{"id":328,"date":"2014-03-30T22:08:05","date_gmt":"2014-03-30T22:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=328"},"modified":"2014-03-30T22:08:05","modified_gmt":"2014-03-30T22:08:05","slug":"show-love-effie-perine-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=328","title":{"rendered":"Show Some Love for Effie Perine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dashiell Hammett<\/a> earned his place in literary lore many times over, for amazing\u00a0fiction but also for presenting the quintessential “lady walks in” opener.\u00a0 The Maltese Falcon<\/i><\/a>\u00a0kicks off with\u00a0a scene\u00a0borrowed into clich\u00e9. Secretary Effie Perine\u00a0leans into PI\u00a0Sam Spade\u2019s office and says:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a girl out here who wants to see\u00a0you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Plot summaries barely mention\u00a0Effie, and when they do,\u00a0usually it’s about\u00a0her loyalty.\u00a0As\u00a0wholesome.\u00a0Her Goodreads character profile is blank<\/a>. The Wikipedia\u00a0entry mentions her all of three times.<\/p>\n

Wholesome? Afterthought?\u00a0Effie commits at least that many felonies:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. She harbors \"\"Bridgette, a suspect in the murders of Archer and Thursby.<\/li>\n
  2. She aids Sam in tampering with a crime scene\u00a0and not reporting a murder (Captain Jacoby).<\/li>\n
  3. She conceals\u00a0key evidence in multiple homicide investigations \u2013 the Falcon itself.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Tack on abetting Sam\u2019s affair with Archer\u2019s wife,\u00a0the jealous Iva, and the biggie: lying to her own mother. Loyal? Too\u00a0loyal for her own good.<\/p>\n

    Dig into the story, and Effie becomes\u00a0more than someone to light Sam\u2019s smokes. Without her, Sam is locked up for Archer\u2019s murder in Act Two, or if he cracks foxy enough to beat the rap, is offed by any of several conspirators with no reservations about killing over the Falcon.<\/p>\n

    Is she still\u00a0sounding wholesome?<\/p>\n

    Effie could not exist in Sam\u2019s world if she were wholesome. She\u2019s a good person trying the best she can. For me,\u00a0this\u00a0provides the novel\u2019s moral touchstone: Effie\u2019s tortured and wavering morality\u00a0highlights the raging amorality of the other characters, most of all Sam. He grows more excited, and entangled,\u00a0as his grand game progresses, but Effie grows more horrified. She takes any\u00a0opportunity to remind him of the risks and the costs he\u2019s piling up. After Sam gives her a glimpse at his scheme, Effie makes\u00a0a pitch-perfect reply:<\/p>\n

    \u201cYou worry me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    The end of the novel leaves her faith in Sam shaken. The greatest price Sam pays for success may not be a dead partner or a lost chance at fortune or love forsaken.<\/p>\n

    Maybe it\u2019s Effie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Dashiell Hammett earned his place in literary lore many times over, for amazing\u00a0fiction but also for presenting the quintessential “lady walks in” opener.\u00a0 The Maltese Falcon\u00a0kicks off with\u00a0a scene\u00a0borrowed into clich\u00e9. Secretary Effie Perine\u00a0leans into PI\u00a0Sam Spade\u2019s office and says: \u201cThere\u2019s a girl out here who wants to see\u00a0you.\u201d Plot summaries barely mention\u00a0Effie, and when… Continue reading Show Some Love for Effie Perine<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,62,6],"tags":[9,45,44,16,5],"class_list":["post-328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime-mystery-and-suspense","category-fun-with-hammett","category-this-whole-writing-thing","tag-crime-fiction","tag-dashiell-hammett","tag-effie-perine","tag-mystery-thriller","tag-writing","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3CG0W-5i","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":635,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=635","url_meta":{"origin":328,"position":0},"title":"Caught on Podcast! 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The Sleuthsayers ranks includes a few dozen terrific writers all with a love for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime, Mystery & Suspense"","block_context":{"text":"Crime, Mystery & Suspense","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Murder-Neat-2024-Sleuthsayers-1-682x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":436,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=436","url_meta":{"origin":328,"position":4},"title":"Behind: “Death or Taxes”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"August 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Behind the Writing Scenes of \"Death or Taxes,\" published in the July '14 issue of Mysterical-E. Summer 2011: it was that purplish state of dawn.\u00a0My eyes flew open.\u00a0My breath caught in my throat. Inspiration had come. It was ready to bubble out, like it or not. 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