Hammett (1982)

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Joe Gores (novel)
Dennis O'Flaherty (writer)

Release Date:

17 September 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

The mystery writer who lived his own stories ! [Video]

Plot:

The novel writter Dashiell Hammett is involved in the investigation of the mysterious disappearance...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Detective | Pornography | Brothel | Blackmail

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Frederic Forrest	...	Hammett
Peter Boyle	...	Jimmy Ryan
Marilu Henner	...	Kit Conger / Sue Alabama
Roy Kinnear	...	English Eddie Hagedorn
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Eli the Taxi Driver (as Elisha Cook)
Lydia Lei	...	Crystal Ling
R.G. Armstrong	...	Lt. O'Mara
Richard Bradford	...	Detective Bradford
Michael Chow	...	Fong Wei Tau
David Patrick Kelly	...	The Punk
Sylvia Sidney	...	Donaldina Cameron
Jack Nance	...	Gary Salt
Elmer Kline	...	Doc Fallon
Royal Dano	...	Pops
Samuel Fuller	...	Old Man in Pool Hall

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:AA | USA:PG | West Germany:12 (bw)

Filming Locations:

American Zoetrope Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Zoetrope Studios

Trivia:

Final film of Elisha Cook Jr.

Quotes:

Hammett: I want two things. One, I want my story back, it's not much but its what I do. And two, I want to be left alone.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Dream Studio (2004) (V)

The Good & Bad Of 'Hammet'

GOOD - I enjoyed the 1920s look, the San Francisco-Chinatown locale and the nice set designs. It was interesting to see Marilu Henner from television's "Taxi" fame. I also was great fun to see one of my favorite actors from the classic film noir era, Elisha Cook Jr. Another classic star, Sylvia Sidney, also makes an appearance.

BAD - A somewhat convoluted story and several main male characters who are uninvolving - particularly lead character " Dashiell Hammett," played by Frederic Forest - make one lose interest in this story by the halfway point. If the lead doesn't connect with the audience, then the film is in trouble, which may explain why this movie is almost obscure. Peter Boyle, playing "Jimmy Ryan," also looked like he was reading his lines from a cue card. From what I've read, this film had a lot of production problems and much of the director Wim Wenders' work had to be re-shot by Francis Ford Copolla. Obviously, this project was a semi-disaster from the start. One thing they could have used: narration. It goes perfectly with this kind of story, and they didn't use it.

Overall, being a film noir buff I was very disappointed in this effort. I really wanted to like this movie. It should have been far better than it wound up, but at least I know now why the movie never made a name for itself.