I recently did the Dixon Hill trilogy. The Big Goodbye s01e12, Manhunt s02e19 and Clues s04e14. And I wondered what the specific inspiration of Dixon Hill was? If any. Because my first assumption was that is was just a broad pastiche. Without ONE inspiration. So, I go to a search engine and research that query. And it sends me to a an old reddit thread.

The top (only) poster in that thread confidently states that Dixon Hill is based on Humphrey Bogart's character from 'In a Lonely Place'. And then I go watch In a Lonely Place. Great flick. But, not the basis of Dixon Hill. Surely. It's a noir. But not a hardboiled PI type one. Bogart plays a screenwriter accused of murder. They just have a similar name. The original poster of that thread was closer with Where the Sidewalk Ends. At least that main character is a detective. I've seen that too. Gene Tierney is a babe. There's this great scene in that one right at the start. Where Dana Andrews' detective character is talking to his boss. And they're at a promotion party of one of the other cops. And his boss is like, 'you and him went to the academy together. And now he's the captain of his own precinct. And you keep getting demoted because of doing police brutality to suspects. Just for the sake of your own career, can you please stop beating up hoods'. And Dana Andrews responds with a very Dana Andrews-esq stone-face 'no, I will not.'

I think my initial thought was right. Dixon Hill is just pastiche. I've read a fair bit of Dashiell Hammett. Some Raymond Chandler. And I've seen at least several dozen Golden Age noirs. And it's just a broad amalgamation of that. Not one specific.