Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer: The Complete Series DVD Box Set | Classic Crime Drama TV Show Collection | Perfect for Movie Nights & Detective Fans

Mickey Spillane's "Mike Hammer" character was one of the most watchable 50s series because of the appeal of Darren McGavin. That time was not as hum-drum as people remember before diversity and inclusion. The Big Apple held stories of struggle, people leaving their neighborhood, rising in society; some do not wait and make their own rules. This is when Mike Hammer comes in, taking cases the police turn down, down-hearted people looking for justice. These (78)episodes are unpredictable no matter what act Hammer took a beating in into the 3rd or 4th act of each show. Hammer is a tough-talking, no-nonsense guy, physically imposing at times, dropping snippets of Spillane jargon and softness for the feminine sex. McGavin, 36 that first season with a black belt in judo fit the requirements. There have been other Hammers (Stacy Keach 70s)including real Mickey Spillane in the late 60s. Hammer was for the working class American with little patience or money to suffer police backlogs. So seeing over 42 episodes in the first season (of 2)was quite a treat. Of the notable actors who make their appearance: Angie Dickinson (at least 2 episodes), an early Barbara Bain, Robert Vaughn (plays against character), Nita Talbot (in every prologue) the TV substitute for sinewy Lauren Bacall. If he needs to clear things with the police (before Miranda rights)he checks things with his DA police contact (Pat Burns). The other attraction to this series beside the Damon Runyon characters is the locale shooting (a la "Naked City"). You will see the landmark hotels before Trump upgraded them and such eateries '21 Club' or the 'Latin Quarter.'That series allowed the city to co-star in each episode, along with the classic cars,all fascinating. If you watch closely as Hammer crosses streets you can see interesting marquees like Rozalind Russell in "Mame," or a young unknown by the name of Johnny Carson at a smaller theater doing "Do you trust your wife?"before he was a Somebody. One reviewer said the actresses are just cardboard characters. That is not what I saw here. A lot of the episodes have unknown actresses and they act their parts well. They are not strictly "dolls" or "babes." McGavin, once an abandoned kid himself, reads quickly a client's need and his voice-overs advance the episodes well. Hammer visits local theaters frequently and in several the producer boosts the realism of the milling "dancers" as Hammer wades through with smiling pleasure by adding the legendary Barrie Chase (in two, Fred Astaire's last dance partner). It takes little imagination to update the story lines that feel contemporary when they tackle hidden drug addiction (with a surprising pusher) or a "Sunset Boulevard"-like episode with a well-guarded matron on a hilltop retreat who un-thaws in time to salvage her family because Mike Hammer had seen her in her prime as a burlesque star. In that episode it was not only his wits but his memory that allowed him to say the right thing at the right time. In "Blonde, Blue and Deadly," Hammer visiting his buddy (used car salesman)switches with him when he sees a blue car driven by the blonde Nita Talbot with a con in mind. It is very humorous seeing him switch into the "sales" pitch and then drop his mask to trap Talbot. But that is the start of things that quickly gets deadlier as Hammer must find out why the car cost one life. The second season is no less interesting when DeForest Kelley (Bones McCoy of Star Trek) plays a deceitful, homicidal killer terrorizing the teen (Robert Fuller) so he won't squeal to the cops to solve a recent robbery. It is worthwhile to see this tough man uphold individual rights in each episode in his Spillane way.