Mickey Spillane
THE LONG WAIT (Parklane Pictures / United Artists, 1954). Directed by Victor Saville. Screenplay by Alan Green and Lesser Samuels, from the novel of the same name by Mickey Spillane. With Anthony Quinn, Charles Coburn, Gene Evans, Peggie Castle, Mary Ellen Kay. (94 min, black & white, 35mm print from the Copyright Collection, rights courtesy of Rialto Pictures).
Two years after losing his memory in a traffic accident, a man discovers that he is wanted for murder. A rarely seen adaptation of a Mickey Spillane novel, this bleak portrayal of small-town corruption features a character not dissimilar to the author’s private eye Mike Hammer. Played by Anthony Quinn in his first leading role in an English-language feature, Johnny McBride is another of Spillane’s no-holds-barred individuals whose violence and brutality is in this case compounded by the frustration of losing his identity. English director and producer Victor Saville acquired the rights to several Spillane novels and was also responsible for I, the Jury (1953), and, more prominently, Kiss Me Deadly (1955).
Seating is on a first-come first-serve basis. Doors open at 6:30 pm.