Description:
Crime novelist Mickey Spillane's hard-boiled alter ego, private eye Mike Hammer, made his television debut in this syndicated action series, which ran from 1957 to 1959 and featured TV favorite Darren McGavin (Kolchak: The Night Stalker) as Hammer. The format is strictly by the books: Hammer takes a case that is sorted out by the 24-minute mark by a combination of fast talk and fists, with a liberal application of .38-caliber punctuation. Bart Burns is on hand as police lieutenant Pat Chambers, who provides Hammer with sage advice and admonishments against going too far in his pursuit of justice, and the guest cast of good guys
Crime novelist Mickey Spillane's hard-boiled alter ego, private eye Mike Hammer, made his television debut in this syndicated action series, which ran from 1957 to 1959 and featured TV favorite Darren McGavin (Kolchak: The Night Stalker) as Hammer. The format is strictly by the books: Hammer takes a case that is sorted out by the 24-minute mark by a combination of fast talk and fists, with a liberal application of .38-caliber punctuation. Bart Burns is on hand as police lieutenant Pat Chambers, who provides Hammer with sage advice and admonishments against going too far in his pursuit of justice, and the guest cast of good guys, heels, and dames is filled out by familiar TV faces, including Angie Dickinson, Robert Vaughn, Mike Connors, Lorne Greene, and DeForest Kelly. McGavin's turn as Hammer is appropriately tough when the chips are down, but for the most part, he's an amiable sort, sweet with the ladies and balancing a tone that falls somewhere between world-weary and tongue-in-cheek (which was reportedly McGavin's idea, and ran contrary to the producers' wishes). He hews a lot closer to Stacy Keach's TV interpretation, or even McGavin's later, iconic turn as Kolchak (who also had a way with a voice-over), than the brutal avenger of Spillane's novels. If you're looking for that version, stick with Ralph Meeker, the best screen Hammer, in Robert Aldrich's harrowing Kiss Me Deadly (1955), but if it's a nostalgic dose of '50s TV detective fare you're after, McGavin's Mike Hammer has the goods. The A&E set features all 78 episodes of the series' two-season run, with no extras; image quality, as an onscreen disclaimer notes, is decent but not crystal clear, and there are no extras. --Paul Gaita
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Manufacturer: A&E HOME VIDEO
Release date: 20 September 2011
Number of discs: 12
EAN: 0733961248104 UPC: 733961248104
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