Mike Hammer

Michael "Mike" Hammer is a fictional character created by the American author Mickey Spillane in the 1947 book I, the Jury (made into a movie in 1953 and 1982).

Description

Several movies and radio and television series have been based on the books in the Hammer series. The actor most closely identified with the character in recent years has been Stacy Keach, who portrayed Hammer in a CBS television series, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, which ran from 1984–1987 and had a syndicated revival in 1997–1998. (An earlier syndicated version, originally aired in 1957–1958, starred Darren McGavin as Hammer.) Spillane himself played Hammer in a 1963 motion picture adaptation of The Girl Hunters. Spillane himself favoured ex-Marine and former Newburgh, New York police officer Jack Stang, on whom he based the character, to play him. Stang appeared with Spillane in the 1954 film Ring of Fear and in the film adaptation of I, the Jury.

Character

While pulp detectives such as Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe are hard-boiled and cynical, Hammer is in many ways the archetypal "hard man:" he is brutally violent, misogynistic, and fueled by a genuine rage that never afflicts Raymond Chandler's or Dashiell Hammett's heroes. In The Big Kill Hammer describes himself to a bargirl as a misanthrope.

While other hardboiled heroes bend and manipulate the law, Hammer holds it in total contempt, seeing it as nothing more than an impediment to justice, the one virtue he holds in absolute esteem. However unlike many fictional private detectives, Hammer has a strong respect for the majority of police, realising they have a difficult job and their hands are frequently tied by the law when trying to stop criminals. Hammer has no such constraints.

Mike Hammer is a no-holds barred Battle of Guadalcanal veteran private investigator who carries a .45 Colt M1911, named "Betsy" in a shoulder harness under his left arm. His love for his secretary Velda is only outweighed by his willingness to kill a killer. Hammer's best friend is Pat Chambers, Captain of Homicide NYPD.

Hammer is also patriotic and anti-communist. The novels are peppered with remarks by Hammer supporting American troops in Korea, and in Survival...Zero Vietnam. In One Lonely Night, where Hammer attends a communist meeting in a park, his reaction to the speaker's propaganda is a sarcastic "Yeah."

So far as violence is concerned, the Hammer novels leave little to the imagination. Written in the first person, Hammer describes his violent encounters with relish. In all but a few novels, Hammer's victims are often left vomiting after a blow to the stomach or groin.

The Washington Times obituary of Spillane said of Hammer, "In a manner similar to Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry, Hammer was a cynical loner contemptuous of the 'tedious process' of the legal system, choosing instead to enforce the law on his own terms." ^[1]

Novels

• I, The Jury (1947)
• My Gun is Quick (1950)
• Vengeance Is Mine! (1950)
• One Lonely Night (1951)
• The Big Kill (1951)
• Kiss Me, Deadly (1952)
• The Girl Hunters (1962)
• The Snake (1964)
• The Twisted Thing (1966)
• The Body Lovers (1967)
• Survival... Zero! (1970)
• The Killing Man (1989)
• Black Alley (1997)
• The Goliath Bone (2008)

Radio series

A January 1953 to October 1953 Mutual Broadcasting System radio series titled That Hammer Guy starred Larry Haines as Hammer and Jan Miner as the voice of many female characters on the show. It was written by Ed Adamson and was directed by Richard Lewis.^[2]

Television

There have been several television shows based on the exploits of Mike Hammer.

• A 1954 television pilot was developed starring Brian Keith that was written and directed by Blake Edwards, it was not picked up.^[3]
• Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (1958 - 1960 ; starring Darren McGavin)
• Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (Jan. 1984 - Jan. 1985 ; starring Stacy Keach)
• The New Mike Hammer (Sept. 1986 - May 1987 ; starring Stacy Keach)
• Mike Hammer, Private Eye (Sept. 1997 - June 1998 ; starring Stacy Keach)

Movies

DVD cover of The Girl Hunters

• I, the Jury (United Artists, 1953)

Filmed in 3-D starring Biff Elliot as Mike Hammer.

• Kiss Me Deadly (United Artists, 1955)

Robert Aldrich was the director, Ralph Meeker was cast as Hammer, while Maxine Cooper portrayed Hammer's sexy secretary/companion Velda.

• My Gun Is Quick (United Artists, 1957)

Robert Bray was cast as Hammer, with more of the violence originated from the villain rather than the detective.

The film grossed $308,000 with a total of $602 overseas.

• The Girl Hunters (Colorama Features, 1963)

Mickey Spillane was given the rare opportunity to portray his own creation in this film. This is one of the few occasions in film history in which the creator of a literary character was later hired to portray that character in a film. Producer Robert Fellows and Spillane planned to follow the film with The Snake but it never materialised.

• Margin For Murder (TV movie, 1981)

Kevin Dobson plays Hammer in this made for TV movie.

• I, the Jury (20th Century Fox, 1982)

Armand Assante plays Hammer in this version.

• Come Die With Me (Fox, 1994)

Rob Estes plays Hammer in this TV movie. Pamela Anderson plays his secretary Velda.

• Mike Hammer: Song Bird (2003) (V) – a direct-to-video compilation of Mike Hammer, Private Eye's 1998 episodes of "Songbird: Part 1" and "Songbird: Part 2", where Stacy Keach played Mike Hammer and Shannon Whirry played his secretary Velda.

Comics

A short-lived comic strip starring Mike Hammer was distributed by Phoenix Features Syndicate from 1953 to 1954. It was entitled From the Files of... Mike Hammer and written by Spillane, Ed Robbins and Joe Gill, with art by Ed Robbins. Collections of the strip were published in the 1980s. ^[4]

In other media

• An audiobook version of Spillane's novel Black Alley, read by actor Stacy Keach, was released by Penguin Audio on November 1, 1996.
• Novels featuring Hammer were referenced several times in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Both Odo and Miles O'Brien were fans.
• The film The Hebrew Hammer makes a reference to Mike Hammer as well.
• The Japanese TV series Detective Mike stars a young detective called 'Hama Mike' (Japanese pronunciation of 'Mike Hammer').
• The 1986 video game Killed Until Dead by Artech Digital Entertainment features spoofs of famous characters including a "Mike Stammer".
• In 2008, Stacy Keach reprised the role for an Audie-nominated audio mini-series entitled The New Adventures of Mike Hammer. Both episodes, Dangerous Days and Oil and Water, were written by M. J. Elliott.
• John Zorn's Spillane is a tribute to Mickey Spillane, which uses quotes of Mike Hammer voiced by John Lurie.

Footnotes

External links

• Unofficial Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer Site
• Entry on Darren McGavin's website
• Stacy Keach's Official Website