J'aurai ta peau

In 1953, I, The Jury became the first of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer series to hit the screen, but it takes its cues from movies of 1947, when the book hit the kiosks. The yuletide cards serving as scene dividers, the violence counterpointed to Christmas carols recall The Lady in the Lake, while the duplicitous female psychiatrist reprises Helen Walker's Dr. Lilith Ritter in Nightmare Alley (the final, fatal tryst comes from the even earlier Double Indemnity).

These echoes may have been attempts to invest Hammer with some respectability, linking him to the more subtle and textured characters of the 1940s. It's clear something had to be done with him, because Spillane went for raw sensation in a way that caused a sensation of its own. His private eye is uncouth, short-fused and randy but misogynist, bowing to no authority save his own (hence the title). Spillane luckily or shrewdly had as readers of his punch-drunk prose men who had survived overseas combat and were making up for lost time in the footloose, post-war prosperity; he gave them not just sex and violence but sex-and-violence.

So in one sense, Biff Elliott makes an ideal Hammer, closer to Spillane's lout than his (relatively) spruced-up successors Ralph Meeker and Robert Bray (plus Armand Assante, in the marginally better 1982 remake of this title). He comes across as a Dead End kid grown up with a license and a gun, slow-witted but fast with his fists and his trigger.

When his best friend, an insurance investigator and combat amputee, gets himself coldly killed, Hammer scours New York to avenge him. The urban locales bring out the talents of director of photography John Alton, who here tried his hand at the 3-D process (thus I, The Jury, along with Man in the Dark, The Glass Web and Second Chance, becomes one of the few noirs so filmed).

The shoot-from-the-hip action, however, rides roughshod over any intricacies of the plot. Characters Hammer encounters stay generic, with the exception of Peggie Castle as the shrink. The film's last scene is hers, not Elliott's, as she moves into a languorous striptease that comes to a quick finale. For better or worse, it's an emblematic image that showcases Spillane's coarsened sensibility, his fusion of brutality and eroticism, and spells an end to the more freighted ambiguity that was a hallmark of the noir cycle.

The screen debut of Mike Hammer 'force of nature' and self-appointed judge, jury and executioner. Biff Elliott had an apt name to portray a detective who tends to punch in the mouth first and asks questions later. He does talk like a man whom has been hit over the head on numerous occasions but is totally outclassed by his co-star Peggie Castle, sensational as the duplicitous shrink Charlotte Manning. The narrative seems to consist almost entirely of scenes of vicious beatings-up and murders, and as in so many other movies of its type, the hero can take any amount of punches to the face and emerge unscathed. I might have found it all rather tiresome had the film been more efficiently constructed, but the generous amount of ludicrous dialogue and the generally ham-fisted approach made it almost perversely entertaining. I was amused by good old Elisha Cook Jr. and his queen bee, though this inadvertently pointed Hammer in the right direction. The finale, with the now desperate Charlotte's attempted seduction of Hammer, is unforgettable.

I consider this film to be the best one about Mike Hammer, with Biff Elliott's performance the definitive Mike Hammer. Harry Essex's script is excellent and contains many improvements on Mickey Spillane's novel. His direction is strong and imaginative, and he makes fine use of light and shadow. The camera work by John Alton is top-notch, as is the score by Franz Waxman. The cast includes many veteran players, as well as Peggie Castle in her memorable performance as Charlotte Manning. All in all, this is one of the finest private eye films ever made. Biff Elliott and Haary Essex should have received more opportunities. I have always treasured this film.

A gun fires through a half-opened door. A one-arm dying man crawls towards the camera while the chair where his prosthetic arm lies moves back unabling him to reach it. In the next scene a man climbs up the stairs to find his army pal shot dead. This is the first Mike Hammer film in 3D and must be seen in 3D to really appreciate its quality. Fortunately there is an exceptionally well restored 3D version that makes of this film a rare noir gem. John Alton photography is breathtaking, especially in the zenithal shots - view from the top of the Bradbury Building (that has appeared in many other films such as D. O. A.) is simply stunning in 3D - and use of shadows. Light contrasts are superb. Although Alton won an oscar for An American in Paris his photography work for black and white movies is powerfully shocking.

No "tricks" here like a fire torch splashed into the camera eye. Any 3D detractor should watch this movie. Not the usual 3D method of emphasizing certain elements and relegating others was employed but all of them are in relief instead. The opening scene with the firing gun is maybe the only license to that use. The result it is an exciting watching experience that brings the whole set to life by highlighting every single element. 3D experience upgraded.

As for the cast, Biff Elliot plays decently although wooden a tough, rude and violent Mike Hammer, boxer- type (he had been a boxer himself in his youth). Peggie Castle plays a psychoanalyst and does an excellent femme fatale, Preston Foster has a small but solid role as a police captain and Margaret Sheridan is the ever- efficient Hammer secretary (Perry Mason's Della Street type). Role of the dead man was played by real life single -handed Robert Swanger in his only screen appearance.

Based on Mickey Spillane's book I, the jury some facts were changed - cocaine traffic to jewelry smuggling, twin sisters' nymphomania and Hammer's final shot from spontaneous to in response to be almost killed.

Special mention for the 3D-inside-3D view-master type shot surprise gem. This scene only makes the movie worth watching in 3D only and an enjoyable experience for any 3D and view master fan. Do not miss it.

This was a normal tough as nails PI on the hunt flick of the times...With many familiar faces, Nestor Paiva, Peggy Castle, John Qualen, Preston Foster, etc. There's nothing much that stands out, watch it on AMC or whatever sometime and you will swear you have seen it before, even if you haven't.

Point of trivia-Biff Elliott apparently lived in the Northern Maine town of Presque Isle(where I'm from actually), and word has it they premiered this flick there in '53! It was a big time celeb event, for a town of about 12,000 at the time-it hadda been as if the Super bowl had come to town!

** outta ****.