This movie is a perfect illustration that good dialog in a book doesn't necessarily translate to good dialog in film. When one reads a line like "They just don't make dragons like they used to" it doesn't sound a corny as it does when spoken by a wooden Mickey Spillane.
And the biggest problem isn't that Mickey Spillane is such a bad actor - it's that his is not the worst performance in the movie. Only Lloyd Nolan manages to sound like he's not reading lines off the back of a cereal box. Especially bad performances are put in by Hy Gardner as a newspaper columnist and Scott Peters' over the top job as a police captain and former partner of Hammer. At least Gardner has an excuse since he wasn't a professional actor like Peters. Shirley Eaton models a wide range of bikinis and is always easy on the eyes if not on the brain.
Like any good pulp fiction, the plot of The Girl Hunters is besides the point. Hammer's old secretary Velda plays the role of the macguffin and Hammer spends his time trying to follow her trail and the murder of a politician. The end comes without us ever finding out what happened to Velda but it really doesn't matter. This movie is all style and no substance so we really never care about Velda.
No Mike Hammer film is going to be make anyone forget Shakespeare but this is really a waste of time. I give it two stars only because the cinematography is good and Nolan shows what a real actor can do.
Finally, why did they black out the credit at the end of the movie stating it was filmed at MGM studios in England? A strange ending to a strange mess of a movie.
And the biggest problem isn't that Mickey Spillane is such a bad actor - it's that his is not the worst performance in the movie. Only Lloyd Nolan manages to sound like he's not reading lines off the back of a cereal box. Especially bad performances are put in by Hy Gardner as a newspaper columnist and Scott Peters' over the top job as a police captain and former partner of Hammer. At least Gardner has an excuse since he wasn't a professional actor like Peters. Shirley Eaton models a wide range of bikinis and is always easy on the eyes if not on the brain.
Like any good pulp fiction, the plot of The Girl Hunters is besides the point. Hammer's old secretary Velda plays the role of the macguffin and Hammer spends his time trying to follow her trail and the murder of a politician. The end comes without us ever finding out what happened to Velda but it really doesn't matter. This movie is all style and no substance so we really never care about Velda.
No Mike Hammer film is going to be make anyone forget Shakespeare but this is really a waste of time. I give it two stars only because the cinematography is good and Nolan shows what a real actor can do.
Finally, why did they black out the credit at the end of the movie stating it was filmed at MGM studios in England? A strange ending to a strange mess of a movie.