The Black Bird

By David Halliday

The Black Bird concerns itself not with the baring of a soul but with the stripping down of a life. It begins with the most remote extension of the human soul, one's public image. It begins with the mythic image of Humphrey Bogart. Bogart as a celebrity. Skin after skin is stripped away. Bogart as the character Sam Spade. Bogart as an actor. Bogart as a son and husband. Bogart as a man. The soul of Bogart. Until we reached beyond death to a final unravelling back to Bogart as a boy. A boyhood steeped in mythic reality. Originally published in 1982 by The Porcupine's Quill.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Halliday
• Release date: Jan 19, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465804976

David Halliday

I have published poems, short stories, plays, art works in reviews and publications across the United States and Canada. I have several published books:murder by Coach House Press. This book is a series of poems and illustrations set up like scenes in a movie, describing the murder, trial, and mob execution of an innocent man. Winner of the 2001 Eppie for poetry.The Black Bird by. The Porcupine’s Quill. This is a book of poems, illustrations and short prose pieces describing the fictional making of the John Huston film, The Maltese Falcon.Making Movies by Press Porcepic. This is a book of long poems, interviews, short fiction pieces about a fictional BBC documentary about a fictional Canadian film maker, Samuel Bremmer and his company of actors and colleagues. It follows his career through the creation of a series of his movies.Church Street is Burning, a book of poems, was a finalist in the 2002 Eppie for poetry.The God of Six Points, published by Double-dragon-ebooks. A man who believes he is a god believes he has murdered one of his subjects.Sleeping Beauty, published by LTD ebooks.com is a murder mystery. A woman lands in a small village where the only escape is to be murdered. Finalist in the 2003 Dream Realm Awards. Winner of the 2004 IP Book Awards.The Hole, published by LTD ebooks is one in a series of cop stories. There are unusual happenings in the quiet suburb of Islington. People have begun to disappear. And they have been disappearing for generations. For the soon to retire Sam Kelly, this is his last case as a detective. All the clues point to a mysterious hole, which appears to have no bottom.In 2007 I was short listed for the C.B.C. Literary Contest in poetry.

Book preview

The Black Bird

by David Halliday

based on the film

THE MALTESE FALCON

directed by

JOHN HUSTON

The Black Bird

Published by David Halliday at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 David Halliday

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

and starring

HUMPHREY BOGART as sam spade

MARY ASTOR as brigid o’shaughessy

PETER LORRE as cairo

SYDNEY GREENSTREET as the fatman

LEE PATRICK as effie

GLADYS GEORGE as iva archer

WARD BOND as officer polhaus

ELISHA COOK JR. as wilmer

TABLE OF CONTENTS

newsreel

excerpts from bogart’s diary

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I. THE FILM

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excerpts from bogart’s diary

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II. THE CHARACTERS

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excerpts from bogart’s diary

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III. THE PLAYERS

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excerpts from bogart’s diary

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IV. A PRIVATE LIFE

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excerpts from bogart’s diary

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V. AN INTERVIEW

NEWSREEL #1

BERLIN

discovery of a live coelacaflth.

extinct for 50,000,000 yrs.

presently

chairman of the german republic.

excerpts from bogart’s diary #1-37

huston decided to hold a costume ball before we began shooting the falcon . we call john the ambassador of dreams eyes in envelopes, umbrella prays for rain (so she won’t feel so useless) . bullet proof ears. he cannot hear death—he only knows it by smell he met each guest at the door. dressed up as fatty arbuckle & holding a jar filled with oysters anyone know i asked. the ambassador winked winked & sprinkled stardust on each of us as we entered while singing WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHO YOU ARE. i was dressed up as the invisible man . no one noticed ... sydney stayed close to the bar or was it the reverse . he looked like the election returns . he said he was disguised as mt. everest . several young starlettes were clustered like small villages around his feet. one was wearing skis and reciting the koran . backwards . another wore two tablets and a long beard that began below the waist ... mouth open oven a creampuff danced around the room looking for horny dps especially tall first lieutenants from toronto who read ts eliot. jeffery longstreet said he had a cake for her throat. unleavened, bruised, and circumcised... lorre sat at the piano playin’ popular tunes with a german accent. dressed up as hitler’s bitch in heat. his tail kept falling off. the great dictator received his instructions from his dog . the bitch would open her mouth and hitler would bark ... the apaches are waiting at the edge of the desert waiting for the storm to pass . dying of tb . & learning how to square dance ... cattle lena in a tux. practicing her courses. digging a plot in her pocket. spitting out cigars. & pinching any ass that grazes by... a pageant of people bursting with beginnings . yankee optimism . parmenides was right we never leave the beginnings, unless you put up your wrist and slash for permission to leave . there is only this solid mass of oneness . we are like creatures, extinct, & frozen in me NOW ... why do i always feel like i’m sitting on the edge of the world spitting seeds into the emptiness, flushing the nothingness out of my soul ... two