Tag Archives: Bogie

Hammett: KALW and the Mystery of the Black Bird

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Don

The Maltese Falcon presides over San Francisco — the novel, the film, a thousand and one statues made of plaster, the two or three (or more?) figurines wrought out of lead with a golden bronze patina — the lead ones from … Continue reading →

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Hollywood Beat: Bogart vs. Raft

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Don

There’s a theory that Humphrey Bogart owes his superstar status to George Raft, because Raft kept turning down key roles that propelled Bogie from second string to Icon. If you’ve been on the tour, you know that I touch on … Continue reading →

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Hammett: Midget Bandit Week!

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Don

If you’re any kind of serious fan of the writings of Dashiell Hammett, you know that Hammett modeled the gunsel Wilmer Cook in The Maltese Falcon, published in first edition hardcovers by Knopf in 1930, on a crook known as The Midget Bandit. … Continue reading →

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Hollywood Beat: An Icon Among Icons

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Don

Image above — of course — Lauren Bacall being lit up by Bogie in that classic of San Francisco film noir, Dark Passage. As everyone from The Hollywood Reporter on down has been saying, when Bacall died on Tuesday August 12, … Continue reading →

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Sinister Cinema: Bogie and The Duke

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Don

Got in a note from Terry Zobeck — who has Material of Substance lined up in my in-box, but you can’t always do the Deep Pure Text stuff. Terry has this piece of cinematic history to relate: All that talk … Continue reading →

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Frisco Beat: Those Theatres of Yesteryear

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Don

Doing the bits about the Novato Theater reminded me that I’ve been meaning to blurb a Julie Lindow project for, what?, at least a couple of years. (Julie hitched up with San Francisco Noir editor Peter Maravelis during the heyday … Continue reading →

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Hammett: By That Sweet Neck

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Don

Eighty-four years ago today the publisher Alfred A. Knopf debuted an instant classic titled The Maltese Falcon. As I always say, the sickest Valentine’s day novel ever. Yeah, maybe I love you and maybe you love me. This side of … Continue reading →

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Sinister Cinema: Talking About the Falcon

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Don

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 →

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Rediscovered: When Hammett Met Chandler

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Don

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 →

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Sinister Cinema: Next Time, Make It 10 Million Dollars

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Don

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 →

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