OTHER REFERENCES

The Bad and the Beautiful, The Big Sleep, Blonde Ice, Dark Passage, In a Lonely Place—Among the genre’s better-known movies.

The Black Bird—The common appellation for the Maltese Falcon.

The Black Dahlia—A famous Los Angeles murder case of 1947. Elizabeth Short was the victim. (There was also a Blue Dahlia murder case.)

Captain Archer of the Martian Interstellar Law Enforcement Section (MILES)—A reference to Miles Archer, Sam Spade’s doomed partner, in The Maltese Falcon.

Cregar Street—Named for Laird Cregar, the actor who plays the Nazi collaborator in This Gun for Hire, a noir classic.

The Criss Cross—Named for the noir film Criss Cross.

Floyd Avenue and Thursby Street—Named for Floyd Thursby, Brigid O’Shaughnessy’s never-seen antagonist in The Maltese Falcon.

Fuller-0812 (Widmark’s phone number)—The last name and date of birth of Samuel Fuller, a renowned noir director.

The Greer Hotel—Named for Jane Greer, the femme fatale of Out of the Past.

gunsel—Sam Spade’s derogatory term for Elisha Cook’s character (Wilmer) in The Maltese Falcon.

Hellinger Building—Named for Mark Hellinger, a film producer (and writer) during the era who made The Killers and The Naked City.

The Lollipop Guild—The bad boys of Munchkinland in The Wizard of Oz.

The Hotel Niagara—Named for the noir film Niagara.

Howard-0530 (Robinson’s phone number)—The first name and date of birth of Howard Hawks, a renowned noir director.

KRAY (radio station call letters)—A reference to Nicholas Ray, a renowned noir director.

“Laura”—The theme song to the film of the same name, one of the genre’s best-known movies.

Philip Marlowe—See Sam Spade.

The Pickup, located on South Street—A reference to Pickup on South Street, Samuel Fuller’s most famous noir film.

Orrin Quest—The doomed big brother, sought for by the title character and Philip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s The Little Sister.

Scarlet Street—A film noir classic, directed by Fritz Lang and starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, and Dan Duryea.

Michael “Mike” Shayne—A renowned fictional private eye, created by Brett Halliday.

Room 805 (Robert’s office number)—The date of birth (August 5, 1905) of John Huston, arguably noir’s greatest director.

Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe—Fictional private eyes (created by Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, respectively) who were at the center of several noir classics, including The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Lady in the Lake, and Murder, My Sweet.

Philo Vance—A renowned fictional private eye, created by S. S. Van Dine.

Veronica Apartments, Lake-1114—The name and date of birth of Veronica Lake, star of This Gun for Hire, a noir classic.