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
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Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
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Tag Archives: Bill Arney
Blog: Say “Cheese”
In the shot above — used previously for a post of yesteryear — Bill Arney stands against the frame of the Murphy bed in Sam Spade’s apartment in 891 Post Street and regales a tour group with some anecdotage. Bill … Continue reading
Tour: Hot Off the Mean Streets
My gumshoes have barely stopped smoking after leading the tour yesterday and I learn that Bill O’Such already has a photo gallery up for any and all to see. He wasn’t lugging around that camera just for grins. You’ve got some shots of … Continue reading
891 Post: The Mystery of the Boarded-Up Window
Sure, I guess I could take a picture of the boarded-up window in Sam Spade’s apartment, but it is just so sad and kind of pathetic that I don’t want to add the image to the social media — someone … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: Next Time, Make It 10 Million Dollars
Michael Soltys — who last showed up here on these mean streets over a year ago with info about Hammett stopping in Key Largo — was first to let me know that the falcon statue on the block at the … Continue reading
Posted in Film, News
Tagged 891 Post, Bill Arney, Bogie, Bonhams Auctions, Dr. Gary Milan, falcon statues, Key Largo, Michael Soltys
Sinister Cinema: Cheese for Halloween
The tour group for Sunday the 13th was pretty interesting — of the ten people who showed up ready to walk, slightly more than half seemed to be from Australia, plus we got a guy from Spain, in the burg … Continue reading
Posted in Film, News, Tour
Tagged 891 Post, Bill Arney, Cheese Theatre, John Stanley, Laurel Arney, literary homes, Mike Humbert, The Last Man on Earth
Sinister Cinema: Tonight on Cheese Theatre
Just got a close-to-last-minute note from Bill Arney, telling me that the episode of Cheese Theatre featuring The Last Man on Earth — and our discussion thereof — reruns tonight at 10 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. If you’re in the … Continue reading
Posted in Film, News
Tagged Bill Arney, Cheese Theatre, George Romero, Night of the Living Dead, The Last Man on Earth, World War Z
Sinister Cinema: Morgan. . . Morrrgggaaannnnnnnn. . . .
I know that at least one of my regular blog readers waits to watch The Walking Dead until after the season wraps and the DVD/Blu Ray sets appear — which is the way I watch Dexter — so let me do a … Continue reading
Posted in Film, News
Tagged Bill Arney, Cheese Theatre, Dexter, Edgar Wallace, King Kong, Lennie James, Morgan Holmes, Shaun of the Dead, The Last Man on Earth, The Walking Dead, Vincent Price
Sinister Cinema: Cheese Zombies This Saturday!
Since I forgot to mention my previous appearance on Cheese Theatre in a timely fashion, allow me to give several days advance notice of my next guest spot. This coming Saturday, December 8, 10p.m. Pacific Standard Time, you can watch me … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: Cheese Zombies
In the words of a Great American Icon, “DOH!!!” Here I’ve been goofing off, not updating the Blog of the Mean Streets and the Eldritch Spheres (and whatever else attracts my interest at the moment — and, yes, I’m still … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, News
Tagged Bill Arney, Brad Pitt, Cheese Theatre, Eddie Muller, Emmett Kelly, George Romero, I Am Legend, John Stanley, Last Blood, Lovecraft, Night of the Living Dead, Richard Matheson, Rock Hudson, The Fat Man, The Last Man on Earth, The Walking Dead, World War Z, Zombie Apocalypse
Hammett: The Fat Man
I took a little break from reading Haefele’s upcoming book on Derleth, Lovecraft, and the Cthulhu Mythos to tie in with Bill Arney and shoot a couple of segments of Cheese Theatre for the upcoming third season. Which meant I finally … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, News
Tagged Bill Arney, Cheese Theatre, circus clowns, Emmett Kelly, J. Scott Smart, Jayne Meadows, Parley Baer, Raymond Chandler, Roadhouse Nights, Rock Hudson, The Fat Man, William Castle
