Hammett is a 1982 homage to noir films and pulp fiction directed by Wim Wenders. The film is a fictionalized story about writer Dashiell Hammett, based on the novel of the same name by Joe Gores. The film was entered into the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.
It stars Frederic Forrest, Marilu Henner and Peter Boyle.
San Francisco-based crime novelist Dashiell Hammett, trying to put his Pinkerton detective days behind him while establishing himself as a writer, 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 Coppola 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. However, the confusion surrounding the making of the movie "would certainly explain some of the films’ oddities."
Plot
Cancer-terminal tycoon Peter Murdoch's secret Wexel Hall Pharmaceuticals lab has developed a blood orchid extract cure. To examine why it works optimally in snakes, they also bread a super-anaconda strain. But the original pair escapes, leaving a bloody trail of corpses. Murdoch runs, instructing his staff to clean up. They keep failing and being eaten like unsuspecting locals, some alive, even after enlisting ruthless big game hunter Hammett. The fast-growing pregnant monster sheds its skin, thus disabling the only tracking device.
Keywords: anaconda, babe-scientist, bar, barn, billionaire, blood, bomb, broken-leg, campfire, cancer
They Can Taste Your Fear
Nick: [after seeing a skinless, partially-digested goat fall from the ceiling] Well that's mighty disturbin'...
Hammett: Where there's blood, there's more blood.
Richard Newton: Oh no! Who let the dog in?
Richard Newton: Hey, where'd he go?::Beethoven: *slurping sounds*::Richard Newton: He's drinking from the toilet! He's downing the whole bowl!::Beth Newton: Oh!::Richard Newton: Keeping drinking boy, I'm gonna get my sketchpad!::Beth Newton: Brennan, go get Beethoven out of the bathroom...
Sara Newton: What do you think Mom meant when she said there wasn't enough room for Beethoven?::Brennan Newton: I think she meant we might have to give him away.::Sara Newton: [Grimace]::Brennan Newton: Oh come on, we can get something smaller...like a cow!
[Michelangelo, who the family thinks is Beethoven, picks up Brennan's napkin off the floor]::Brennan Newton: He just picked up my napkin.::Beth Newton: He folded your napkin.::Richard Newton: [about the dog's behavioral change] That's weird.
Plot
When the man who left a package in his care is found murdered, detective Tim Diamond suddenly has every major gangster in the city after him. With only the package and the help of his little brother, Diamond sets out to unravel the mysterious plot.
Keywords: based-on-novel, brother, detective, independent-film, london-england, spoof, teenage-boy
When all seems lost... just ask for Diamond!
Plot
The novel writter Dashiell Hammett is involved in the investigation of the mysterious disappearance of a beautiful chinese cabaret actress in San Francisco.
Keywords: 1920s, author, based-on-novel, beaten-to-death-with-a-baseball-bat, blackjack, blackmail, brothel, casino, character-name-in-title, chinatown
The mystery writer who lived his own stories ! [Video]
He Created 'The Maltese Falcon," "Sam Spade" and "The Thin Man". But He Didn't Write This Mystery-Thriller...He Lived It.
Hammett: I want two things. One, I want my story back, it's not much but its what I do. And two, I want to be left alone.
Crystal Ling: He was good.::Hammett: He was the best - in his heyday.
Hammett: Don't be a simp'; you don't think they're going to let you waltz, do you?... You're going up against one hundred, two hundred, three hundred million dollars. You're going up against the powerhouse, angel - the big steam.
Hammett: I was sure I heard you retired.::Doc Fallon: I heard you stopped drinkin'.::Hammett: I guess we were both wrong.
Doc Fallon: You know what my problem is? I'm a halfway honest man in a nine-tenths dishonest world. What's your problem?::Hammett: Suicide. [takes a drink]::Doc Fallon: My advice? Don't hesitate.
Hammett: Would you be dippy enough Angel to spend a little shoe leather?::Kit Conger: Doing what?::Hammett: Looking for Gary Salt.::Kit Conger: Who the hell are you now? Hammett the writer? or Hammett the detective?::Hammett: I think you left out Hammett the fool.
