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Post by timshelboy on Nov 3, 2022 21:05:08 GMT
Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe are all very well but my favourite tec is unreconstructed thug Mike Hammer, two fisted take no prisoners PI created by Mickey Spillane. Spillane has had several of his novels adapted for the screen Chronologically of what I have seen. Hammers film debut - played badly by squeaky voiced Biff Elliot - main redeeming feature is Elisha Cook Jr as stoolpigeon dressed as Santa Claus. No Hammer but Quinn as Johnny McBride works well and there is a memorable bondage scene for those inclined. Uncredited work on script plus starring role for Spillane as himself. The CITIZEN KANE of Spillane movies - Aldrich's bleak nuclear noir with Ralph Meeker a fine Hammer. Mediocre entry with Robert Bray. Darren McGavin portrayed a much sanitised Hammer on Tv 1958-59 - 78 episodes! Spillane played his own creation in this effort - but some may agree that the real draw is a bikini clad, shotgun wielding Shirley Eaton Poor 70s entry - Chris George our hero (not Hammer). Mrs Spillane had a part. Lurid but entertaining 80s remake gives the material its due - lots of violence and T&A. Armand Assante plus Barbara Carrera a memorable femme fatale. Stacy Keach appeared in 4 TV movies as Hammer - MURDER ME MURDER YOU; MORE THAN MURDER MURDER TAKES ALL, COME DIE WITH ME plus two TV series THE NEW MIKE HAMMER from 84-87 and MIKE HAMMER PRIVATE EYE in 97-98 The ones that got away.... sources welcome. a tv film from 1954 with Brian Keith a 1967 adaptation of THE DEEP - looks Turkish - called LION HEARTED TOUGH GUY MARGIN FOR MURDER 1981TV Kevin KOJACK Dobson as Hammera 1995 episode of FALLEN ANGELS. Here;s the guy who should have played Mike Hammer Any other Spillane/Hammer fans?
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Post by movielover on Nov 3, 2022 21:18:25 GMT
I like what I’ve seen of him. I’ve seen Kiss Me Deadly and My Gun Is Quick. I also saw parts of the 80s remake of I, the Jury when I was a kid. I remember the Stacy Keach TV series, but didn’t watch it.
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Post by Horselover Fat on Nov 3, 2022 21:30:54 GMT
I've got a few vintage paperbacks in my crime fiction collection and I have the Criterion DVD of Kiss Me Deadly.
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Post by politicidal on Nov 4, 2022 0:02:58 GMT
I only saw ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ but really liked it.
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Post by mikef6 on Nov 4, 2022 3:47:54 GMT
timshelboy , thanks for this thread. It is an excellent launching pad for a good movie/book discussion. I read most of the Mike Hammer novels starting in the mid-1960s and have revisited them occasionally through the years. I have a few passing remarks about the movies. I, The Jury (1953). The first Hammer movie based on the first Hammer book. Hard-boiled private eyes had been a staple in American mystery fiction since the 1920s and the American private eye is a viable and thriving sub-genre to this day. In the late forties, though, something new happened to this kind of tale. Mickey Spillane happened. Mike Hammer wasn’t just a tough guy who could shoot it out with mobsters; Hammer was a real mean sumbitch who seemed to live his life in a state of rage. He didn’t bother with turning murderers over to the law to be tried in court, no siree. Mike doled out death on his own. Judge and jury. Surprisingly, most of Hammer’s anti-social actions remain intact in this early ‘50s programmer, including the jaw-dropping final scene. Biff Eliot presents a possible portrait of Mike Hammer, a man who can take a beating as well as dish one out although his voice is monotonous and tends to get shrill, going up in pitch, when he is angry, which is a lot of the time. The legendary cinematographer John Alton is behind the camera. Kiss Me Deadly (1955). An essential in the film noir canon. Some writers consider it one of the finest movies of the 1950s regardless of genre. It is certainly a contender. Nominally based on Mickey Spillane’s novel of the same name, it is really a different story. Spillane is known for his striking opening chapters and shockeroo endings, sometimes held to the last sentence of the book. The movie follows that pattern as well as both film and book having the killer go up in a conflagration except director Robert Aldrich ups the fiery ending to 11. My Gun Is Quick. (1957). The 1950 novel opens with an attention catching opening chapter and finishes with a knock-out ending with one of the greatest “OhMyGodHolyCrap” final lines in detective fiction history. This film retains the opening but then jettisons the rest of Spillane’s work (including the great ending) for a new story which is only a light riff on “The Maltese Falcon.” I found so many reasons to dislike, even despise, “My Gun Is Quick,” but oddly, all the way through I had to give this