Help get Raymond Chandler a Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Scott Myers

30 Jul 2015 • 5 min read

I get hit up all the time to help promote a variety of causes. Normally the best I can do is offer a retweet. Otherwise the blog would become more like a clog… jammed with requests for money. But this one is different. Bill Boyle and Aaron Lerner have taken up a most worthy crowdfunding campaign: To get Raymond Chandler a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Some background from the IndieGoGo page:

The paperwork and approval process have been completed. The Chandler Estate has given us their blessing, and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has approved a star for him.

It’s about time that Chandler was honored. His private detective, Philip Marlowe, remains one of the archetypes of the hard-boiled crime fiction genre and has influenced generations of mystery writers.

It could be argued that Chandler created the Hollywood mystique, and if it were not for him there may not have been a Hollywood Walk of Fame. His novels are the engine behind what was to become “Hollywood Noir.” Chandler had an immense stylistic influence on American popular culture and, in particular, the Hollywood style of film noir.

His books have been turned into eighteen movies to date and three television series. Chandler’s screenplays were no less noteworthy. Double Indemnity and The Blue Dahlia were Oscar-nominated for Best Screenplay, and the critically acclaimed Strangers on a Train remains his great collaboration with Hitchcock.

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How many “solely” novelists or screenwriters have a star on the Walk of Fame?

Answer: None. All novelists and/or screenwriters on the Walk of Fame are also producers, directors, actors, or animators.

Let’s make Raymond Chandler the first. He deserves it.

Raymond Chandler (seated) from the movie Double Indemnity
which he wrote with Billy Wilder

During our conversations with Aaron and Bill, I was surprised to discover these stars require private benefactors. This from Bill:

Yes, every star is paid for except the 1,500 ones that were first laid in 1959 paid for by a $1.25 Million tax assessment. After that there was a fee which I believe was initially $5,000 and has progressively increased.

Rarely do people buy the stars themselves. They are usually sponsored and paid for by the studios, production companies, recording companies and the ceremonies are coordinated to take place at the same time as a film or television series is launching.

This is why no screenwriters. In fact there isn’t even a writer emblem. The five existing emblems are; Film, Television, Radio, Recording and Live Theatre. Studios and networks don’t get much millage out of sponsoring a star for the screenwriter thus they were again ignored as were the writers whose work has played a huge role in motion picture production; J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Ian Fleming etc.

Seriously, no writer has a star solely based on their writing? Preposterous. But of all the writers to be ignored… Raymond Chandler? Here’s a promotional video Bill and Aaron put together which gets at the utter inanity of this situation:

I have featured Chandler on the blog before. For example, you can go here to listen to an amazing conversation in which Chandler is interviewed by none other than Ian Fleming. Yes, Ian “The name is Bond. James Bond” Fleming. You can go here to read a 1945 Atlantic Monthly essay penned by Chandler about his experiences in Hollywood. You can go here to read a letter Chandler wrote to Alfred Hitchcock. But perhaps what could really help sell this idea is to provide a few choice quotes from Chandler’s writing to remind us all of what a unique writing voice he had:

“To say goodbye is to die a little.” — The Long Goodbye

“From 30 feet away she looked like a lot of class. From 10 feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from 30 feet away.” — The High Window

“Dead men are heavier than broken hearts.” — The Big Sleep

“I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun. I put them on and went out of the room.” — Farewell, My Lovely

“He snorted and hit me in the solar plexus. I bent over and took hold of the room with both hands and spun it. When I had it nicely spinning I gave it a full swing and hit myself on the back of the head with the floor.” — Pearls are a Nuisance

“There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen.” — Red Wind: A Collection of Short Stories

Perhaps no writer captured the atmosphere of Los Angeles from that era better than Raymond Chandler. Think of film noir without his contributions. It’s literally unimaginable. Plus he was just a damn fine writer. If anyone deserves a star on Hollywood Boulevard, it’s Chandler.

Hence my support of this campaign. Here is how your money will be allocated:

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