''Murder Me, Murder You'' is a 1983 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

starring

Stacy Keach Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He has played mainly dramatic roles throughout his career, often in law enforcement or as a private detective. His most prominent role was as Mickey Spillane's fictiona ...

Mickey Spillane Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer (character), Mike Hammer. More than 225 million c ...

's iconic

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

Mike Hammer Michael Hammer or Mike Hammer may refer to: *Michael Armand Hammer (1955–2022), American philanthropist and businessman *Michael Martin Hammer (1948–2008), engineer and author *Mike Hammer (character), a fictional hard boiled detective ** ''Mick ...

. The film was a follow-up to another

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

first aired in 1981, ''Margin for Murder'', in which the fictitious gumshoe was portrayed by

Kevin Dobson Kevin Patrick Dobson (March 18, 1943 – September 6, 2020) was an American film and television actor, best known for his roles as Detective Bobby Crocker, the trusted protege of Lt. Theo Kojak (played by Telly Savalas) in the CBS crime dr ...

. The Dobson film, which did not lead to a series, marked the first time the character was depicted on the small-screen since

Darren McGavin Darren is a masculine given name of uncertain etymological origins. Some theories state that it originated from an Anglicisation of the Irish first name Darragh or Dáire, meaning "Oak Tree". According to other sources, it is thought to come from ...

played the part in the black-and-white version of '' Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer'', a syndicated television series (1958–1960). ''Murder Me, Murder You'' was the first of two

pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

featuring Keach in the part - the other being ''

More Than Murder ''More Than Murder'' is a 1984 American made-for-television mystery film starring Stacy Keach as Mickey Spillane's iconic hardboiled private detective Mike Hammer. It aired on January 26, 1984, at 9:00 p.m. and was the second of two pilots f ...

'' (1984) - that blazed a path for the 1980s version of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

series '' Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer'', which debuted on January 28, 1984.

Plot

Mike is hired to protect Chris Jameson (

Michelle Phillips Michelle may refer to: People *Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael * Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle" * Michelle (German singer) * Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottish wi ...

), an old flame who he hasn't seen in almost 20 years. Chris heads up an all female high-risk

courier A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

agency that has become tied up in a dangerous exchange involving high-stakes

bribes Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corru ...

by an American

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

manufacturer to a corrupt

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. Chris nonetheless drops dead in the middle of testifying before a grand jury, but not before informing Mike that he has a 19-year-old daughter who is caught in the middle of everything and might already be dead.

Accolades

Screenwriter Bill Stratton was awarded the

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

in the category of Best Mystery Teleplay Special, the first time any Spillane-inspired material was ever given the

MWA MWA may refer to: * Machas with Attitude, Indian hip hop group * Mandatory Work Activity, UK * Married Women's Association, UK * May Week Alternative, a Cambridge University student charity * Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, for the NY-NJ wate ...

's top award.

Stacy Keach's first appearance as Mike Hammer

The TV movie is significant because it marks the first appearance of

in the role of Hammer. After the second pilot movie, which served as the initial episode of the first

series, Keach would go on to star in a third made-for-TV movie (''

The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

''), which was followed by the return of the series to CBS, now titled ''

The New Mike Hammer ''Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer'' (later titled ''The New Mike Hammer''), with Stacy Keach in the title role, is an American crime drama television series that originally aired on CBS from January 28, 1984, to May 13, 1987. The series consisted ...

''. He went on to star in a syndicated series, ''

Mike Hammer, Private Eye ''Mike Hammer, Private Eye'' is an American syndicated television program based on the adventures of the fictitious private detective Mike Hammer, created by novelist Mickey Spillane. Like the previous series, it was produced by Jay Bernstein bu ...

'', in 1997. In 1996 his voice was featured reading the

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

version of Spillane's penultimate Mike Hammer novel ''Black Alley'', and Keach continued to portray Mike Hammer in a series of radio novels entitled collectively ''The New Adventures of Mike Hammer''.

DVD release

After almost 25 years, ''Murder Me, Murder You'' was released on DVD by

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

. The DVD comes packaged as a two-DVD set. The second disc featuring the subsequent ''Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer'' pilot ''

''.

External links

* * {{Gary Nelson 1980s mystery films 1983 television films 1983 films American detective films American mystery films CBS network films Films based on American novels Films based on works by Mickey Spillane Films directed by Gary Nelson Films set in New York City Transgender-related films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films Mike Hammer (character) films