Hammett: Kit, this is Eli, last of the IWW organizers::Kit Conger: Are you really a Wobbly?::Eli the Taxi Driver: Naw, that's just Hammett talkin'. What I am now is sort of an anarchist, with syndicalist tendencies.
Plot
From "Pentimento," the memoirs of late playwright Lillian Hellman, JULIA covers those years in the 1930s when Lillian attained fame with the production of her first play "The Childrens' Hour" on Broadway. Not surprisingly, it centers on Lillian's relationship with her lifelong friend, Julia. It is a relationship that goes beyond mere acquaintance and one for which the word "love" seems appropriate. While Julia attends the University in Vienna, studying with such luminaries as Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein, Lillian suffers through revisions of her play with her mentor and sometimes lover Dashiel Hammett at a New England beachhouse. After becoming a celebrated playwright, Lillian is invited to a writers conference in Russia. Julia, having taken up the battle against fascism, enlists Lillian en route to smuggle money through Nazi Germany which will assist in the Anti-Fascist cause. It is a dangerous mission especially for a Jewish intellectual on her way to communist Russia. During a brief meeting with Julia on this trip, Lillian learns that Julia has had a child which is called Lilly. Shortly after returning to the States, Lillian is informed of Julia's murder. The details of her death are shrouded in secrecy. Lillian sadly travels to England to search for her namesake the child she had promised Julia to care for.
Keywords: 1930s, austria, based-on-novel, based-on-true-story, berlin-germany, border, character-name-in-title, female-bonding, female-protagonist, friendship
The story of two women whose friendship suddenly became a matter of life and death.
Based on a true story.
Dottie: Way down deep he's very superficial.
Dashiell Hammett: [after reading Lillian's play] You better tear this up. It's not that it's bad, it's just not good enough, not for you.
Johann: If you cannot do it, do not do it.
Plot
As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement. At last everyone, even Ann, takes her creation seriously...but publisher D.B. Norton has a secret plan.
Keywords: american-politics, baseball, character-name-in-title, christmas, club, convention, diner, father-figure, hoax, hobo
ALL AMERICA WANTS TO MEET THE "MR. DEEDS" OF 1941! (original print media ad - all caps)
The Colonel: I don't read no papers, and I don't listen to radios either. I know the world's been shaved by a drunken barber, and I don't have to read it.
Long John Willoughby: Hey, stop worryin', Colonel, fifty bucks ain't gonna ruin me.::The Colonel: I've seen plenty of fellas start out with fifty bucks and wind up with a *bank* account!::Beany: Hey, what's wrong with a bank account, anyway?::The Colonel: And let me tell you, Long John, when you become a guy with a bank account, they gotcha! Yes sir, they gotcha!::Beany: Who's got him?::The Colonel: The helots!
Mayor Hawkins: O.K. folks, but remember your manners. No stampeding. Walk slow, like you do when you come to pay your taxes.
Angelface: [after Willoughby gives the Colonel the $50 to give away] Say, he's giving it away. I better get me some of that::Beany: Hey, come back here you helot.
D. B. Norton: You'll play your cards right and you'll never have to worry about money again.
D. B. Norton: From now on, I think you'd better work directly with me.
The Colonel: $5,000. Holy mackerel! I can see the helots coming now. A whole army of them.
Ann: Everything in that speech is what a certain man believed in. He was my father. When he talked people listened. They will listen to you too.
Henry Connel: Listen, if that guy lays an egg I want to get *something* out of it! I'm getting a Jane Doe ready.
Mayor Hawkins: No you can't see him, you didn't vote for me in the last election. Shame on you.
