The Girl Hunters | |
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Directed by | Roy Rowland |
Written by | Mickey Spillane Robert Fellows Roy Rowland |
Produced by | Robert Fellows |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Kenneth Talbot |
Edited by | Sidney Stone |
Music by | Philip Green |
Production companies | Fellane Productions Present Day Productions, Inc. |
Distributed by | Colorama Features Zodiac International Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 98 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | $400,000 [1] |
The Girl Hunters (1963) is a British crime drama film directed by Roy Rowland and adapted from the 1962 Mickey Spillane pulp novel of the same name. Exteriors were shot on location in New York with studio scenes in London.
Spillane stars as private detective Mike Hammer, one of the few occasions in film history in which an author of a popular literary hero has portrayed his own character. The film also stars Shirley Eaton, Lloyd Nolan and columnist Hy Gardner as himself.
Producer Robert Fellows intended to follow the film with Spillane's The Snake , but the second film was never produced. [2]
Ever since his assistant Velda went missing, private detective Mike Hammer has been drinking and he is now homeless. Although Hammer hasn't worked a case in seven years, his old police friend Capt. Pat Chambers asks for his assistance on a job. Chambers and Hammer were both in love with Velda, which had ended their friendship. The case involves a senator who has been murdered.
Hammer is needed to talk with Richie Cole, a dying sailor who refuses to speak with anybody else. According to federal agent Art Rickerby, not only has Richie been shot by the same gun recently used to kill a politician, he is actually an undercover federal agent.
Hammer's investigation leads to Laura Knapp, the late senator's widow. She is beautiful and seductive, but Hammer does not trust her. He learns that they are caught in the fallout from a network of spies operating during World War II. Now a killer nicknamed the Dragon is trying to silence people who had information about the spy operation. Hammer finds and kills the Dragon. He confronts Laura with his suspicions about her involvement. Laura fires a shotgun that Hammer had rigged to backfire in order to test her loyalty. It is not clear if Velda is still alive.
Spillane recalled meeting crime figure Billy Hill in London and invited him to the film set. According to Spillane, Hill provided firearms that were used in the film. [3] Spillane also noted that the producers surrounded him with actors who were shorter than he was.
Kiss Me Deadly is a 1955 American film noir produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, and Wesley Addy. It also features Maxine Cooper and Cloris Leachman appearing in their feature film debuts. The film follows a private investigator in Los Angeles who becomes embroiled in a complex mystery after picking up a female hitchhiker. The screenplay was written by Aldrich and A.I. Bezzerides, based on the 1952 crime novel Kiss Me, Deadly by Mickey Spillane.
I, the Jury is the 1947 debut novel of American crime fiction writer Mickey Spillane, the first work to feature private investigator Mike Hammer.
Michael Hammer is a fictional character created by the American author Mickey Spillane. Hammer debuted in the 1947 book I, the Jury. Hammer is a no-holds-barred private investigator whose love for his secretary Velda is outweighed only by his willingness to kill a killer. Hammer's best friend is Pat Chambers, Captain of NYPD Homicide. Hammer was a World War II army veteran who spent two years fighting jungle warfare in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II against Japan.
Frank Morrison Spillane, better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, called the "king of pulp fiction". His stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally. Spillane was also an occasional actor, once even playing Hammer himself in the 1965 film The Girl Hunters.
Shirley Jean Eaton is an English former actress and singer. Eaton appeared regularly in British films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and gained her highest profile for her iconic appearance as Bond Girl Jill Masterson in the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964), which gained her bombshell status. Eaton also had roles in the early Carry On films.
Hy Gardner was an American entertainment reporter and syndicated columnist for the New York Herald Tribune, host of Hy Gardner Calling, The Hy Gardner Show, and Celebrity Party, and an original celebrity panelist on the first incarnation of To Tell The Truth, along with Ralph Bellamy, Polly Bergen, Kitty Carlisle and host Bud Collyer. In 1957, Gardner also appeared on the show made up as a clown along with guest-challenger Paul Jung. Gardner also played himself in the 1963 movie The Girl Hunters with writer/friend Mickey Spillane, who included Gardner in several of his Mike Hammer novels.
I, the Jury is a 1982 American neo-noir crime thriller film based on the 1947 best-selling detective novel of the same name by Mickey Spillane. The story was previously filmed in 3D in 1953. Larry Cohen wrote the screenplay and was hired to direct, but was replaced when the film's budget was already out of control after one week of shooting. He was replaced at short notice by veteran TV director Richard T. Heffron.
My Gun Is Quick is a 1957 American film noir crime film directed by George White and Victor Saville and starring Robert Bray.
I, the Jury is a 1953 American film noir crime film based on the 1947 novel I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane. It was directed by Harry Essex, produced by Victor Saville's company, Parklane Pictures and released through United Artists.
One Lonely Night (1951) is Mickey Spillane's fourth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.
Kiss Me, Deadly (1952) is Mickey Spillane's sixth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer. The novel was later loosely adapted into the film Kiss Me Deadly in 1955.
The Snake (1964) is Mickey Spillane's eighth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.
The Killing Man (1989) is American crime writer Mickey Spillane's twelfth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer.
The Girl Hunters (1962) is Mickey Spillane's seventh novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer. It was adapted for the screen in 1963; Spillane himself played Mike Hammer.
The Goliath Bone is the 14th entry in the Mike Hammer series by American crime novelist Mickey Spillane, first published on October 13, 2008. Spillane died in 2006, so the novel completed by Max Allan Collins. The Goliath Bone is one of three almost-finished Mike Hammer novels that Spillane entrusted Collins to finish before his death in 2006.
Biff Elliot was an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as popular detective Mike Hammer in the 1953 version of I, the Jury and for his guest appearance as Schmitter in the Star Trek episode "The Devil in the Dark".
Lindsay Diane Bloom is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder.
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer is the first syndicated television series based on Spillane's hard-boiled private detective Mike Hammer, played by Darren McGavin. The series was produced from 1957 to 1959, and had a run of 76 episodes over two seasons. Episodes were filmed in black and white and filled a half-hour time slot. As a syndicated television series, original air dates and the order of episodes vary by geographic location – for example, in New York City. The series debuted January 28, 1958, on WCBS-TV, and the first episode aired was "Letter Edged in Blackmail".
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, with Stacy Keach in the title role, is an American crime drama television series that originally aired on CBS from January 28, 1984, to May 13, 1987. The series consisted of 51 installments: 46 one-hour episodes, a two-part pilot episode, and three TV movies.
More Than Murder is a 1984 American made-for-television mystery film starring Stacy Keach as Mickey Spillane's iconic hardboiled private detective Mike Hammer. It aired on January 26, 1984, at 9:00 p.m. and was the second of two pilots featuring Keach in the part - the other being Murder Me, Murder You (1983) - that blazed a path for the 1980s version of the CBS series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, which debuted on January 28, 1984.