little film some grudging respect. The directors know how to keep the scenes short and punchy, keep a strong forward momentum, and how to light the night time noir scenes. The Girl Hunters (1963). Author Mickey Spillane steps into the shoes of his own creation. This screenplay not only keeps the novel’s attention grabbing opening to the book’s socko ending but also all the brutality in between (Hammer nails a bad guy’s hand to the floor) intact. British actress of the moment in Hollywood, Shirley Eaton, is the required beautiful blonde. Personally, I like Spillane as Hammer the best of all others I’ve seen. Ralph Meeker in “Kiss Me Deadly” is often mentioned as the best but while Spillane’s Hammer was a vengeful vigilante, Meeker plays the PI as almost sadistic. Still, very powerful. Mike Hammer. Half hour detective series. 2 seasons, 78 total episodes. Syndicated. Premiered January 7, 1958. Hammer is not the dangerous person of Mickey Spillane’s novels, but Darrin McGavin can be tough enough when he has to be. Episodes on YouTube. I, The Jury (1982). Armand Assante is Mike Hammer in name only. He’s a weak, pale imitation who gets easily beat up by mob muscle. This is the T&A version mentioned in the O.P. For the guys, the lovely Barbara Carrera gets starkers but that is about the only attraction to this movie.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 4, 2022 4:37:22 GMT
Best selling novelist Alan Mallory about to be murdered in the classic Columbo episode "Publish or Perish" This is my favorite Columbo w/Jack Cassidy as the murderer. Most people prefer "Murder By The Book" (which also deals with the writing business) as it is flashily directed by a young Steven Spielberg. However I feel that the charismatically over-the-top Cassidy is wasted in a role that could be played by pretty much any leading man.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 4, 2022 4:47:04 GMT
Mike Hammer. Half hour detective series. 2 seasons, 78 total episodes. Syndicated. Premiered January 7, 1958. Hammer is not the dangerous person of Mickey Spillane’s novels, but Darrin McGavin can be tough enough when he has to be. Episodes on YouTube. I've never read the books. I like the McGavin series mostly b/c of his performance (DM claimed to have argued with Lew Wasserman in favor of adding more comedy to the character, and won). I actually prefer it to the better-remembered Peter Gunn, and would would probably rate it tied for #2 among '50s Private eyes with Janssen in Richard Diamond. #1 of course is:
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Post by teleadm on Nov 4, 2022 19:45:50 GMT
He wasn't much of an actor, unless he improved after Circus of Fear. Kiss Me Deadly is memorable, took me some time to finally watch it, and wow what an apartment he had and fancy cars.
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Post by timshelboy on Nov 4, 2022 20:42:42 GMT
I've got a few vintage paperbacks in my crime fiction collection and I have the Criterion DVD of Kiss Me Deadly. Thats a lovely collection - My Spillane collection - including some vintage editions - got sold when I downsized flats.
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Post by Horselover Fat on Nov 4, 2022 21:26:15 GMT
I've got a few vintage paperbacks in my crime fiction collection and I have the Criterion DVD of Kiss Me Deadly. Thats a lovely collection - My Spillane collection - including some vintage editions - got sold when I downsized flats. I will never be able to move out of this house because of my books. I have a very large collection of crime fiction, plus some science fiction and other books, but a large chunk of them are vintage paperbacks. I don't even actively collect any more because I ran out of room and had to make room for more DVDs and Blu-rays. I have lots and lots of shelves.
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Post by timshelboy on Nov 4, 2022 21:40:30 GMT
Thats a lovely collection - My Spillane collection - including some vintage editions - got sold when I downsized flats. I will never be able to move out of this house because of my books. I have a very large collection of crime fiction, plus some science fiction and other books, but a large chunk of them are vintage paperbacks. I don't even actively collect any more because I ran out of room and had to make room for more DVDs and Blu-rays. I have lots and lots of shelves. I ran out of shelves a while back, I have a strict one book in one book out policy now, and enough space for 4 new dvds lucky the format nearly obsolete, Transferred most of my movies into mp4 on USB sticks - much less space consumed.
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Post by petrolino on Nov 6, 2022 4:06:43 GMT
Interesting topic I enjoyed reading.
I notice 'The Delta Factor' is currently in circulation on the Legend channel that's available to watch through SKY. I adore Christopher George. I'll try and see it, thanks!
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