HAMMETT

Wim Wenders (1977's “The American Friend”) is a young but established director from the New German Cinema who reflected his American movie influence in six features before lovingly paying tribute to “film noir” in HAMMETT, his first American film. Wenders reportedly even rented a San Francisco apartment at 891 Post St. where Hammett (and his character Sam Spade) lived; its “vibes” may have inspired Wenders' authentic echoes from film history that fans will delight in rediscovering throughout HAMMETT. Not a biography, but a completely fictional account of a mystery caper engaged in by that writer of the genre, HAMMETT gives us a glimpse of characters and situations that later abound in Dashiell Hammett's work, such as “The Maltese Falcon” and “The Thin Man” series. Cameo performances by Sam Fuller, Sylvia Sidney and the ubiquitous “noir” scene stealer, Elisha Cook Jr. enliven this detective story that plays with the theme of art copying life. Astounding camera angles, blackmail, a missing Chinese girl, seamy Chinatown in 1928, the private eye, murder and pornography are the prototypical elements that give birth to what may be the first genuine “film noir” shot in lush, hypnotic color. Forrest, Boyle and Henner and the supporting cast are ideal.