I live to be a thousand, I am not going to read The Blue Hammer.

Yes, it's because RM had Alzheimer's when he wrote it. And reading it would break my heart.

[–] socrates17 11 years ago

I read all of MacDonald's novels and I loved them. He was a brilliant crime writer whose made excellent use of the common trope of rooting a current crime in an unresolved crime in the past.

[–] lewis-51 11 years ago

I've read all the Lew Archer novels by Ross Macdonald, and they all rate as good - superb. The large majority are at least excellent. Especially try The Wycherly Woman, The Zebra-striped Hearse, and Sleeping Beauty. There really is no better series of mystery stories.