Dashiell Hammett 

This famous writer took his experiences with the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency and brief stints in the Army to write detective stories in magazines like The Smart Set and The Black Mask. The success of his 1929 novel The Maltese Falcon led to a position as screenwriter for Paramount Pictures. The 1934 movie based on the inimitable character of Sam Spade was a big success and recognized as the beginning of the Film Noir genre. It also ignited the careers of Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.  

In 1931, he wrote The Glass Key, which became a successful movie with George Raft in 1935, then re-made with what became a classic pairing of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. (They’re both very good but I prefer the second version). 

His next novel The Thin Man became the movie of the same name, that featured the classic pairing of William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick & Nora Charles. This famous crime-solving yet witty and urbane couple became the foundation of 5 more movies over the next 13 years. 

Hammet also wrote other interesting dramas such as Watch On the Rhine with Bette Davis and Paul Lukas about the resistance efforts against Germany’s march toward world domination, and  television dramas for Studio One and other anthologies. 

The Maltese Falcon (1934) Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor Runtime: 1hr 31 min The Glass Key (1942) Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake Runtime: 1 hr 25 min The Thin Man (1934) William Powell, Myrna Loy Runtime: 1hr 31 min Another Thin Man (1939) William Powell, Myrna Loy Runtime: 1 hr 43 min After The Thin Man (1936) William Powell, Myrna Loy Runtime: 1 hr 52 min Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) William Powell, Myrna Loy Runtime: 1 hr 37 min The Thin Man Goes Home (1944) William Powell, Myrna Loy Runtime: 1 hr 40 min Song Of The Thin Man (1947) William Powell, Myrna Loy Runtime: 1 hr 40 min Watch On The Rhine (1943) Bette Davis, Paul Lukas Runtime: 1 hr 54 min

Erle Stanley Gardner 

This author and lawyer is best known as the creator of the character Perry Mason, featured in various movies, a long-running radio program, the television series of the same name, and a number of television movies that were produced after the television series ended. He also wrote other novels, short stories and non-fiction books under his name and several other pseudonyms. 

As a trial lawyer in California he often defended impoverished people, particularly Chinese and Mexican immigrants. This led to his founding The Court Of Last Resort in the 1940s, dedicated to helping people who were imprisoned unfairly or couldn’t get a fair trial. In his spare time he began to write for pulp magazines, creating characters like lawyers, crime sleuths and even a gentleman thief. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, he wrote nearly 100 detective and mystery novels.

His character, Perry Mason, was based on a trial lawyer named Earl Rogers who won all but three of his murder trials. Most of these novels were serialized in The Saturday evening Post.  Warner Brothers studio produced a series of six Perry Mason movies in the 1930s starting with The Case Of the Howling Dog, starring Warren William (my favorite). Two later movies starred Ricardo Cortez and Donald Woods.  

My favorite films are the first four in the series, starring Warren William: The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) Runtime: 1hr 14 min 

The Case of the Curious Bride (1935) Runtime: 1 hr 20 min 

The Case of the Lucky Legs (1935) Runtime: 1 hr 17 min 

The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936) Runtime: 1 hr 3 min 

The successful radio program Perry Mason then ran from 1943 to 1955. In the late 1950s, the long-running television series of the same name was produced by actress Gail Patrick (My Man Godfrey, My Favorite Wife, Stage Door) and her husband Thomas C. Jackson who was a literary agent to Erle Stanley Gardner. The television drama starring Raymond Burr ran from 1957 to 1966, and featured Barbara Hale as secretary Della Street and William Hopper (son of famous Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper) as detective Paul Drake. Following the end of the television show, the characters were revised in 30 made-for-television movies from 1985 to 1995.