Dashiell Hammett [1894-1961] at BlackHat Mystery Bookstore

Samuel Dashiell Hammett was born 27 May 1894 in Maryland. With his father too ill to work, 'Dash' left school at the age of 14 and held a wide range of jobs – messenger, clerk, timekeeper, machine operator, stevedore – until joining the Pinkerton Detective Agency in 1915. He resigned in 1918 to enlist in the U.S. Army, where he contracted influenza and then tuberculosis, from which he suffered for the rest of his life.

He returned to Pinkerton's in 1920. His health went thru cycles of good and bad, and he entered local hospitals more than once. During one such stay, at the Veteran's Hospital in Spokane, Washington, he met nurse Josephine Anna 'Jose' Dolan. They moved to San Francisco and were married 7 July 1921; his daughter Mary Jane was born in October.
The Pinkerton's office in San Francisco was in the Flood Building at Market & Powell Streets, and Dash hung out at nearby John's Grill (on Ellis Street), while living in an apartment at Post & Hyde Streets (the model for Sam Spade's apartment). Dash's health, however, made it difficult to continue detective work. He resigned from Pinkerton's in February 1922 and enrolled at Munson's Business College to study journalism, while being encouraged to write detective stories by fellow Pinkerton operative, Phil Geauque.

Editors rejected many of Dash's stories before H.L. Mencken accepted "The Parthian Shot" for the October 1922 issue of The Smart Set Magazine. Dash's first sale to Black Mask Magazine was "The Road Home", published under the byline 'Peter Collison' in the December 1922 issue. The first appearance of the nameless 'Continental Op' character – modeled after his trainer/mentor at Pinkerton's, James Wright – was in "Arson Plus" in the October 1923 issue of Black Mask.

The year 1926 was a busy one: Dash quit Black Mask, demanding more money. He took a job as advertising manager for a jeweler friend [A.S. Samuels, to whom "The Dain Curse" is dedicated], and had an affair with his secretary. Jose bore his second daughter, Josephine Rebecca, and Dash was asked to return to writing for Black Mask by a new editor, Joe Shaw.

In 1928, Alfred A. Knopf agreed to publish his first novel, "Poisonville", requesting a few changes, including a new title; "Red Harvest" was published in February 1929, with a dedication to Joe Shaw. Knopf also published "The Dain Curse", and "The Maltese Falcon". His third novel was an overnight hit. (All three novels were first serialized in Black Mask.) "The Glass Key" was completed in 1929, and Dash moved alone to New York City – the on-again off-again marriage to Josephine was over. The TB was in regression, finally, but Dash endangered his health by partying with the likes of literati S.J. Perelman and Dorothy Parker.

Enticed by studio dollars, Dash moved to Hollywood the following year, also moving his family south, though they lived separately. Producers eagerly bought his books and original scripts: "Roadhouse Nights" (1930), based on "Red Harvest" and starring Gary Cooper; Mamoulian's "City Streets" (released 1931) and the first version of "Maltese Falcon" (1931). He met Lillian Hellman – who worked as a scenario reader at M.G.M. and was married to screenwriter Arthur Kober – at a party at Darryl Zanuck's house in November of 1930. They left the party together and remained companions until Dash's death.

In 1933, Dash began writing the "Secret Agent X-9" comic strip for King Features Syndicate. The novella "Woman In The Dark" was serialized in Mencken's Liberty Magazine in 1933; "The Thin Man" was published in January 1934 (Nora Charles was modeled directly on Lillian, who was incessantly curious about his real-life sleuthing).

His writing career lasted only twelve years, during which he wrote 6 novels, some 90 pieces of short fiction, and more than 100 book reviews. He intended to continue a writing career – in fact, needed to, since he spent money profligately, with little going to his family. But instead, he devoted himself to helping Lillian with her career as a playwright. Her play, "The Children's Hour", debuted on Broadway in November 1934, and was a resounding success. In May 1939, Lillian purchased a 130-acre farm in rural Westchester County, New York. Dash was also diverted by political concerns: he worked with the American Communist Party, the Committee On Election Rights, and the New York Civil Rights Congress to combat anti-Semitism and fascism.

After World War II broke out, the 48-year-old alcoholic 'lunger' convinced the Army to let him re-enlist in the Signal Corps. He was stationed at several bases stateside, then in 1943, newly-promoted to corporal, he was posted to the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, eventually finding a niche as editor of a newspaper for the soldiers. He was mustered out a sergeant in September 1945.

