A film series devoted to the works of Dashiell Hammett and a
show about the Brown Derby inspire dining ideas. BY MEREDITH
BRODY
http://www.newtimesla.com/issues/2002-5-16/dish.html/1/index.html
Immediately I think of Musso & Frank, one of my first
choices always for grilled meat and a stiff drink, because
I'm just as sure Dashiell (uh, maybe I should say Mr.
Hammett, since we've never been introduced) had many
occasions to dine there. It was a big watering hole for
Hollywood writers in the '30s, notably William Faulkner and
Nathanael West and probably anybody else who came out from
the East on a three-months-plus-options contract (not to
mention those who were here already).
My instincts are good. I get a thrill when I turn to page 95
in Diane Johnson's Dashiell Hammett: A Life and read this,
about his initial meeting with Lillian Hellman: "He was
coming off a bad drunk, someone had introduced them at Musso
and Frank's, a restaurant. As nearly as they could remember
afterward, they sat in his car and talked about books." And
then this, on page 129 of Shadow Man: The Life of Dashiell
Hammett, by Richard Layman, about Hammett's life in
Hollywood: "He became a regular at the Brown Derby; he drank
more heavily than ever; and he contracted his second case of
gonorrhea." (The hazards of the writer's life. When I read
this sentence to Andy, he says, "I didn't realize hamburgers
gave you that.")
(More . . . )
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