Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91254 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-10-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 56 minutes

Amazon.com
A self-taught writer who had worked as a Pinkerton detective, Dashiell Hammett pioneered the hardboiled detective novel and rose to great fame before success seemed to make his life unravel. This documentary, an episode of the American Masters series of PBS, features interviews with Hammett's daughter as well as scholars and biographers, and tells the story of the writer's life in a suitably unsentimental manner. Readings from some of his best-known works, including The Maltese Falcon, Red Harvest, and The Thin Man, are accompanied by reenactments of scenes from the books, which indicate how Hammett's own experiences had colored his writing. And as might be expected, Dashiell's most famous character, the cynical private eye Sam Spade, is seen as portrayed on the big screen by Humphrey Bogart. Working as a screenwriter in Hollywood exacerbated Hammett's hard-living lifestyle, and people who knew him at the time, including screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr., recall how his writing skills seemed to simply disappear. Newsreel clips illustrate his involvement with left-wing political causes, and critics note how his romance with writer Lillian Hellman seemed to give him something of a second career as editor and literary teacher. This is a fascinating look at a man whose career is both an inspiration and a cautionary tale. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

Fascinating author of the hard-boiled mystery
This film is an interesting look at Dashiell Hammett, the master of the hard-boiled detective novel, who wrote lovely prose and then drank his ill-health to the breaking point. He was a Pinkerton detective, a TB patient, a friend of William Faulkner, and an intimate friend of Lillian Hellman. Hammett joined the Armed Forces during WWII, became a card-carrying Communist, and was imprisoned during McCarthy's red scare.

The film is well-done and incorporates lots of photographs and clips from the films he authored, as well as lines from his novels and stories. If you've read Hammett, you'll want to read more, and if you haven't, this film will prompt you to delve into some of his works. It's definitely worth seeing, because the story of Hammett himself is as fascinating as the stories he wrote.

Accurate and entertaining overview of mystery writer's life
Well-researched documentary, with Oscar nominee David Strathairn as the voice of Hammett, and interviews with Hammett's daughter Jo, other people who knew him (Jack Bjoze, Emmy Kronenberger, Ring Lardner, Jr., Bill Glackin, Victor Rabinowitz, Muriel Alexander), and Hammett researchers David Fechheimer, Richard Layman, Diane Johnson, and Joan Mellen. Includes rare photos & movie footage of Hammett. Most items about Hammett play loose with the facts. This one is accurate and entertaining as well.