It was a dark and misty morn....

Felt like I stepped into a scene from a 1940s film noir - half expected Sam Spade to step out from behind the lamp post as I left for work this morning. Thoroughly enjoy those movies - corny, but oddly entertaining. An excellent escape venue! - and the fashions of the time are the epitomy of classic chic.

The first detective film to use the shadowy, noir style in a definitive way was the work of novice director John Huston in the mystery classic The Maltese Falcon (1941), from a 1929 book by Dashiell Hammett. It was famous for Humphrey Bogart's cool, laconic private eye hero Sam Spade in pursuit of crooks greedy for a jewel-encrusted statue, and Bogart's foil - Mary Astor as the deceptive femme fatale. oooooh too cool!