Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer: The Complete Series [DVD]

Mickey Spillane's "Mike Hammer" character was one of the most watchable 50s series because of the appeal of Darren McGavin. That time was not as hum-drum as people remember before diversity and inclusion. The Big Apple held stories of struggle, people leaving their neighborhood, rising in society; some do not wait and make their own rules. This is when Mike Hammer comes in, taking cases the police turn down, down-hearted people looking for justice. These (78)episodes are unpredictable no matter what act Hammer took a beating in into the 3rd or 4th act of each show. Hammer is a tough-talking, no-nonsense guy, physically imposing at times, dropping snippets of Spillane jargon and softness for the feminine sex. McGavin, 36 that first season with a black belt in judo fit the requirements. There have been other Hammers (Stacy Keach 70s)including real Mickey Spillane in the late 60s. Hammer was for the working class American with little patience or money to suffer police backlogs. So seeing over 42 episodes in the first season (of 2)was quite a treat. Of the notable actors who make their appearance: Angie Dickinson (at least 2 episodes), an early Barbara Bain, Robert Vaughn (plays against character), Nita Talbot (in every prologue) the TV substitute for sinewy Lauren Bacall. If he needs to clear things with the police (before Miranda rights)he checks things with his DA police contact (Pat Burns). The other attraction to this series beside the Damon Runyon characters is the locale shooting (a la "Naked City"). You will see the landmark hotels before Trump upgraded them and such eateries '21 Club' or the 'Latin Quarter.'That series allowed the city to co-star in each episode, along with the classic cars,all fascinating. If you watch closely as Hammer crosses streets you can see interesting marquees like Rozalind Russell in "Mame," or a young unknown by the name of Johnny Carson at a smaller theater doing "Do you trust your wife?"before he was a Somebody. One reviewer said the actresses are just cardboard characters. That is not what I saw here. A lot of the episodes have unknown actresses and they act their parts well. They are not strictly "dolls" or "babes." McGavin, once an abandoned kid himself, reads quickly a client's need and his voice-overs advance the episodes well. Hammer visits local theaters frequently and in several the producer boosts the realism of the milling "dancers" as Hammer wades through with smiling pleasure by adding the legendary Barrie Chase (in two, Fred Astaire's last dance partner). It takes little imagination to update the story lines that feel contemporary when they tackle hidden drug addiction (with a surprising pusher) or a "Sunset Boulevard"-like episode with a well-guarded matron on a hilltop retreat who un-thaws in time to salvage her family because Mike Hammer had seen her in her prime as a burlesque star. In that episode it was not only his wits but his memory that allowed him to say the right thing at the right time. In "Blonde, Blue and Deadly," Hammer visiting his buddy (used car salesman)switches with him when he sees a blue car driven by the blonde Nita Talbot with a con in mind. It is very humorous seeing him switch into the "sales" pitch and then drop his mask to trap Talbot. But that is the start of things that quickly gets deadlier as Hammer must find out why the car cost one life. The second season is no less interesting when DeForest Kelley (Bones McCoy of Star Trek) plays a deceitful, homicidal killer terrorizing the teen (Robert Fuller) so he won't squeal to the cops to solve a recent robbery. It is worthwhile to see this tough man uphold individual rights in each episode in his Spillane way.

I've only watched the first 8 episodes, which is the the whole first disk. But I think I can give my initial thoughts on this set.Darren McGavin is a very underrated actor and this series underscores that conclusion.Darren McGavin is of course Mike Hammer PI. He is a honest, hard working private investigator.Mike lives in a pretty nice hotel room with a nice office and I have yet to see anyone give him any money for his services.The Chicago police should give him a badge because he does all the hard work busting criminals and all the police have to do is come in for the arrest.The video and audio transfer is excellent even on a big screen. This is a 12 disk, 78 episode set and worth every penny.All of the disks are single sided and packed very nicely.If you like 50's period tv you will love this show. The show does have violence but it is not graphic and we are talking tough guy Mike Hammer here.If your going to take a swing at Mike Hammer you better be sure your tougher than he is, because he likely to beat the tar out of you and then smack you 3 extra times just for his own enjoyment.Mike is a action problem solver extraordinaire.This little known series is a real gem.I would suggest this is a must have for your vintage collection.

