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: Film
Hammett: M. Spade, May We Presume?
Terry Zobeck, our man on These Mean Streets, volunteered (or was he dragooned? — I forget) to review the new AMC show about Sam Spade in France. He’s decided to take it an episode at a time. On the other … Continue reading
Hammett: The Titular Monsieur
Brian Wallace keeps the drumbeat going for the January 14 premiere of Monsieur Spade on AMC. He just popped me a link to an advance review from the AVClub, which digs around a lot on the casting of Clive Owen … Continue reading
Hammett: Chalk Up Another Dashiell
Minding my own business, I stumbled across another offspring named Dashiell — part of my decades long and quite casual survey of the name surfacing in the population. I’m sure someone in the right studies program could make something out … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: Some Action on the Hammett Front
Not all that long ago I dutifully reported that a TV series — or mini-series — was in the works, where Sam Spade has moved to France. Cue some crime. Roll cameras. You can punch up the trailer for Monsieur … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, News
Tagged Brad Pitt, Clive Owen, Dead Stockwell, Johnny Depp, Margo Robbie, Monsieur Spade, Thin Man, Vince Emery
Rediscovered: Cowboy America
“Wild cattle that refused to move with the herd and kept returning to the brush the cowboys might make docile by sewing their eyelids shut; after about two weeks, when the thread had decayed enough for the eyes to reopen, … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: Contacts Made
If you were worried about the guy who worked on Wim Wenders’ Hammett getting in contact with the guy doing a documentary on that film, you can relax. They’ve been put in touch, and have spent an initial two hours … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, News
Tagged "The Diamond Wager", EQMM, Frederic Dannay, Joe Goodrich, Joe Gores, Wim Wenders
Sinister Cinema: A Big Tip for the Documentary on Wim Wenders’ Hammett
Got up today, holiday festivities looming in a few hours, and found some exciting news in the inbox. Remember the guy in France working on a documentary on the first shoot Wim Wenders did for the neo-noir movie Hammett? Guy’s … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco, News
Tagged 1982 Hammett, Damien Bertrand, Frederic Forrest, Joe Goodrich, Michael Hacker, Wim Wenders
Sinister Cinema: Greeks in Hollywood
Paging through Greeks in Hollywood: In the Silent Movie Era, I was stopped in my tracks when I saw the clipping of Jack Pierce, legendary makeup artist, working on Boris Karloff. If you dig the original Universal Monsters, Pierce pretty … Continue reading
Mort: Frederic Forrest
I definitely should record the passing of actor Frederic Forrest on June 23 at the age of 86. For purposes of the Mean Streets, he claims the honor for portraying Dashiell Hammett in the 1982 film Hammett directed by Wim … Continue reading
Hammett: Yet Another Dashiell
You probably know about my little hobby, pretty casual, of recording how the name Dashiell pops up in the culture. From Gotham City to Night Court. I was watching a podcast with Michael Biehn and thought I heard him reference … Continue reading
