He created "The Maltese Falcon," "Sam Spade" and "The Thin Man." But he didn't write this mystery thriller...he lived it.
Chinatown, San Francisco, 1928. Former private detective Dashiell Hammett, a compulsive drinker with tuberculosis who writes pulp fiction for a living, receives an unexpected visit from an old friend asking for help.
- 6.2
- 1982
- Released
- 1h 38m
Frederic Forrest
Hammett
Peter Boyle
Jimmy Ryan
Marilu Henner
Kit Conger / Sue Alabama
Roy Kinnear
English Eddie Hagedorn
Lydia Lei
Crystal Ling
Elisha Cook Jr.
Eli the Taxi Driver
David Patrick Kelly
The Punk
R.G. Armstrong
Lt. O'Mara
Richard Bradford
Detective Bradford
Jack Nance
Gary Salt
Michael Chow
Fong Wei Tau
Sylvia Sidney
Donaldina Cameron
Elmer Kline
Doc Fallon
Royal Dano
Pops
Lloyd Kino
Barber
Fox Harris
Frank the News VendorRose Wong
Chinese LaundressLiz Roberson
Lady in the LibraryJean-François Ferreol
French SailorAlison Hong
Young Chinese GirlPatricia Kong
Chinese Girl in Fong's
Lisa Lu
Miss Cameron's AssistantAndrew Winner
Bank GuardKenji Shibuya
Chinese BouncerJames Quinn
Fong's GuardMark Anger
Bartender in Cookies' Bar
Hank Worden
Pool Room AttendantChristopher Day
Neighborhood Kid #1Ciceley Rush
Neighborhood Kid #2
Chris Alcaide
Man in Boardroom #1Ben Breslauer
Man in Boardroom #2James Brodhead
Man in Boardroom #3John Hamilton
Man in Boardroom #4John T. Spiotta
Man in Boardroom #5
Released
en
- #based on novel or book
- #san francisco, california
- #chinatown
- #historical figure
- #femme fatale
- #neo-noir
- #1920s
- #crime fiction writer
- #semi-fiction
Reviews
She's a disaster. Hammett is a fictional story about the great writer Dashiell Hammett (played by Frederic Forrest). The story finds the writer retired from the Pinkerton Detectice Agency and nursing bad lungs and a taste for the liquor. When old colleague Jimmy Ryan (Peter Boyle) comes a calling, Hammett finds himself down in Frisco's Chinatown district in it up to his neck in muck and grime.