How about a few more pics from the gig in the Tenderloin Museum?
I was supposed to talk for 30 or 40 minutes about Hammett living in the TL, the 1941 film of The Maltese Falcon and so forth — not too hard, by my standards, which are conducting walks on the sidewalks of the modern TL with various interruptions in the form of often times crazed, screaming denizens of the underworld.
But to give the audience an extra thrill I brought in no less than Bill Arney, former Inhabitant of Sam Spade’s Apartment in 891 Post.
You want to know more about the room where Hammett wrote the novel which was adapted for the movie you are about to see? Then Bill makes for a swell Guest Star.
Hey, two legends of the Mean Streets for the price of one.
As Bill was describing the whole 891 Post experience, he got to the part where living in the room led to him meeting various people, which got him his longtime gig doing voiceover narration for the annual noir festival in the Castro Theatre.
I realized he needed a more specific intro to this crowd, gathered to see the 1941 Bogie. So I said, “By the way, you guys may know Bill better as The Voice of Noir in the Castro.”
Know him they did. Almost everyone in the audience began clapping.
