DVD Corner

Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer- The Complete Series DVD Review

“Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” is a well made 50’s noir TV series.

“Mike Hammer,” which is based on Mickey Spillane’s book series, follows a cold, hard-ass private eye in NYC (even though the series is shot in L.A.). Throughtout the 78 episodes, Hammer finds himself taking on cases involving kidnappings, murder, money, set-ups, femme fatales, protection, blackmail, robberies, con artists, gambling, racketeering, and missing persons. Unlike many detectives, however, Hammer doesn’t do his job by the book. He’ll get answers any way he can whether it’s with violence or posing as someone else.

While the episode stories are generally pretty intense half-hour dramas, it’s the character of Mike Hammer that makes this series memorable. The great, underrated character actor Darren McGavin (probably best known for playing Ralphie’s dad on “A Christmas Story”) truly deserves credit for bringing this character to life on the small screen. By all accounts, we (the audience) should not like this character or be interested in him at all. He’s an unlikeable, violent, womanizer who generally only cares about himself. And yet, even with his bad behavior, you can’t help but want to see more of Hammer thanks to McGavin’s screen presence. What makes the character even more intriguing is that just when you think you have him figured out, you see him in an episode like “Wedding Mourning” where he falls in love with a woman that he wants to settle down with. Of course, Hammer’s changed ways don’t last long when his love winds up dead, but it was an interesting character development to be sure.

While McGavin is obviously the main star of the show, there are a lot of fantastic TV icon guest stars in various episodes. Viewers should keep a eye out for the likes of Ted Knight, Lorne Greene, Dick Van Patten, Robert Vaughn, Angie Dickinson, Mike Connors, and especially DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy from “Star Trek”) who stars in one of the best episodes “I Ain’t Talkin’”.

Another reason the show works is because of the dark and gutsy tone. So many crime shows are safe, repetitive, and routine, but not Hammer. Granted, there’s a general formula for the plots, but the show was cinematic in its approach and it really brought viewers into the seedy underworld that Hammer investigates. With the adult content displayed in the series, it’s no surprise that viewers reportedly complained about the content of the show at the time of its airing.

Summary: If you are a fan of private eye shows, the noir genre, or Mickey Spillane, this is a must see series. They certainly don’t make them like this anymore.

Video/Audio:

The fullscreen B&W picture quality generally looks solid, but expect to see dirt specs, scratches, and fuzzy images. Really, I don’t think the picture quality matters too much here. I think fans will just be happy to get the whole series on disc.

The Dolby Digital Stereo track is a little flat, but it does the job. Considering the show’s age, the track is in better than shape than I expected.

Unfortunately, no extras have been included on this set.

November 14, 2011 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | Darren McGavin, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer- The Complete Series DVD Review