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About DonHerron.com
In 1977 Don Herron began leading The Dashiell Hammett Tour, now the longest-running literary tour in the nation. On this site you’ll find information on current walks — dates, where to meet, arranging tours by appointment — plus a hard-boiled blog with news, reviews of books and film, and a dash of noir.
The latest and greatest edition to self-guide you up and down the mean streets.
Willeford: The Book
Includes the first “Mr. Hunt” story, “Knives in the Dark.”
Category Archives: Film
Hammett: Call Me Ned
Terry Zobeck, the guy watching Perry Mason, pops in a footnote to today’s main post to tell us: “Latimer did not keep up the Hammett schtick of Ned Beaumont, always Ned Beaumont. “The character usually was referred to simply as … Continue reading
Hammett: Jonathan Latimer Cracks Wise
Got some notes in from Terry Zobeck, who is deep into the forgotten mags of the early 1920s on a Hammett hunt. Big game bibliography at its finest. But he’s not always prowling the primeval pagination, like a regular guy … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Lit
Tagged Black Mask, Erle Stanley Gardner, Jonathan Latimer, Perry Mason, Terry Zobeck
Rediscovered: At the Earth’s Core
News that a deluxe signed artist’s edition of At the Earth’s Core is coming up spurred Brian Leno to dig out some apt John Hancockery from his bulging files for Autograph Hound Saturday. Here’s Brian from the signature vaults: I … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit, News
Tagged At the Earth's Core, Autographs, Brian Leno, Caroline Munro, Doug McClure, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc.
Sinister Cinema: Scary Monsters
Brian Leno continues to “splash the field,” sneaking articles into mags hither and yon — and this time he gets into a publication that has won numerous Rondo Hatton awards. Brian and I decided that the only award we’d really … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: The Shadow of Bill Arney
Dropped in on a memorial party for the late great Bill Arney last night in 891 Post, tales were told of his exploits, we found the raw footage of his epic toy tank battle filmed in Death Valley or someplace, … Continue reading
Mort: Yvette Mimieux
Autograph Hound Saturday and Brian Leno pulls an image from his collection as a gesture of “respect for Yvette Mimieux, who died on the 17th.” Struggling with a Wellsian Morlock from the beloved 1960 George Pal production of The Time … Continue reading
Posted in Film
Tagged Autographs, Brian Leno, George Pal, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine, Yvette Mimieux
Hammett: Hollywood Goes Sports Mad
Terry Zobeck, back on the Mean Streets — and today he tells us about “a tongue-in-cheek article that Hammett published in 1934” with a link to its appearance in the November 8, 1934 issue of the Hartford Courant. “I verified … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film
Tagged Bill Mullins, Elise De Viane, Hartford Courant, Mollie Merrick, newspaper action, Richard Layman, Terry Zobeck
Hammett: From Ape-Wrangler to Town-Tamer
The other day Evan Lewis tracked down another “lost” movie version of Red Harvest, that would have followed the “lost” version starring Alan Ladd at Paramount — Ladd’s being juggled in 1941 and this next version getting a big blurb … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film
Tagged Alan Ladd, Brian Leno, Bruce Cabot, Evan Lewis, Fay Wray, John Wayne, Paramount, Red Harvest
Hammett: Two Sharp Knives on Early Television
Terry Zobeck has been investigating that 1949 TV show where Dashiell Hammett pulls a Hitchcock and delivers a couple of lines — to date, the only recording of Hammett’s voice to turn up. “I watched Two Sharp Knives this afternoon,” … Continue reading
Hammett: His Garbo Speaks! Moment
Holy cow — suddenly it is Audio Hound Super-Sunday! And longtime Mean Streets maven Terry Zobeck just heard some sound he’s been waiting to hear for many, many long years. Here’s Terry with the scoop: In 2001, at the Washington, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, News
Tagged "Two Sharp Knives", Bill Mullins, Dick Tracy, Jo Hammett, Richard Layman, Studio One, Thomas Fasano
