Hammett is a 1982 homage to noir films and pulp fiction directed by
Wim WendersErnst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
. The film is a fictionalized story about writer
Dashiell HammettSamuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , the newspaper comic strip Secret Agent X-9 and the Continental Op...
, based on the novel of the same name by
Joe GoresJoe Gores is an American mystery writer, known best for his novels and short stories set in San Francisco featuring the fictional "Dan Kearny and Associates" a thinly-veiled private investigation firm fronting as a repo agency...
. The film was entered into the
1982 Cannes Film Festival- Jury :*Giorgio Strehler *Jean-Jacques Annaud *Suso Cecchi d'Amico *Geraldine Chaplin *Gabriel García Márquez *Florian Hopf *Sidney Lumet *Mrinal Sen...
.
Dashiell Hammett, trying to put his
PinkertonThe Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, was a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton had become famous when he foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired Pinkerton...
detective days behind him while establishing himself as a writer, and dealing with induced tuberculosis and the alcoholism that will plague him almost to the end of his days, finds himself drawn back into his old life one last time by the irresistible call of friendship and to honor a debt.
German director Wenders was hired by
Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an Italian-American film director, producer and screenwriter. Away from showbusiness, Coppola is also a vintner, magazine publisher and hotelier. He is a graduate of Hofstra University where he studied theatre. He earned an M.F.A. in film directing from the UCLA Film School...
to direct this film, which was to be his American debut feature.
Why is he tailing me all over town? Does he think I'm pretty or what?
I knew you gone sour, Ryan, but I didn't know you gone simple.
Her name wasn't really Sue Alabama... It was Sue something Greek and unpronounceable.
She primed him and I went in on the cleanup.
Sex was nearly all Sue Alabama ever needed, and she could use it the way some guys use a blackjack.
I can't figure him for a cannon. The only thing Pen Pal would ever use is the U.S. Mail... Extortion.
Hammett is a 1982 homage to noir films and pulp fiction directed by
Wim WendersErnst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
. The film is a fictionalized story about writer
Dashiell HammettSamuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , the newspaper comic strip Secret Agent X-9 and the Continental Op...
, based on the novel of the same name by
Joe GoresJoe Gores is an American mystery writer, known best for his novels and short stories set in San Francisco featuring the fictional "Dan Kearny and Associates" a thinly-veiled private investigation firm fronting as a repo agency...
. The film was entered into the
1982 Cannes Film Festival- Jury :*Giorgio Strehler *Jean-Jacques Annaud *Suso Cecchi d'Amico *Geraldine Chaplin *Gabriel García Márquez *Florian Hopf *Sidney Lumet *Mrinal Sen...
.
Dashiell Hammett, trying to put his
PinkertonThe Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, was a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton had become famous when he foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired Pinkerton...
detective days behind him while establishing himself as a writer, and dealing with induced tuberculosis and the alcoholism that will plague him almost to the end of his days, finds himself drawn back into his old life one last time by the irresistible call of friendship and to honor a debt.
German director Wenders was hired by
Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an Italian-American film director, producer and screenwriter. Away from showbusiness, Coppola is also a vintner, magazine publisher and hotelier. He is a graduate of Hofstra University where he studied theatre. He earned an M.F.A. in film directing from the UCLA Film School...
to direct this film, which was to be his American debut feature. "But," according to one source, "by the time the final version was released in 1982, only 30 percent of Wenders' footage remained, and the rest was completely reshot by Coppola, whose mere 'executive producer' credit is just a technicality." Wenders made a short film called
Reverse Angle documenting his disputes with Coppola surrounding the making of
Hammett. As the A.V. Club review states, "A Coppola or Wenders commentary track might have sorted things out a bit—or at least settled an old score—but the bare-bones DVD release leaves viewers with a fascinating mess." The reviewer, though, never says what the source of his information is, and the question of the degree and nature of Coppola's involvement in the directing of the film remains open.
Casting
Actors Forrest and Henner were married during the long production of the film, then
divorceDivorce or dissolution of marriage is the final termination of a marriage, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between two persons...
d shortly afterwards in 1983.
Peter Boyle took over the role of Jimmy Ryan from
Brian KeithBrian Keith was an American film, television, and stage actor, who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney film, The Parent Trap, the 1966 movie, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and the 1975 movie, The Wind and the Lion...
