Well, may be Chandler was not a sentimental. But Philip Marlowe surely was! And an idealist too. His obsession with justice, he was always on the side of the weaker, he could even work by no money...Hammett's detectives on the contrary just tried to do their job with efficacy, their ethics being far more simple than Marlowe's. But one thing is certain. Those two were really very great.

Hi, everyone (anyone?)

I just discovered the site, and hope I haven't come to the party after the last guest has gone home.

I've been reading a lot of Hammet the past couple of years (although I'm trying to pace myself, since there IS only so much of it to read!) I've also read the biographies by William F. Nolan, Richard Layman, Diane Johnson and Dennis Dooley.

I'd love to discuss any of this with anyone who has a similar interest.

--Mike Humbert

Mike Humbert, welcome. The guests wander in and out of the room and some of us always return when there is a new Poster.

Have you read Raymond Chandler and Cornell Woolrich? Reason I ask is they will give you more hours of reading fun from the "hard boiled detective" genre.

Hi, again, P Marlowe! Thanks for the welcome. I have read a little Chandler and enjoyed it, but haven't managed to get into Cornell Woolrich. So far he just doesn't do it for me, for whatever reason.

About ten days ago, I went down to San Francisco and participated in Don Herron's Dashiell Hammett tour! It was everything I hoped it would be. One highlight was seeing the exact spot (as describied in The Maltese Falcon) where Miles Archer was gunned down by Brigid O'Shaughnessy (There is even a brass plaque mounted on the alley wall). Another highlight was visiting the apartment where Hammett wrote the Maltese Falcon. The current occupant, Bill "The Hat" Arnery is an active and enthusiastic part of the tour, and has determined that his apartment not only was Hammett's, but Sam Spade's as well; Line by line research of The Maltese Falcon reveals that all descriptions of Spade's apartment, including location and layout match exactly the layout of Bill's current home.

All in all, a fun afternoon.

By the way, anyone interested in the tour can check out donherron.com.

Wow, Mike, I live in the Bay Area and have never taken the tour - you've got me interested and I'll check out the website.

Wasn't Archer shot at corner of Pine and Stockton or do I have that mixed.

Also, in the opening sequence of the film "The Maltese Falcon" can you determine which building Spade has his office in? I ride across the Bay Bridge everyday and have looked and looked but cannot seem to identify where his vantage point was from. Of course, the City is quite different (building-wise and otherwise) that from 1940.

No, the site of Archer's death was Burritt Alley, which is a few feet off Stockton and Bush. (Stockton and Bush technically don't intersect. Stockton goes under Bush via a tunnel.

As to the location of Sam Spade's office building in the MOVIE, I'm not sure it would be possible to determine, since the movie was shot on the Warner Brothers back lot in Hollywood. (The opening sequence is stock footage from a travelogue).

According to Don Herron and others, however, Spade's office building as described in the BOOK was very probably 111 Sutter, which still stands, dwarfed by the surrounding skycrapers.

Great stuff, Mike.

And, of course, the shots were stock footage. However, recently watched "Dark Passage" on PBS. In that Bogart disembarks the cable car at Powell/Market turnaround and sure enough there is the Owl Pharmacy (Virgin Records now occupies that space) and JC Penney is across the street (can see) - this is now the Emporium on Market.

Love to try and determine where things used to be. I've worked in San Francisco for over 20 years and my love affair with this City hasn't even started to tarnish.