Noirsville - the film noir: Noirsville Bonus - Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer Noir TV Series (1958

Groomed to Kill - Directed by Ray Nazzaro, written by Robert Turner, DOP John L. Russell.

This episode stars Darren McGavin as Mike Hammer, Bart Burns as Captain Pat Chambers, Frank Albertson (It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Girl on the Run (1953), Nightfall (1956), Psycho (1960), Man-Trap (1961), Johnny Cool (1963)) as Jason Gill, K.T. Stevens (Port of New York (1949), Vice Squad (1953)) as Doris Gill, Joan Tabor as Sherri Gay, and Ray Daley as Al Sanders.

Jason Gill (Frank Albertson) and Al Sanders (Ray Daley)

Jason Gill throws a bachelor party for his soon to be brother-in-law Al Sanders. The highlight of the party is a hammer-tomically correct Sherrie Gay. Is she a stripper, hooker it's never stated. She is there for Al. It goes awry.

Sherrie (Joan Tabor) with Al

Sherrie immediately runs to Al. Al is shocked. His party goers laugh. She pushes him to the couch and sits on his lap, putting her arms around him. She kisses him. In this compromising position Jason snaps a Polaroid of them.

Al is mortified and demands the photo, Sherrie grabs it from Jason and slips it down the front of her dress. She then heads to the bedroom.

The picture

At the end of the party everyone leaves except Sherrie who blackmails Al. She wants $100 for the picture. Al tells her he doesn't have it. Sherrie gives him her address and tells him to bring the money or his fiance will see it. She leaves.

Now if this was the real world and not the world of Broadcast Standards and Practices responsible for the moral, ethical, and legal implications of the program that network airs, you know that in Mike Hammer type story like this, Al and Sherrie would be photographed naked in bed doing the deed. That makes the most sense for the way Al reacts and the way the story resolves.

Al who works in a men's clothing shop calls Mike Hammer one of his customers and tells him his problem. He wants Mike to confront Sherrie and get the Polaroid back. Mike is persuaded by the simple fact that it sounds easy and he can get Al to write off the balance on his account.

Mike heads over to Sherrie's apartment.

Sherrie is dead on the floor. Mike does a quick toss of the living room and discovers the Polaroid.

He puts the Polaroid in his pocket just as the police arrive at the apartment. When Pat Chambers confronts Mike about why he is at a murder scene Mike tells him he was there at the behest of his client, who he knows didn't do it.

This scene between Mike and Pat serves as a good illustration between changing headgear. Pat wears a more traditional fedora while Mike wears a pork pie hat.

Mike asks Al for more details, telling him that he found Sherrie dead.

Mike continuing to investigate heads to Jason's home and questions his wife Doris as to Jason's whereabouts.

Doris Gill (K.T. Stevens)

An obvious L.A. Location (globe on post lamps)

At the garage Mike confronts Jason. Jason reacts as if he's guilty. He fights, he looses. Mike calls Pat and then hauls him back to the apartment where his wife is waiting.

At the apartment Jason and Doris begin to accuse each other of killing Sherrie as the police arrive. Mike remembers something that he overlooked before and finally gets to the bottom of the case.

An episode shot mostly on studio but with some nice noir stylistics. 7/10

Doll Trouble - Directed by William Whitney, written by Barry Shipman, DOP was Ray Rennahan.

This episode stars Darren McGavin as Mike Hammer, Isobel Elsom as Wilma Puttnam, John Archer (White Heat (1949)) as Roland, Vitina Marcus as Maureena Zabreski (as Dolores Vitina), Cindy Carol as Anna Zabreski (as Carol Sydes) and Marian Collier as Receptionist at Embassy.

Doll Trouble takes place while Mike is on vacation at the Brussels Worlds Fair of 1958. An American woman Isobel Elsom overhears Mike while he's registering at the American Embassy. She wants to hire him to investigate the claim that a woman who knew her sister in a concentration camp agreed to take her sisters daughter Anna an raise her as her own sister. When the woman demanded money $5,000 before revealing to Isobel her niece, she believes that she may be getting conned.