After the war, radio plays based on the Sam Spade and Thin Man characters provided much-needed income. He lived on the New York farm with Lillian, until the arrival of his wild daughter Mary Jane and Dash's uncontrollable drinking binges made Lillian force him out. Hospitalization in 1946? convinced Dash that he must choose between drinking and rapid death or quitting, so he quit and never drank again. The next few years were cozy, with Hammett writing a little and helping political causes, including acting as a trustee for a bail fund for jailed Communists.

        In July 1951, four convicted members of the Civil Rights Congress jumped bail, and the F.B.I. raided the farmhouse; Dash and others were ordered to appear in U.S. District Court, where he stood on the Fifth Amendment and was sent to jail for contempt. Released after serving five months, his health much worse, he was 'black-listed' by Hollywood and the I.R.S. assessed him for $140,000 in back-taxes and siezed all his income. The government also investigated Lillian, forcing her to testify, and also assessing her for $175,000 in back taxes, forcing her to sell the farm.
        Dash found safe harbor with a friend in upstate New York, living in the gatehouse. Senator Joe McCarthy ordered Dash to testify before the House Unamerican Activities Committee in 1953, where he again took the Fifth. His last attempt to write produced the semi-autobiographical "The Tulip", which was never finished.
        The success of Lillian's "The Lark" on Broadway allowed her to purchase a summer home on Martha's Vineyard in 1955. Dash suffered a heart attack and was afterward in frail health; Lillian refused to allow him to enter a Veteran's hospital, so he spent the last few years of his life reading and fishing and talking with her, in her home on 82nd Street in Manhattan and at the new summer home. In late 1959, Dash's emphysema worsened and he complained of shoulder pains; Lillian made him get a complete physical; the doctors told Lillian that Dash had inoperable cancer of the lungs, a fact that she kept from him.
        Dashiell Hammett died 10 January 1961 in a New York hospital and, although J. Edgar Hoover tried to prevent it, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The New York Times, in addition to the obituary, printed an editorial praising his intricate plots, sharp prose, and 'gift of invention', predicting that "years from now his stories will be in print". This has indeed been the case.

Lillian Hellman [see below] died in 1984. In 1990, donations from the estates of both Hammett & Hellman established the 'Hellman-Hammett Grant Program' under the management of the Human Rights Watch organization, for the purpose of providing financial assistance "to writers for their courage in the face of political persecution". In addition, the International Association of Crime Writers, North American Branch established the Hammett Prize 'for literary excellence' in 1991.

"Roadhouse Nights" [1930 movie]
musical comedy! based on "Red Harvest", script by Ben Hecht
video not available; full credits from IMDb

	1931 b&w movie aka "Dangerous Female" [Warner June 1931] Directed by Roy Del Ruth; starring Ricardo Cortez, Bebe Daniels, Dudley Digges, Una Merkel, Robert Elliott, Thelma Todd, Otto Matieson, Walter Long & Dwight Frye available on DVD as part of the 3-disk set above b&w VHS [11/2002] for $9.95 full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia
	"Satan Met A Lady" [Warner Bros. July 1936] Directed by William Dieterle; script by Brown Holmes, based on "The Maltese Falcon"; starring Bette Davis, Warren William, Alison Skipworth, Arthur Treacher, Marie Wilson, Wini Shaw & Porter Hall available on DVD as part of the 3-disk set above Warner b&w VHS [2/91] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"Dashiell Hammett's Maltese Falcon" [B.B.C. 4-part mini-series]
"Dashiell Hammett's Maltese Falcon" [B.B.C. radio show 1985]
B.B.C. Audiobooks [6/2001] out of prodn/used