I get up and battle the day
Things don't always go my way
It might rain but that's okay
I get to come home to you
Sometimes life may get me down
And I get tired of getting kicked around
I feel lost in this maddening crowd
But I get to come home to you
You are my best friend
And you are where my heart is
And I know at the day's end
I get to come home to you
Hanging out in our old sweatshirts
You let me complain about a hard day's work
I don't know what I did to deserve
To get to come home to you
You are my best friend
And you are where my heart is
And I know at the day's end
I get to come home to you
You are my best friend
And you are where my heart is
And I know at the day's end
I get to come home to you
Yes I get to come home to you
(duet with Julie Berthelsen)
(Jascha Richter/Julie Berthelsen/Mats Berntoft/Moh Denebi)
I stayed up late last night
I thought of the days gone by
The picture of you and me
Is not what it used to be
Something happened along the way
Little changes in our game
Somehow everything's brighter now
My heart knows the reason why
We can't hide from love any longer
It can't be denied with you I'm alive
(Chorus)
I used to think that love was escapable
Can't see why we should be divided
Isn't life just unbelievable
Now I'm coming home to you
I'm beginning to understand
The way that I feel inside
So how could we let it be
When there's so much more to see
We can't hide from love any longer
I know what I feel I know this is real
(Chorus):
Love is not escapable
Love is not escapable
I used to think that love was escapable
Can't see why we should be divided
(Chorus)
Ein neuer Tag, ein neuer Schritt zurück
Opfergang mit Fahnen bunt geschmückt
Ein Liebeslied klingt dumpf aus alten Mauern
Stiefelschritt - Vergangenheit liegt auf der Lauer
Schon wieder dieser tödliche Stolz
Geschnitzt aus bewährtem, heimatlichen Holz
Schon wieder Blut für's Vaterland
Und die alte Ignoranz im heiligen Gewand
Hurra - Ein neuer Schritt zurück
In eine Welt in der's noch Recht und Ordnung gibt
Hoffnung vergeht im Flammenmeer
Diese Last wiegt tonnenschwer
Heimat - du warst noch niemals rein
Heimat - machst den simplen Geist gemein
Heimat - Oh Du heller Schein
Heimat macht den Mensch zum Schwein
Gewählte Worte aus verlogenem Mund
Nostalgie ohne Sinn und Grund
Blutige Mauern als Bezwinger der Vernunft
Alles was zählt ist reine Herkunft
Schon wieder neu und doch so alt
Knallen Springerstiefel auf deutschen Asphalt
Doch fürchte Dich, solang es uns gibt
Wir spielen Dir Dein Todeslied
Hurra - wieder mal ist Schluß
Mit Weichheit, Verständnis und Bruderkuß
Irgendwo hinter verschlossenen Türen
Wird beschlossen das Land nach vorn zu führen
Heimat - einig Vaterland
Hast wieder gesiegt über den eignen Verstand
Doch wir singen Dir Dein Todeslied
Fürchte Dich solang es uns gibt
Du trägst ein blütenweißes Hemd
Doch hast den Fleck noch nicht entdeckt
Ich sprech' Dich hämisch darauf an
Daß ich es gar nicht glauben kann
Daß ein Mensch wie Du sich dreckig macht
Du wirst ganz rot und drehst Dich um
Gehst schnell woanders hin
Ich folge Dir und zeig' auf Dich
Gemein wie ich halt bin
Lach' ich Dich aus und freue mich, daß es Dich jetzt auch mal erwischt
Wie das Leben auch so spielt
Du gewinnst und Du verlierst
Dein nächstes Ziel ist Dein zu Haus
Schließt schnell die Türe ab
Und hoffst, daß niemand Deinen Fleck gesehen hat
Doch da hast Du einfach Pech gehabt
Denn ich hab Dich fotografiert
Und - Punk Sei dank - gibt's Polaraoid
Es passiert nicht oft, doch heut' hab ich mich mal gefreut
denn jetzt wirst Du erpresst
Weil Du Dir ein Makel Stempeln läßt
Wie das Leben auch so spielt
Du gewinnst und Du verlierst
He was the windscreen on a two-tone Peterbuilt
-hauling genuine Cadillac body parts from Detroit
To San Diego-
Driving eighty-five miles an hour down my road
I was an ordinary housefly crossing the road
-just outside Victorville
don't tear me up or hold me down, trust yourself
enough to let me go the road, the road, the winding
road, keep on winding bringing me home to you
the winding road'll keep on winding, home to you,
winding home to you
winding home to you
i've burned bridges like deep water doesn't exist
