I, the Jury (1953)

Mike Hammer, author Mickey Spillane's brutal-but-eloquent private eye, made his screen debut in this cleaned-up cinemadaptation of the Mickey Spillane best-seller I, the Jury. Galvanized into action by the murder of a friend, Hammer (Biff Elliot) barges into the rarefied worlds of art collecting and psychoanalysis. Along the way, he gets beaten up several times by nameless thugs, and also administers several bloody beatings himself. He also indulges in Spillane's standard gay- and commie-bashing, with nary a "politically correct" moment in the film's 87 minutes. The finale is lifted directly from the deathless final pages of the original novel, right down to Hammer's laconic "It was easy!" The cast includes the requisite bosomy females, including Peggie Castle, Margaret Sheridan, Frances Osborne, Mary Anderson and twin sisters Tani Seitz and Dran Seitz. The male supporting players range from Preston S. Foster as Hammer's "friendly enemy-" police-department contact to an unbilled Joe Besser as an elevator operator. Originally filmed in 3D, I the Jury was released in 2D in most theaters. The property was remade in 1982, with Armand Assante as Hammer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi