Cacciatori di donne

Yeah, pals, I'll bet this is a dream of many writers, to portray his or her favorite character on the screen. I imagine Agatha Christy would have loved to portray Miss Marple, and Dashell Hammett possibly would have picked The Continental Op to portray.

That off my chest, I feel kindly toward this film and was glad for the opportunity to see Spillane as Hammer. I can't say he was terribly good, but one can at least say that his portrayal was interesting, and I don't mean that as a put-down.

It was also good as always to see Lloyd Nolan still around and adding to the film. This sure isn't the best Mike Hammer film, but I found it worth a look and imagine you will too.

I was shocked to see a movie with a writer actually playing one of his characters, especially one as iconic--or, at least, notable--as Mike Hammer. I can only recall Stephen King playing in some of his scripts, but even then he did not tend to be a major, featured character. His stories have soared most with great actors, writing, and directing behind them ("The Green Mile," "Shawshank Redemption," "The Shining," "Misery," and many others).

Mickey Spillane is woefully short of King's humility, though. The movie has an intriguing plot, but is convoluted beneath the weight of bad acting and mostly wretched delivery. The dialogue is actually pretty believable, all things considered, but you can feel the crowd assembled on the screen is mostly amateurs. The amateurish feel coupled with the somewhat on-target dialog sort of coupled to create a more "fun" movie than what is probably intended and it stays thin on the noir-ish elements, which often seem clichéd in most movies anyway.

Spillane is generally horrible as a supposed slick lady's man--which Stacy Keach carried off much more believably with his charisma and acting chops, if not looks, on television. Spillane's pretty dry and one-note as Hammer, but at least he doesn't tend to ham it up. In fact, I'm not sure he is capable of ham.

Shirley Eaton is excellent as the eye candy and Hammer's love interest, but Spillane just butchers some of his lines with her; for example, when she asks Hammer if he loves her, Spillane lowly rasps in the back of his throat, "I think I do, baby." It's really a pretty lame attempt at being emotional. And, kissing together? Just horrible face-mashing and a real waste of such an exquisite beauty as Eaton's. Spillane just has no idea how to be expressive and believable; his face is just a pancake throughout the movie. It gives a certain "naturalism" to the movie, but probably not in a good way for someone that needs to be as dynamic as Mike Hammer.

Though it would have been very easy to have it, there is almost no dramatic tension in this movie, just a series of pasted-together scenes that Spillane meanders through. On a highly superficial level it works--the basic pieces ultimately fit--but there's no elegance to the design, probably due to lack of presentation on the part of most of the actors.

The story is good enough to be re-made as a true noir-ish exploit, but the acting and stylistic elements need a real working through.

Granted, the other posters have valid comments.......Spillane cannot really act. However, for some bizarre reason, his stilted, monotone delivery works for me.

My major complaint, regarding acting, would have to concern Scott Peters, as Hammer's former partner. He screeches his way through every scene he's in, and he makes it completely unbelievable that his character could ever have been friends with Hammer.

The soundtrack is indeed grating. The crashing score overpowers many of the scenes, derailing the film noirish approach to the material.

Eaton is indeed great, although the usually wonderful Nolan comes across as a bit cartoonish.

That all being said, I still recommend this film, if only for the experience of seeing Spillane play his own creation.

One side note: WHAT happened to Velda????

While never in the class of 'Kiss Me, Deadly', or even the original version of 'I, The Jury', 'The Girl Hunters' is an enjoyable detective movie featuring a surprisingly convincing portrayal of Mike Hammer by his creator Mickey Spillane. The film is well shot, mostly well acted and has a storyline that keeps you interested till the end. What lets it down is the intrusive and repetitive music and endless shots of Spillane/Hammer walking in and out of buildings/offices while putting on or taking off his trench coat. After a while both these elements become irritating, but not irritating enough to make you want to stop watching. Spillane is a suitably rough around the edges Hammer and is well supported by Lloyd Nolan as a helpful FBI agent and by the gorgeous Shirley Eaton as the only female character in the picture, the widow of a murdered senator. My personal favourite Mike Hammer film is the first version of 'I, The Jury' with Biff Elliott as Hammer. That film is pure noir and Elliott is excellent in the role. 'The Girl Hunters' tries hard and almost gets there, but noir was past it's sell by date and the old masters of the genre were mostly gone. This film gives a good facsimile and is very watchable, but do not expect 'The Big Sleep'.

Mickey also stars as P. I. Mike Hammer, who has been an alcoholic bum for the past seven years after his beloved secretary Velda disappeared. Police Captain Pat Chambers (Scott Peters) gets Mike sober in order to interrogate a a dying man who may know what happened to Velda.

Mike starts his own investigation, during which he meets wealthy society widow Shirley Eaton, who may hold the key to everything. A decent story and competent direction is undone by the casting of Spillane, who comes across like a constipated Merv Griffin sporting a crew cut and a weak voice. Eaton appears in a few swimsuits, but no gold body paint, unfortunately. There's a good fight scene in a barn between Hammer and a guy who looks like Oscar Homolka's little brother. This was a British production, set in New York, so you get to hear a lot of bad phony American accents.