United States

HE WAS ONLY A PRIVATE EYE - BUT HE WANTED TO BE THE JUDGE AND JURY AS WELL. Streetwise and tough, and with a fondness for parakeets, tropical fish, candy bars and women - not necessarily in that order - Mike Hammer, private detective, pursues his own highly individual code of ethics and justice. When his best friend, a one-armed ex-army buddy, is brutally murdered, Hammer determines to avenge the killing - much to the consternation of his loyal secretary Velda and Police Captain Pat Chambers, both of whom fear for his safety. How - pursuing a dangerous and blood-spattered path whose many signposts point to such activities as brainwashing, mind-bending drugs, sex orgies and political assassination - gumshoe Hammer nails the killer, provides the violent content of this exciting new screen version of Mickey Spillane's celebrated novel.