Listening to\u00a0vintage radio, you get a sense of how fleeting fame and popularity can be. There was a time when names such as Michael Shayne,\u00a0John J.\u00a0Malone, Philo Vance, Nick Carter, and Mr. and Mrs. North held a spot in the public imagination. Yet, today these names would be mostly unknown except to diehard fans of old mysteries.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, if you mention Sherlock Holmes the recognition is universal. Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade, ditto. So which detectives have been with us a long time and have come out from beneath the rubbles of historyfor their stories and characters\u00a0to find new generations on a mass level.<\/p>\n
The list of “immortal detectives” is short:<\/p>\n
Sherlock Holmes<\/p>\n
Father Brown<\/p>\n
Nero Wolfe<\/p>\n
The Hardy Boys<\/p>\n
Nancy Drew<\/p>\n
Poirot<\/p>\n
\u00a0Miss Marple<\/p>\n
Sam Spade<\/p>\n
Philip Marlowe<\/p>\n
Mike Hammer<\/p>\n
Sherlock Holmes has survived so long because he’s definitively iconic\u00a0reperesentative of\u00a0what a detective is. He captures the imagination of writers who come up with new plots for him long after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stopped. And let’s not forget that the original stories were solid entertainment in their own right with no requirement of updating.<\/p>\n
Father Brown survives because of the intellectual\u00a0strength \u00a0of the puzzles, as well as the many devotees of Chesterton among Catholics and other traditionalists.<\/p>\n
Nero Wolfe survives through the fact that Stout, like Agatha Christie wrote his books over the course of several decades, allowing them to seep into the culture. Both the character of Wolfe and Archie,\u00a0as well as the original mysteries written by Stout arrest the public’s imagination. The most recent Nero Wolfe TV series ended in 2002, and I don’t expect we’ve seen the last of Wolfe. Of course, Wolfe may inspire writers andproducers more than it does a mass popularity.\u00a0 There’ve been five Nero Wolfe radio shows, two movies, and two TV series, and the most successful version was the latest TV series.<\/p>\n
The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew continue to be introduced to boys and girls at a young age. While\u00a0the characters have changed quite a bit since they were introduced in 1927 and 1930 respectively,\u00a0 the never-ending supply of new books assures them a long life, and that movies and TV shows will emerge from time to time.<\/p>\n