Brussels

Maureena (Vitina Marcus)

Roland (John Archer)

The Atomium, a giant model of a unit cell of an iron crystal was the symbol of Expo 58

Wilma Puttman (Isobel Elsom)

cheesecake

Maureena and Anna Zabreski (Cindy Carol)

A below average episode, mostly Hollywood sets, and its main highlight is the judo fight between Mike and Roland 5/10

I Remember Sally - Directed by William Witney, written by Steven Thornley, DOP was John L. Russell (Moonrise (1948), City That Never Sleeps (1953), Hell's Half Acre (1954), Psycho (1960), The Cabinet of Caligari (1962)).

This episode stars Darren McGavin as Mike Hammer, Malcolm Atterbury as Oliver Bates, noir vet Doris Dowling (The Lost Weekend (1945), The Blue Dahlia (1946), Bitter Rice (1949)) as Bonnie Weed / Sally Bryant, Steve Gravers as Duke Weed, Asa Maynor as Ginger Snap, and Fred Sherman as Desk Clerk.

Here is a refreshing quite Noir-ish episode containing some great hard boiled dialog, with Mike back in the New York City gutters where he belongs.

A man, Oliver Bates, walks into The Central, a Hell's Kitchen flop "woman's" hotel. He's looking for a former carny dancer Sally Brant, that he and his wife took in after she got sick and couldn't travel with the show when it left town. That was seven or so years ago. She's now living in New York City and the last letter he received was roughly a year ago. The Central Hotel Sally's last known address.

New York City Flop

Confronting the clerk

The desk clerk Duke Weed is pretty rude to him, and tells him that he's never heard of Sally. This upsets Bates enough to get him to look in the phone book for a private eye. It's Mike Hammer that he calls.

When he tells his story to Mike, Mike tells him to forgetaboutit, these "theatrical" folk are fly by night, they change their names and move around a lot. Mike is curious enough to ask him why he's so interested in finding her.

Oliver Bates (Malcolm Atterbury)

Bates tells him that he's dying and only has a year to live. His wife is dead and he has no children and he wants to give Sally his life's savings a check for $20,000.

Mike agrees to investigate. He heads down to the Central Hotel.

Duke Weed (Steve Gravers) and Mike

Duke Weed is behind the desk. Mike asks about Sally and Duke is again rude. Mike gets pissed tells him the place smells and asks him in a great piece of hard boiled-ese "What kind of a fish ladder are you running here."

At this point in the conversation Bonnie Weed the hotels owner who looks quite slatternly, slithers out of the Managers office.

Bonnie Weed (Doris Dowling)

Mike gets nowhere with her. She is a tough cookie.

Meanwhile Duke heads upstairs to ask his girlfriend Ginger Snap a stripper if she knew this Sally Brant. Our hammer-esque first view of Ginger is her tight little rear end.

Ginger's hammer-tommically correct rear

Ginger Snap (Asa Maynor)

Duke convinces Ginger to visit Mike and work her womanly charms, to see if she can find out why suddenly the Sally Brant is so important.

Mike likes what he sees

Ginger finds out nothing from Mike who is wise to the play. But it makes Mike suspicious enough to head back to The Central.

Bate's is residing at Hotel Congress

When Duke heads upstairs after Ginger gets back Bonnie follows him up the stairs and is listening outside Ginger's door. Bonnie enters the room and stabs Ginger to death.

Bonnie tells Duke to drag her body into the closet and at night take her in their car and dump her body in the river.

Back at the Central Mike forces another, reluctant to speak, clerk to give him the room number for Ginger.

Mike finds Ginger stuffed in the closet.

As Mike is about to split Duke arrives to dispose of the body. Duke wielding a knife charges Mike. Mike grabs a feather pillow and is able to use it as a shield.