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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: The Big Knockover
Hammett: The Big Knockover, Brazilian Style
Woke to an update from Terry Zobeck, always keeping an eye peeled for any Hammett news or anything like Hammett news. Has anyone read the magnificent The Big Knockover who won’t see its real life echoes in the link he … Continue reading
Hammett: Chump Change
Evan Lewis, my de facto reporter on the ground for news of the auction of books from the Otto Penzler collection — which is to say, I’m never going to bother to follow something like that, whereas Evan is covering it like … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, News
Tagged Evan Lewis, Lillian Hellman, Otto Penzler, Red Harvest, The Big Knockover
Frisco Beat: Lon Chaney Hits the Old Mint Again!
If you’ve ever caught the 1920 Lon Chaney silent flick The Penalty, you no doubt remember the sequence where Lon and his mob are looting the Old Mint on the corner of Fifth and Mission. On Thursday March 29 — and, … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco, News
Tagged CitySleuth, Lon Chaney Sr., Old Mint, Tenderloin Museum, The Big Knockover, The Penalty
Frisco Beat: Back to the TL Museum for The Penalty
At top and bottom, a couple of shots from my July 13 appearance in the Tenderloin Museum, talking up The Thin Man and with some snippets of the 1931 Falcon — high point being when we spotted the heart of the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco, News
Tagged CitySleuth, Lon Chaney Sr., Tenderloin, Tenderloin Museum, The Big Knockover, The Penalty
Sinister Cinema: Lon Chaney’s The Penalty
When I met the mysterious CitySleuth he mentioned that he was working on finding San Francisco location shooting for the Lon Chaney flick The Penalty from 1920 — one of my favorites, with Chaney in one of his greatest roles as the legless … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco, News
Tagged CitySleuth, Lon Chaney Sr., ReelSF, The Big Knockover, The Penalty
Frisco Beat: Reeling in the History
Did a couple of groups by appointment yesterday, got lucky with the brutal winter rains holding off. . . . On one of them the mysterious CitySleuth came along and tossed in some tidbits of film/Frisco history — one was … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Film, Frisco, Tour
Tagged 891 Post, Bill Arney, CitySleuth, Heisenberg, Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak, Lon Chaney Sr., Mark Murphy, ReelSF, Ruby Skye, Tenderloin Museum, The Big Knockover, The Penalty, Vertigo
Hammett: “Corkscrew” Part III
When Frederic Dannay, a.k.a. Ellery Queen, collected the Continental Op yarn “Corkscrew” in the 1948 Lawrence Spivak digest Nightmare Town, he resurrected it from the crumbling wood pulp pages of Black Mask much like Dr. Frankenstein rescued the monster from the grave … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit
Tagged "Corkscrew", Black Mask, Frederic Dannay, Lillian Hellman, Pulps, pure texts, Terry Zobeck, The Big Knockover, Zobeck Series One
Hammett: “Corkscrew” Part II
As Terry Zobeck noted in the first part of his pure text survey for “Corkscrew,” the editorial changes were rampant — scanning down this post and then the next post will give you the clew. A hell of a lot … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit
Tagged "Corkscrew", Frederic Dannay, Lillian Hellman, pure texts, Terry Zobeck, The Big Knockover, Zobeck Series One
