![Mickey Spillane](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.tmdb.org%2Ft%2Fp%2Fw200%2F%2Fdj3I9yLvMmYNfLcs8MkJXnv527B.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Mickey Spillane plays his own creation, street-thug-turned-PI Mike Hammer, in this 1963 adaptation of his novel. The film opens with Hammer on the downside of a years-long bender, scooped out of the gutter by a bitter cop intent on prying information from a dying man. Inspired to clean up his act by the secrets he hears, Hammer hits the streets on a personal crusade to find the love of his life. Future Bond girl Shirley Earton costars as a glamorous society widow who goes slumming with Hammer.--Sean Axmaker