Vengeance, violence, and sex. These are the three key motives in most of the novels of Mickey Spillane, especially in his first one, I, The Jury (published in 1947). Spillane had created private detective Mike Hammer, a World War II veteran with a penchant for both honesty and brutality. Producer Victor Saville thought this novel, made in film noir style in black-and-white, and utilizing the new 3-D photography, would be a winner commercially. He introduced a very young unknown actor, Biff Elliot, as Hammer. Supported by Peggie Castle as the villainous psychiatrist, Dr. Charlotte Manning; Preston Foster as Captain Pat Chambers (one of his last roles); Margaret Sheridan as Velda, his sexy secretary; and a roster of character actors from 1940s noir films, such as Elisha Cook, Jr., as Bobo and John Qualen as Dr. Vickers, the film comes alive with veteran John Alton’s specialist noir cinematography (remember Anthony Mann’s Raw Deal [1948]?).

Backed by a stunning jazz score by Franz Waxman, I, The Jury tells Mike Hammer’s story of murder, deception, and punishment. Hammer acts as executioner, a role he also plays in subsequent novels and film versions written by Spillane. The film opens at Christmas, and we hear “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!” on the sound track. The atmosphere is broken as a gunman brutally shoots Jack Williams (played by Robert Swanger), a helpless amputee. Williams crawls toward his own gun and retrieves it, but the murderer finishes him off. When Hammer gets news

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