	"Spade & Archer: The Prequel To Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon" [2009] by Joe Gores Sam Spade opens a detective agency in San Francisco, with many cases over seven years, some involving murder & mayhem. Then he agrees to take on a partner, the 'pal' who stole Sam's girl when Sam was away during The Great War. Knopf 8½x6 hardcover [2/2009] for $16.32
	"Discovering The Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade: The Evolution of Dashiell Hammett's Masterpiece, Including John Huston's Movie With Humphrey Bogart" [2005] Edited by Richard Layman Vince Emery Prodns 10x7 pb [9/2005] for $13.57
	"Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon: A Documentary Volume" [2003] Edited by Richard Layman, with George Parker Anderson Gale Group 11¼x8¼ hardcover [8/2003] for $225.00 [!]
	"Chasing Sam Spade" [2002] by Brian Lawson Detective 'Crazy Charlie' Boyle is murdered while investigating a 70-year-old crime buried in "The Maltese Falcon". Now Charlie's son must solve both crimes while surviving San Francisco's fog-bound streets. Booklocker 8½x5 pb [2/2002] for $14.95
	"Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon" dramatization [2008] Produced by Hollywood Theater of The Ear; script by Yuri Rasovsky; featuring Edward Herrmann, Michael Madsen, Sandra Oh, and 'a distinguished cast' Blackstone Audio UNABR audio CD [11/2008] for $15.56

Hammett contracted with Random House chief Bennett Cerf to write a new book,
to be called "There Was A Young Man". The publisher even advertised it in advance (1939),
but by the end of his life, Dash had finished hardly more than a chapter.

Nightmare Town stories by Dashiell Hammett

"Nightmare Town: Stories" [20 stories 1999]
seven Continental Op tales: "Who Killed Bob Teal?" (1924), "One Hour" (1944), "Death On Pine Street" (1945), "House Dick" (1947), "Night Shots" (1924), "Zig Zags of Treachery" (1924), and "Tom, Dick, or Harry" (1925); three Sam Spade tales of 1932: novelette "A Man Called Spade" (1932), "Too Many Have Lived" (1932), and "They Can Only Hang You Once" (1932); also "The First Thin Man" (fragment 1975) and stories "Nightmare Town" (1924), "Ruffian's Wife" (1925), "His Brother's Keeper" (1934), "Two Sharp Knives" (1934), "The Man Who Killed Dan Odams" (1949), "A Man Named Thin" (1961), "Afraid of A Gun" (1924), "The Assistant Murderer" (1926), and "The Second-Story Angel" (1923)
Vintage 8x5 pb [9/2000] for $11.16
Knopf 9½x6½ hardcover [9/99] out of print/used
Pan Macmillan 9¼x6 hardcover [4/2001] out of print/used

	Dashiell Hammett: Crime Stories & Other Writings [24 stories 2001] Edited by Steven Marcus Library of America 8x5¼ hardcover [9/2001] for $24.50
	"Vintage Hammett" [2005] Kindle Edition from Random House Digital [12/2007] for $8.99 Random House / Vintage 8x5 pb original [1/2005] for $9.95 "In one volume, a career-spanning selection of the novels & stories of Dashiell Hammett" — includes excerpts from the novels "The Dain Curse", "The Glass Key", "The Maltese Falcon", "Red Harvest", and "The Thin Man"; three stories featuring the Continental Op: "Fly Paper", "The Girl With The Silver Eyes", and "The House In Turk Street"; plus the 1933 story "Nightshade" which was unavailable for over fifty years
	"Lost Stories" [21 stories 2005] Edited by Vince Emery, Introduction by Joe Gores Vince Emery Publns 9¼x6½ pb [9/2005] for $17.22 includes "The Barber and His Wife" (1922), "Laughing Masks" (1923), "Ber-Bulu" (1925), "This Little Pig" (1934), "Nightshade" [1933], "The Advertising Man Writes A Love Letter" (1926), "The Green Elephant" (1923), "Itchy The Debonair" (1924) and others, plus the non-Hammett "The Thin Man & The Flack" (1941 radio play)
	"Dashiell Hammett Collection" for Kindle [2008] Kindle Edition from Pulp Fiction Portal [7/2008] for $4.00 contains 17 short stories: "Afraid of A Gun" (1924), "Arson Plus" (1923), "The Assistant Murderer" (1926), "The Bodies Piled Up" (1923), "The Man Who Killed Dan Odams" (1949), "Mike, Alec or Rufus" (1925), "Nightmare Town" (1924), "The Road Home" (1922), "Ruffian's Wife" (1925), "The Second Story Angel" (1923); six are Continental Op tales: "Death On Pine Street" (1945), "Night Shots" (1924), "One Hour" (1944), "The Tenth Clew" (1924), "Who Killed Bob Teal?" (1924) and "Zigzags of Treachery" (1924)

Lillian Hellman was working as a scenario reader at M.G.M. Studios when she met Dashiell Hammett at a party at Darryl Zanuck's house; they left the party together and remained companions until Dash's death.

