An old friend of Mike's is killed for standing up to thugs running a protection racket. With the entire neighborhood living in fear, Mike goes into full-blown "I, THE JURY" mode, clobbering anyone who eagerly gets in his path. (THIS is what Darren McGavin calls "a light touch?") Before it's through, he's made a serious pass as a girl working for the mob, and tricked them into taking him to meet their boss before rubbing him out. I GUESSED 10 seconds before he walked it who it would be. A twist like that seemed the obvious thing to do.
No kidding, in one little half-hour TV episode, this show told a story and told it better than MOST of the Mike Hammer feature films did!
Among the guest cast are Lawrence Dobkin, who played "Dutch Schultz" in 3 episodes of "THE UNTOUCHABLES"; Russell Collins, who I've seen in "THE ENEMY BELOW" and the intensely-disturbing OUTER LIMITS episode "Don't Open "Till Doomsday"; but most outstanding,. perrennial crook Richard Bakalyan (seems he's been in everything, including 6 episodes of the 1966 "BATMAN) as a kill-crazy psycho.
Despite my being a huge Robert Stack fan, many episodes of 'THE UNTOUCHABLES" I find too disturbing to watch too often. But THIS show, even at its MOST BRUTAL, I find myself enjoying with a big smile on my face. Go figure! I rate Darren McGavin as my 2ND-FAVORITE Hammer-- right after Biff Elliot. (NO kidding.)
No kidding, in one little half-hour TV episode, this show told a story and told it better than MOST of the Mike Hammer feature films did!
Among the guest cast are Lawrence Dobkin, who played "Dutch Schultz" in 3 episodes of "THE UNTOUCHABLES"; Russell Collins, who I've seen in "THE ENEMY BELOW" and the intensely-disturbing OUTER LIMITS episode "Don't Open "Till Doomsday"; but most outstanding,. perrennial crook Richard Bakalyan (seems he's been in everything, including 6 episodes of the 1966 "BATMAN) as a kill-crazy psycho.
Despite my being a huge Robert Stack fan, many episodes of 'THE UNTOUCHABLES" I find too disturbing to watch too often. But THIS show, even at its MOST BRUTAL, I find myself enjoying with a big smile on my face. Go figure! I rate Darren McGavin as my 2ND-FAVORITE Hammer-- right after Biff Elliot. (NO kidding.)