Hardboiled detective Mike Hammer is on the hunt for his missing secretary Velda. One interesting curiosity in The Girl Hunters: Hammer is played by Mickey Spillane, the author who created him.

The movie opens with Hammer drunk in the street, which has been his routine condition ever since Velda disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Cops throw him in the drunk tank. After he sobers up, his detective friend convinces him to meet a shooting victim in the hospital. The victim knows something about the murder of a state senator, but he refuses to talk to anyone but Hammer. He not only gives Hammer important information about the senator, he hints at a possible connection to Velda's disappearance.

The story is meat-and-potatoes private eye stuff: troublemaking cops, political intrigue, a femme fatale, and a few dollops of violence. There's not much depth to the mystery. Hammer methodically follows a trail of breadcrumbs until he learns what he wants to know. He's not a detective who relies on keen observation and deductive reasoning. He's more the type who solves his problems by punching them.

Velda serves the story as a pure MacGuffin. The script doesn't give her much consideration as a person. She doesn't even appear in a scene. When the movie ends, Hammer knows where to find her, but the credits roll without showing him actually go there. Her lack of characterization sucks a lot of tension out of the mystery. The stakes never feel high. Hammer might as well be on the hunt for a missing sock.

Spillane fares surprisingly well in front of the camera. His performance is a little wooden, but overall he's convincing enough as a tough guy.

This is far from the best detective movie of its era. Among adaptations of Spillane novels, Kiss Me Deadly is superior. Nonetheless, if you're a fan of the genre, The Girl Hunters makes for an okay diversion.

6 out of 10.

Seen on Amazon Prime.