Lillian Florence Hellman was born 20 June 1905 in New Orleans, Louisiana. After college and work in the New York publishing industry, she married editor & writer Arthur Kober in 1925; they traveled, she wrote for the Herald Tribune, and both had work published. Paramount Studios hired Arthur in 1929, and they moved to Hollywood. By the time Lillian met Dashiell Hammett in November of 1930, she was unhappy in her marriage, and she & Arthur were divorced in 1931.
Her career as a playwright took off after the successful Broadway opening of "The Children's Hour" in November 1934. "The Little Foxes" (1939), "Watch On The Rhine" (1941), "The Searching Wind" (1944), "Another Part of The Forest" (a 1946 'prequel' to "Little Foxes"), and "The Autumn Garden" (1951) brought her fame and fortune. But like Hammett, she was forced to appear before H.U.A.C., which was followed by a $174,000 tax bill and vilification in the press.

Yet her success continued, with a 1952 Broadway revival of "The Children's Hour", "The Lark" (1954), the musical "Candide" [1956], and "Toys In The Attic" (1960). Though her later relationship with Hammett was rocky, she took care of him in the months before his death from cancer in January 1961. Lillian's years afterward were spent in Martha's Vineyard, working on her three volumes of autobiography: "An Unfinished Woman" (1969), "Pentimento" (1973) and "Scoundrel Time" (1978).
She died of a heart attack on 30 June 1984 at Martha's Vineyard at age 79.

The Chase movie starring Marlon Brando & Robert Redford

"The Chase" [Columbia Pictures Feb 1966]
When violence-prone 'Bubber' Reeves escapes from prison, fear pervades his home town in Texas: the son of the local oil baron is sleeping with Reeves's wife, for one thing; Sheriff Calder plans to capture Reeves alive which places him between the oil baron and the festering citizen mob. Produced by Sam Spiegel; directed by Arthur Penn; adaptation by Lillian Hellman from the 1952 Broadway stageplay of Horton Foote; starring Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, E.G. Marshall, Angie Dickinson, Janice Rule, Miriam Hopkins, Martha Hyer, Richard Bradford, Robert Duvall, James Fox, Diana Hyland, Henry Hull, Jocelyn Brando, Katherine Walsh, Malcolm Atterbury & Bruce Cabot
Sony Home Ent. widescreen color DVD [2/2004] for $14.99
Goodtimes Home Video color VHS [undated] for $7.43
full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"These Three" feature film [Goldwyn/U.A. March 1936] /tt0028356/
altered story has the student accusing the two teachers of an illicit affair with a male doctor
directed by William Wyler; starring Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, Joel McCrea & Bonita Granville

feature film [Mirisch/U/A. Dec 1961] /tt0054743/
directed by William Wyler; starring Audrey Hepburn & Shirley MacLaine

announced 11/2010: Hellman's "The Children’s Hour" stageplay will be adapted for television
by Graham King’s GK-TV and Samuel Goldwyn Films

	listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Novels (10/2005) Vintage 8x5 pb [8/92] for $8.80 Isis Audio Books ABR [1996] for $64.95 Isis Audio Books UNABR audio CD [12/2000] for $60.38
	"Yojimbo" ('The Bodyguard') [Japan April 1961; US release Oct 1962] listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Movies (10/2005) Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; based on "Red Harvest"; starring Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tono, Seizaburô Kawazu, Kyu Sazanka, Kamatari Fujiwara, Takashi Shimura & Tatsuya Nakadai Home Vision widescreen b&w DVD [9/99] for $26.96 Home Vision widescreen b&w VHS [9/94] for $29.95 full credits from IMDb remade as Western "A Fistful of Dollars" [1964] movie & sequels on VHS & DVD • full credits from IMDb
	"Miller's Crossing" [Fox Sept 1990 movie] The anti-hero works for an Irish mob boss in the 1930s; when he is thrown out for sleeping with the boss's girlfriend, he joins the rival gang. Directed by Joel Coen; co-written by Joel & Ethan Coen, based on Hammett's "Red Harvest"; starring Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, John Turturro & Marcia Gay Harden; listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Movies (10/2005) Fox widescreen DVD [5/2003] for $14.99 Fox color VHS [1/93] for $9.98 Varese soundtrack CD [10/90] for $14.99 full credits from IMDb
	"Last Man Standing" [New Line 1996 movie] Co-written & directed by Walter Hill; based on "Yojimbo" & "Red Harvest"; co-written by Ryuzo Kikushima & Akira Kurosawa; starring Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern & Christopher Walken NewLine widescreen color DVD [5/2000] for $13.48 NewLine color VHS [5/2000] for $9.94 NewLine widescreen VHS [5/2000] out of stock/used NewLine VHS w/Spanish subtitles [5/2000] for $9.94 full credits from IMDb

