Fletch

I just finished reading Gregory McDonald's '74 "beach boiled" detective story, Fletch, which follows the memorable I.M. Fletcher, feature reporter for the fictional News-Tribune, as he stumbles upon evidence, sleeps with the wives of other men, and, through a combination of persistence, memory, and coincidence manages to solve two crimes and escape to Rio with three million dollars.

The book would be fun to teach with a Chandler or Hammett novel, as McDonald is clearly revisiting their twist on mystery. The sunny location, replete with beach scenes and tennis clubs, provides the glare in which corrupt institutions - corporate, law, and media - go about their seedy business. Drugs take center stage as the victimizing agent which result in the death of a 19 year old prostitute and the extra-judicial imprisonment of a former school teacher and a young man, as well as the degradation of a number of other characters who people the beaches where Fletch lives undercover.

The questions are obvious, and guide my ruminations: How does Chandler's LA differ from McDonald's? In what ways do the heroes differ? The morality? And what historical and cultural changes have precipitated these reformulations? What is suggested by the persistence of the outsider investigator, the hero of questionable morality who nonetheless solves the crime - and, of course, such questions beg the acknowledgement that Fletch tidily closes his cases and even profits, a feat of which Marlowe was not capable.

Then there is the film(s). We know what fun has become of Chandler's novel: Bogart, Bacall, and Howard Hawks in '46; the Cohen brothers' infamous "Dude" in '98. Fletch ('85)was also adapted for screen, a character driven comedic piece starring Chevy Chase in the midst of arguably the high point of his career, 1985, shortly after Caddyshack ('80) and Vacation ('83), contemporaneous with European Vacation ( '85), and Spies Like Us ('85), and barely a year before Three Amigos ('86). Fletch Lives ('89) was a sequel based entirely on the previous film rather than any of the subsequent McDonald books (there were seven in the series), which suggests the vitality of the screen iteration. In what ways does Chase outshine McDonald? What is the effect of playing up the comedy and playing down the tragedy, and what may have instigated that decision?

Bringing it all together, how do Bogart, Chase, and Jeff Bridges reflect evolving masculinity in the city of Angels? Or, if the masculinity route feels played-out, how about evolving conceptions of crime and criminality, even morality?

It might even be profitable to bring in some supporting films. Produced in the '70s but taking place in the 30's, Chinatown ('74 - and a personal favorite) may productively add to discussions of morality and masculinity in the detective genre, as might Training Day ('01). As a series, I'd consider screening these films in order of production (Big Sleep ('46), Chinatown ('74), Fletch (''85), The Big Lebowski ('98), and Training Day ('01) ). Even given the retrospective nature of Chinatown, going by the decade will likely inspire good discussion. Of course, there is also the auteur element - both in terms of director and actor - which would be easy to discuss in regards to such powerful, popular, and (occasionally) controversial films.