My Favorite Weapon Is a Twenty Dollar Bill

Raymond Chandler? Philip Marlowe? Dorothy Gardiner? Kathrine Sorley Walker? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A famous author of noir detective fiction was irritated that interviewers often thought that his veridical life should be similar to the life of his hardboiled fictional private eye. Apparently, some journalists wanted to know whether the author carried a Luger, a Colt, or a Smith & Wesson revolver. The author stated comically:

My favorite weapon is a twenty dollar bill.

Would you please help me to identify this author and find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Raymond Chandler created the archetypal detective character Philip Marlowe who appeared in the novels “The Big Sleep”, “Farewell, My Lovely”, and “The Long Goodbye”. These novels were made into popular movies with Humphrey Bogart providing a memorable characterization of Marlowe in the first film.

In 1951 “Picture Post” magazine of London sent a set of interview questions to Chandler via his Hollywood agent Edgar Carter. Chandler sent a letter to Carter disparaging the magazine and its questions. Chandler included a satirical self-portrait. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[1]1981, Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler by Raymond Chandler, Edited by Frank MacShane, Letter To: Edgar Carter, Letter Date: February 5, 1951, Start Page 257, Quote Page 257 and 258, Columbia … Continue reading

Yes, I am exactly like the characters in my books. I am very tough and have been known to break a Vienna roll with my bare hands . . .

I get my material in various ways, but my favorite procedure (sometimes known as the Jerry Wald system) consists of going through the desks of other writers after hours. I am thirty-eight years old and have been for the last twenty years. I do not regard myself as a dead shot, but I am a pretty dangerous man with a wet towel. But all in all I think my favorite weapon is a twenty dollar bill. In my spare time I collect elephants.

The remark about Wald was an inside joke. He was the head of Warner Brothers Studio in Hollywood.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Raymond Chandler died in 1959. His 1951 letter was reprinted in the 1962 collection “Raymond Chandler Speaking” edited by Dorothy Gardiner and Kathrine Sorley Walker. The parenthetical remark about Wald was omitted from this version of the Chandler’s private letter.^[2]1971 (1962 Copyright), Raymond Chandler Speaking, Edited by Dorothy Gardiner and Kathrine Sorley Walker, Chapter 1: Chandler On Chandler, Letter To: Edgar Carter, Letter Date: February 5, 1951, Quote … Continue reading

In September 1962 “Esquire” magazine printed a piece titled “Six Quotes to Get You through Any Senior Exam. Use Them Wisely”. The following were three of the six quotations:^[3]1962 September, Esquire, “The Student Prince: Or How to Seize Power Though an Undergraduate” by Robert Benton and Gloria Steinem, Quote Page 85, Esquire, Inc., Chicago, Illinois. (Verified with … Continue reading

“Indian summer is like a woman, ripe, hotly passionate but fickle”—Grace Metalious

“Immature artists imitate. Mature artists steal.”—Lionel Trilling

“I think my favorite weapon is a twenty-dollar bill.”—Raymond Chandler

In 1976 Frank MacShane published the biography “The Life of Raymond Chandler”. MacShane included most of the 1951 letter:^[4] 1976, The Life of Raymond Chandler by Frank MacShane, Chapter 5: Law Is Where You Buy It, Quote Page 93 and 94, E. P. Dutton & Company, New York. (Verified with scans)

He was not above poking fun at himself and the way he was often equated with Marlowe:

“Yes, I am exactly like the characters in my books. I am very tough and have been known to break a Vienna roll with my bare hands.”
“ . . . But all in all I think my favorite weapon is a twenty-dollar bill.”

In 1981 Frank MacShane edited and published “Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler”. MacShane included a full version of the 1951 letter containing the parenthetical remark.^[5]1981, Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler by Raymond Chandler, Edited by Frank MacShane, Letter To: Edgar Carter, Letter Date: February 5, 1951, Start Page 257, Quote Page 257 and 258, Columbia … Continue reading

In conclusion, Raymond Chandler deserves credit for this quotation which he intended to be comical. He penned the remark in a private letter he sent to his Hollywood agent Edgar Carter in 1951.

Image Notes: Public domain illustration of U.S. currency. Cropped and resized.

(Great thanks to an anonymous fan of noir detective fiction whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.)