At the Fox Theater’s screening of “The Maltese Falcon” in Pomona on Sunday, a statuette of the black bird — a replica of the one in the film — was on display in the lobby. As I was in period garb, I was coaxed into posing for photos.

I should have given the Falcon rabbit ears.

Anyway, a lucky person in the audience won the figure in a raffle, others won copies of the novel or DVD, and we all enjoyed an excellent Bogart movie, the capper to the Pomona Public Library’s Big Read. (Well, except for the related Chalk Art Festival, which was rescheduled due to poor weather Saturday to Nov. 19 Dec. 3.)

Photo: Elizabeth Casian

Meanwhile, yours truly and Joe Blackstock, the Bulletin’s history columnist and an assistant city editor, were captured on the sidewalk afterward by library interim director Bruce Guter, with Joe holding a Progress Bulletin replica of the Fox’s opening. After we were captured, we escaped and fled the scene.