, who left allegedly because the lengthy production conflicted with other commitments. Keith can be seen in some long shots in the film.
A number of actors from the "Golden Age" of Hollywood were cast in the film, including
Hank WordenHank Worden was an American cowboy-turned-character-actor....
,
Royal DanoRoyal Dano was an American film and television character actor.-Early life:Dano was born in New York City to Mary J. and Caleb Dano. He left home at the age of twelve and at various intervals, lived in Florida, Texas and California...
, and Elisha Cook, Jr. (who played Wilmer the gunsel in
John HustonJohn Marcellus Huston was an American filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He was known for directing the films The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge The Misfits , The Man Who Would Be...
's 1941 film
The Maltese FalconThe Maltese Falcon is a 1941 American Warner Bros. film based on novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. Written and directed by John Huston, the movie stars Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade, Mary Astor as his femme fatale client, Sydney Greenstreet in his film debut, and Peter...
).
Cast
- Frederic Forrest
-Biography:Forrest was born in Waxahachie, Texas, the son of Virginia Allie and Frederic Fenimore Forrest, a furniture store owner. He is probably best known for his roles as Chef in Apocalypse Now,["When The Legends Die"] It Lives Again, the military surplus store owner in Falling Down, Right to...
- Hammett
- Peter Boyle
Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
- Jimmy Ryan
- Marilu Henner
Marilu Lucy Henner is an American actress, producer and author.-Early life:Born "Mary Lucy Denise Henner" in Chicago, Illinois to a Greek mother and Polish father. Marilu's father and brother changed the family name from "Pudlowski" to "Henner" for business purposes. Henner was raised on the...
- Kit Conger / Sue Alabama
- Roy Kinnear
Roy Mitchell Kinnear was an English character actor.-Early life:Kinnear was born in Wigan, Lancashire, England, the son of Annie Smith and Roy Muir Kinnear...
- English Eddie Hagedorn
- Elisha Cook Jr.
Elisha Vanslyck Cook, Jr. was an American actor who made a career out of playing cowardly villains and neurotics in dozens of films. He was noted for his portrayal of the "gunsel" Wilmer, who tries to intimidate Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon.-Career:Cook started out in...
- Eli the Taxi Driver (as Elisha Cook)
- Lydia Lei - Crystal Ling
- R. G. Armstrong
Robert Golden "R.G." Armstrong is an American actor and playwright. A veteran character actor who appeared in dozens of Westerns over the course of his career, he may be best remembered for his work with director Sam Peckinpah....
- Lt. O'Mara
- Richard Bradford
Richard Bradford was a novelist, best known for his 1968 novel Red Sky at Morning, a film version of which was released in 1971. He also wrote So Far from Heaven, a novel about the adventures of a disillusioned executive who flees his life in the city for a New Mexico cattle ranch. Mr...
- Detective Bradford
- Michael Chow
Michael Chow is an interior designer, actor and restaurateur, co-founder and owner of the Mr. Chow restaurant chain.-Biography:...
- Fong Wei Tau
- David Patrick Kelly
David Patrick Kelly is an American actor and musician who has appeared in numerous films, including some major roles.-Biography:...
- The Punk
- Sylvia Sidney
-Early life:Sidney, born Sophia Kosow in The Bronx, New York, was the daughter of Rebecca , a Romanian Jew, and Victor Kosow, a Russian Jewish immigrant who worked as a clothing salesman. Her parents divorced by 1915 and she was adopted by her stepfather, Sigmund Sidney, a dentist...
- Donaldina Cameron
- Jack Nance
Marvin John Nance , known professionally as Jack Nance and occasionally credited as John Nance, was an American actor of stage and screen, primarily starring in offbeat or avant-garde productions...
- Gary Salt
- Elmer Kline - Doc Fallon
- Royal Dano
Royal Dano was an American film and television character actor.-Early life:Dano was born in New York City to Mary J. and Caleb Dano. He left home at the age of twelve and at various intervals, lived in Florida, Texas and California...
- Pops
- Samuel Fuller
Samuel Michael Fuller was an American screenwriter and film director known for low-budget genre movies with controversial themes.-Personal life:...
- Old Man in Pool Hall