i tried to live without
'cause i was scared of losing with
i never did forget you, i just can't seem to call
but i hope that you are doing well, i do wish that you
were here to tell
don't tear me up or hold me down, trust yourself
enough to let me go the road, the road, the winding
road, keep on winding bringing me home to you
the winding road'll keep on winding, home to you,
winding home to you
winding home to you
dreamed or dreamer, fiction or fact
it really does not matter,
you can't take anything back
you can't take anything back or regret the road run
not dreamed or dreamer or anyone, not dreamed or
dreamer or anyone
tear me up and hold me down, trust yourself
enough to let me go the road, the road, the winding
road, keep on winding bringing me home to you
the winding road'll keep on winding, home to you,
winding home to you
winding home to you
winding home to you
I've been trav'lin' this road for miles
Tryin' to get to where you are
I know you're tellin' me te way to go
but I just can't hear you over my heart
Chorus:
Give me grace to make it through the night
Give me faith so I can see the light
Give me strength so I can make it home to you
Home to you
My feet are tired of carry'n' this load
Seems like I'm walkin' 'round and 'round
I need somebody to help me out
'Cause I wanna be standin' on your holy ground
Chorus:
Give me grace to make it through the night
Give me faith so I can see the light
Give me strength so I can make it home to you
Home to you
(Repeat Chorus)
It's tired and I'm getting late
I try to speak, but I can't relate
The DJ says I need my rest
But like a storm lost bird, I can't find my nest.
I've got to get home to you
Home to you, home to you
The stranger smokes smiles and wants to speak
And says do you remember the corner on Beacon Street
And the glimpse of life that I have seen
Fading faintly in my dreams
I've got to get home to you
Home to you home to you
I'm lying on my bed and I can't sleep
I've been on the road about three weeks
She says, "You're not smiling, you must be sad
Yes, this lonesomeness is the worst I've had
I've got to get home to you
Home to you home to you
The truth, The lies, And the alibis
Every day we do and die
But the path was lost in the falling snow
As we danced our days out here below.
I've got to get home to you
You want it, you got it; well that's fine
Just write me a postcard when you get home tonight
It was dark and I cried,
"There are things that we do in life to stay alive
And protect the ones we love from sleepless nights when
the ghouls walk in"
The ghosts of my family sometimes haunt me in my sleep
And I know that they're fine, but it still scares the
hell out of me
Sure, it depends on what you want
What you're expecting, and what you've got
But listen up, we're gonna be fine
'Cause everyone's afraid for their world to end.
It's the secret song we all sing up in our heads
That says, "Let me fall in love or at least pretend
We'll spend the rest of our days up in Michigan
Don't let my life become the past
'Til I'm ready to let it rest
Is that really so much ask,
To walk to the end and then come back?"
The sidewalks were filled with all the people that I'd
ever met
And they were yelling "Hey Matt, won't you come down
and join in on this?"
So I did, in a run
But by the time I got there everyone was gone
Everyone except for my dad and mom
And they spoke to me
They said, "Don't you hear our whispering
Every day when you wake up?
Don't forget to live your life because we love you
Yeah, we love you very much."
And everyone's afraid for their world to end
It's the secret song we all sing up in our heads
That says, "Let me fall in love or at least pretend
We'll spend the rest of our days up in Michigan
Don't let my life become the past
'Til I'm ready to let it rest
Is that really so much ask,
To walk to the end and then come back?"
'Cause everyone's afraid for their world to end
It's the secret song we all sing up in our heads
That says, "Let me fall in love or at least pretend
We'll spend the rest of our days up in Michigan
Don't let my life become the past
'Til I'm ready to let it rest
Is that really so much ask,