A few years ago I was contacted by someone who had the entire McGavin Mike Hammer series and asked to put together a set of the TV show on DVD. I was able to enhance some of the washed out prints and fix some of the tinting on others. The end result was pretty good but after I finished the project I was disappointed that I had not put them in broadcast order. And, I did not want to reduce the quality too much by squeezing too many episodes onto each DVD so my final result was 4 four-disc sets that contained all 78 episodes and the '55 Mike Hammer pilot that was directed by Blake Edwards and starred Brian Keith. Unfortunately the individual who provided the source material turned out to be someone who traded pennies for gold and who felt that even though I had provided him with a nice pristine set he could ask for additional ones for free forever. The first extra one was supposed to be for Spillane himself which I thought was reasonable. Then after he passed I was asked to provide another for his widow. At the time I wasn't financially able to provide 16 DVD sets with cases and covers for free forever. The person requesting was a moderately successful writer who was much better off than myself. One of my other film collector friends had a similar experience with this person. He sent him several specimens of remastered recordings and in return received much of the same garbage he had provided to me. When this set first came out I wanted to purchase it to compare to the quality of my own set. It must be much the same as what I was originally given. I am though happy to have it now. Although McGavin's Hammer is a bit different than other Spillane versions I really like the show. I am not much of a Spillane fan. In fact, I find most of his work to be trash and his acting in one of the films would make Steven Seagal look like Laurence Olivier comparatively. Other than Ralph Meeker in Kiss Me Deadly I can take or leave Spillane and mostly would leave him. But this McGavin series really isn't Spillane other than the misogyny and violence. McGavin hated the material. They wanted him to do it seriously and he refused. He damn near walked after the first couple of episodes were filmed. They finally left him alone and the result was so much better than if they had left it deadpan and Spillane-like. If you like 50's TV you should try this series.

Nostalgia pura Buen audio buen video tomando en cuenta que es de los años cincuenta la serieLlego cuando lo dijeron

While both versions of Mike Hammer were super, Darren McGavin was a personal favourite. The episodes are shorter and the setting was very late 50s. Stacey Keach portrayal of the hero was a bit different, but there are some similarities. Fans of both series will find this set to their liking.

Delivery was no bother, product itself is fine, no problems with it. Note if you are a fan this is Region 1, couldn't find it Region 2 so you will need the correct player - or know how to convert your player if that is possible for your player.

There have been subsequent TV versions of Mickey Spillane's detective, Mike Hammer, but this is the original from 1958 starring Darren McGavin. I haven't seen the other versions so can't comment on them, but McGavin plays it heavy on the violence, and almost as a caricature of the standard private eye. Apparently, there were complaints about the, sometimes, gratuitous violence in this '58 series, but McGavin was really only taking his lead from the original Spillane books which were often direct and uncompromising. As the series progresses, McGavin gets to grips with the character and while he doesn't go from hard-boiled to soft-boiled, he does come across as rather a 'good-egg' (sorry about that). Anyway, dreadful puns aside, if you're at all interested in the American gumshoe/private-eye genre then this DVD set should fit nicely in your collection. It isn't cheap, but for the money you get the complete 12-DVD set featuring no less than 78 half-hour episodes, including some nice fifties location shots here and there; so it works out at good value for money. I'm not sure, but I think you may need an all-region player to make this set work, so check that out before you buy. But If you get the green light, then you could do a lot worse than get hold of this homage to the 40's-50's Noir scene.

Watching this is like experiencing time travel to experience something of 1950’s society (as filtered through television of the era). These episodes are filmed recreations of hard-boiled pulp detective fiction. Candidly this is likely not the best television of the late ‘50’s had to offer, but it has its own charm and appeal. There is a measure of grittiness and even somewhat brutal violence, even by today’s standards, that would be censored out as the 1960s dawned and progressed and wouldn’t be seen again on television for quite some time. Darrin McGavin makes for something of a down-to-earth Mike Hammer and less polished than depictions of later years. The black-and-white episodes make it truly feel vintage with a touch of film noir.A generally enjoyable, if formulaic, series, but not as good or as polished as something like Have Gun—Will Travel from the same era.