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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.”
Tag Archives: Boris Karloff
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
Rediscovered: The Halloween Knell
This year Halloween snuck up on me on little cat’s feet, but Brian Leno remembered the annual tradition we’ve had going on with eldritch John Hancocks, year after year. He’s begun popping them in for interested eyeballs: “Pigeons from Hell” … Continue reading
Posted in Film, REH
Tagged Autographs, Boris Karloff, Brian Leno, John Newland, Ottola Nesmith, Thriller
Two-Gun Bob: June 11, 1926 — 1936 — 2022
Today marks the anniversary of the suicide by gunshot at age thirty of Texas author Robert E. Howard, sitting in his Chevy outside the family home in Cross Plains. Our resident Autograph Hound Brian Leno lays out another John Hancock … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Frisco, Lit, News, REH
Tagged Autographs, Book Collecting, Boris Karloff, Brian Leno, Collier's, Hugh Wiley, literary suicides, San Francisco Mysteries, Steve Eng
Rediscovered: Val Lewton
Autograph Hound Saturday once more, and Brian Leno is back to give us a glance at one of his most recent acquisitions in the Department of Serious John Hancocks. Take it, Brian: I haven’t seen too many Val Lewton signatures … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit
Tagged Autographs, Boris Karloff, Brian Leno, James T. Farrell, Val Lewton, Weird Tales
Sinister Cinema: Karloff
Autograph Hound Super-Sunday — what signature could Brian Leno possibly offer on the altar of Movie Titans Past for the John Hancock Ritual? Especially after his tour de force rollout yesterday. I think he’s got it covered. Here’s Brian: Nobody will … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: Warren “Spider” Hull
For Autograph Hound Super-Sunday Brian Leno reports: “As an added bonus I’ve included a scan of the signature of Warren Hull, who played the Spider in the two serials, The Spider’s Web (1938) and The Spider Returns (1941). “Hull was … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit
Tagged Autographs, Boris Karloff, Brian Leno, Green Hornet, Rocky Colavito, The Spider, Victor Jory, Warren Hull
Hollywood Beat: Lorre Noir
If you dig noir (and who doesn’t?) and appreciate the art of woodcuts, check out Loren Cantor’s blog Woodcuttingfool straight from Hollywood — the image above is of the great Peter Lorre in Fritz Lang’s M, and the blurb on Lorre … Continue reading
Posted in Film, News
Tagged Bacall, Boris Karloff, Fritz Lang, Hillside Strangler, Jack Palance, Loren Cantor, Peter Lorre
Hollywood Beat: The Tully Talk
On Sunday the 14th I got up in Denver at the crack-of-dawn (and anyone who knows me can tell you I hate the crack-of-dawn) and began punching the machine toward LA for the talk about Jim Tully in Musso & Frank, … Continue reading
Posted in DMac, Film, Lit, News, Willeford
Tagged Book Collecting, Boris Karloff, Charlie Chaplin, Circus Parade, Erich von Stroheim, Frankenstein, Howard Prouty, James Whale, Jim Tully, Larry Edmunds Bookshop, Leo Grin, Lon Chaney Sr., Mark Dawidziak, Musso & Frank, Paul J. Bauer, The Bruiser, The Maltese Falcon Society, The Mummy, UCLA
