Welcome to a hard-boiled and not without noir blog with news and reviews, occasional outbursts of maniacal Autograph Hound activity, plus archival records from the forty-five year run of The Dashiell Hammett Tour. 
The Dashiell Hammett Tour
1977-2022
Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973
Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
Willeford
The Book
Category Archives: Dash
Sinister Cinema: After 36 Years
Jesús Ángel González López — the guy who told us all about La Cuidad Maldita, the Spaghetti Western version of Hammett’s Red Harvest — recently dropped me a note to say: “Did I tell you I sent a DVD copy … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, News
Tagged Jason E. Squire, Jesus Angel Gonzales Lopez, La Cuidad Maldita, Spaghetti Western
Sinister Cinema: Talking About the Falcon
If you’ve got a few bucks to donate to a good cause, this coming Saturday, February 8 at 6:30p.m., the Novato Theater Film Club is showing the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon — the classic version. The good cause: … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, News, Willeford
Tagged Bogie, Castro Theatre, Hamilton Field, Noir City, Novato Theater, Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet
Hammett: And (More) Chandler
Yesterday was the 78th anniversary of the one time we know of that Hammett met Chandler, commemorated by the LA Times — and with a few tidbits added in by me for the Mean Streets crowd. Now Terry Zobeck pops in … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit, News
Tagged "The SImple Art of Murder", Atlantic Monthly, LA Times, Mary Jane Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Terry Zobeck
Rediscovered: When Hammett Met Chandler
Vince Emery just popped me a link to an LA Times article covering the one time Hammett and Chandler met at the dinner for Black Mask writers — nicely documented by the famous photo — 78 years ago today. Hop … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Lit, News
Tagged "The SImple Art of Murder", Black Mask, Bogie, Jo Hammett, LA Times, Raymond Chandler, Ricardo Cortez, Vince Emery
891 Post: Jeopardy!
Catching up on this past week’s file of Jeopardy! on the DVR, a surprise moment from the Double Jeopardy Round aired Thursday December 19: Category: Literary Landmarks. The $1200 slot. Statement: In the late 1920s Dashiell Hammett lived in an … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News
Tagged 891 Post, Jeopardy!, literary homes, literary landmarks, Raymond Chandler
Rediscovered: EQMM Today
Usually on this blog any chatter about Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine harks back to the days of yesteryear, when the two cousins who wrote as “Ellery Queen” ran the show, and one of the two — the redoubtable Frederic Dannay … Continue reading
Rediscovered: “Fly Paper” in EQMM
I noticed in passing this shot of a newsstand — from 1942, it turns out — on James Reasoner’s blog, but Andy Bienstock from Baltimore brought to my attention that I needed to hop over to the Shorpy site where … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, News, Tour
Tagged "Fly Paper", Andy Bienstock, Baltimore, EQMM, James Reasoner, Pulps, Shorpy
Sinister Cinema: La Cuidad Maldita
Previously on this blog, our pal from Spain — Dr. Jesús Ángel González López — tipped the Up and Down These Mean Streets community to the existence of a movie version of Hammett’s Red Harvest that many — probably most — of … Continue reading
