on_the_can

I caught this movie on TCM a few years ago and it instantly became one of my favourite movies. I've never been able to find it on DVD but I've caught it on the tube a few more times since the first and I love it more with every viewing. I'm a sucker for film noir pulp fiction.

Set in the sleazy Los Angeles heat, you can feel the sweat dripping off the characters' even when they're stooped in shadow. This movie has more grit than Rooster Cogburn. Mike Hammer's a PI with a rep for blackmailed divorce cases with the help of his sexy assistant, Velda. When he's driving one night though he encounters Christina, a young woman, running down the road, naked under a trench coat and frantically trying to wave down a car for help in one of the best openings you could ask for in a film. After nearly running her down Hammer stops and picks her up, which snowballs into an intricate mystery that involves everything but the kitchen sink.

The action moves fast and has directly or indirectly influenced everything from 'Speed' to 'Pulp Fiction.' Mike Hammer is truly one of the original bad asses and Ralph Meeker plays him to the hilt. He doesn't take crap from anybody and isn't afraid of anything. His only weakness is his obsession with the case and the danger of losing himself in his ambition.

To give anything away from the plot would be criminal but if you want a fun, gritty and pulpy mystery with a dose of action you can't get much better than the original.