The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of…
This story originally appeared here on The Blue Parrot on Tuesday, February 14th, 2007.
Seven little words.
Keen memories will recall from whence they came.
Perhaps you recall them on the screen as the last line of a film noir classic? Or you should…
Spoken by Humphrey Bogart as “Sam Spade” to Ward Bond as “Detective Tom Polhaus” in 1941’s “The Maltese Falcon”. Recently shown by Turner Classic Movies as part of their now annual 31 Days of Oscar film festival.
And now ironically, it seems that life imitates art once again.
Check out this little item from today’s SF Gate web pages:
“(02-12) 16:46 PST — It’s been nearly 80 years since Sam Spade wandered the streets of San Francisco in search of the Maltese Falcon. Now, the statue is missing again.
John Konstin, the owner of San Francisco’s John’s Grill on Ellis Street, said someone broke into a locked cabinet on the second floor of his establishment and took a signed reproduction of the Maltese Falcon — one used for publicity stills for the movie — along with several vintage and signed books by and about Maltese Falcon author Dashiell Hammett.
Konstin said the theft was noticed Saturday afternoon. He guesses the theft took place sometime late Friday night or in the early morning hours of Saturday.
The black statue was signed by actor Elisha Cook Jr., a San Franciscan who played the role of Wilmer the Gunsel in the movie. He presented it to the restaurant after Konstin and San Francisco private investigator Jack Immendorf failed in their attempt to buy the original bird that was used in the movie.
Police have been summoned to the scene of the broken cabinet on the second floor of the restaurant, and Konstin has offered a $25,000 reward for return of the statue and books.” Reported by John Koopman
Oddly enough about five weeks ago, after a day at Macworld Expo along with my old buddy Nicholas Lancaster, I had a great dinner of the peppercorn steak at John’s Grill. A fine San Francisco establishment, actually mentioned as a place Sam Spade ate a meal by Hammett in his book “The Maltese Falcon.” And after dinner? Well, how can one resist? We wandered upstairs to check out the dingus, on display. And now it’s been stolen…
Where’s Sam Spade, now that we need him again?
And for even more trivia on the Falcon, be sure to check out the Wikipedia entry.
Well, that goes back a bit. Yes, many a great meal and cocktails to match at John’s Grill. And Macworld Expo, too. At one time, the gathering for all things Apple in San Francisco’s Moscone Center. From open to close, seeing the latest and greatest, collecting all the swag offered and goodies given away in drawings to gather information on prospective clients to make the sale department happy. But, no more…
A replica Falcon was created and still call’s John’s Grill home; even if it isn’t accepting callers at the moment, due to the pandemic.