	"The Adventures of Sam Spade and Other Stories" [stories 1944] by Dashiell Hammett, Introduction by Ellery Queen Bestseller Mystery pb [1944] out of print/used World Publng 8x5½ hardcover [1945] out of print/used
	"A Man Called Spade" [Dell Mapback #90 1944] Dell mass pb [1944] out of print/used Dell mass pb [1944] out of print/used
	"Hammett Homicides" (Dell Mapback #223 1946) includes four Continental Op stories: "The House On Turn Street", "The Girl With Silver Eyes", "Night Shots" & "The Main Death"; a Chief Anderson story "Two Sharp Knives"; and a Guy Tharp story "Ruffian's Wife" Dell Mapback #223 [1946] out of print/used
	"The Big Knockover" [1972] includes intro by Lillian Hellman and ten stories: "The Gutting of Couffignal" (1925), "Fly Paper" (1929), "The Scorched Face" (1925), "This King Business" (1928), "The Gatewood Caper" (1923), "Dead Yellow Women" (1925), "Corkscrew" (1925), "Tulip" (1966), "The Big Knockover" (1927), and "$106,000 Blood Money" (1927) Vintage 8x5 pb [12/94] for $10.40 Vintage pb [10/72] out of print/used
	"The Continental Op" [1974] includes "The Tenth Clew" (1924), "The Golden Horseshoe" (1924), "The House In Turk Street" (1924), "The Girl With The Silver Eyes" (1924), "The Whosis Kid" (1925), "Main Death" (1927), and "The Farewell Murder" (1930) Vintage 8x5 pb [8/92] for $9.60 Vintage pb [8/92] for $11.99

	"Six Plays by Lillian Hellman" [1979] includes "The Children's Hour" [1934], "Days To Come" [1936], "The Little Foxes" [1939], "Watch On The Rhine" [1941], "Another Part of The Forest" [1946], and "The Autumn Garden" [1951] Vintage 8x5 pb [10/79] for $11.23
	"Hellman In Hollywood" [1982] by Bernard F. Dick Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press 8¾x6 hardcover [12/82] for $29.50
	"Lillian Hellman: The Image, The Woman" [1986] by William Wright S&S 9x6 pb [4/2000] for $23.95 S&S hardcover [11/86] out of print/many used
	"Hellman and Hammett: The Legendary Passion of Lillian Hellman & Dashiell Hammett" [1996] by Joan Mellen HarperCollins 8¼x5½ pb [8/97] out of print/used
	"Dash and Lilly" [A&E TV movie May 1999] Directed by Kathy Bates; script by Jerry Ludwig; starring Sam Shephard, Judy Davis, Bebe Neuwirth, Laurence Luckinbill & David Paymer A&E Ent color VHS [6/99] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb • official A&E webpages

	Vintage 8x5 pb [7/98] for $9.60 Amereon hardcover [6/76] for $23.94 Isis Audio Books ABR [1/96] 7 tapes - out of prodn/used
	"The Dain Curse" [1978 miniseries] Directed by E.W. Swackhamer; starring James Coburn Image Ent. color DVD [5/2005] for $22.99 Anchor Bay color VHS [4/91] 3 tapes out of prodn/many used full credits from IMDb

	Vintage 8x5 pb [7/89] for $8.80 Amereon hardcover [9/76] out of print/used Isis Audio Books ABR [7/96] 7 tapes - out of prodn/used Isis Audio Books UNABR audio CD [2/2000] out of prodn/used
	"The Glass Key" [1942 movie] Directed by Stuart Heisler, starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake & Brian Donlevy Universal b&w VHS [4/98] out of prodn/used full credits 1942 version from IMDb 1935 movie starring George Raft & Claire Dodd: credits from IMDb 1986 Russian movie: credits from IMDb

BlackHat Mystery BookstoreDashiell Hammett[1894-1961]

BlackHat Mystery Bookstore
Dashiell Hammett
[1894-1961]