The Dain Curse *** (1978, James Coburn, Jason Miller, Paul Stewart, Hector Elizondo, Jean Simmons, Beatrice Straight, Tom Bower, David Canary, Malachy McCourt) – Classic Movie Review 10,165

Dashiell Hammett’s 1929 novel The Dain Curse is adapted into an enjoyable CBS television miniseries in 1978 by director E W Swackhamer and producer Martin Poll, and stars James Coburn as the nameless private detective known only as The Continental Op in the book but given the name Hamilton Nash here.

It also stars Hector Elizondo (as small-town sheriff Ben Feeney), Jean Simmons (as Aaronia Haldorn), Jason Miller (as Owen Fitzstephan), Beatrice Straight (as Alice Leggett), Paul Stewart (as the old man), Nancy Addison (as Gabrielle Leggett), Tom Bower (as Sergeant O’Gar), David Canary (as Jack Santos), Beeson Carroll (as Marshall Cotton), Roland Winters (as Hubert Collinson), a pre-Star Trek Brent Spiner (as Tom Fink), and Malachy McCourt.

The private eye investigates a theft of diamonds from the Leggett family of San Francisco and becomes involved with a supposed ancient family curse on the Dain family, said to inflict sudden violent deaths.

Coburn is physically all wrong for the role – The Continental Op is an unglamorous short, squat and ugly figure of a man – but he commands attention with his cool, cynical attitude, capturing the ‘utterly unsentimental tank of a private detective’ idea perfectly. He heads a more than decent cast, with Elizondo, Simmons, Miller and Straight especially excellent.

Writer Robert W Lenski wants to respect Hammett and his book (though the production makes changes Hammett’s readers will not like), but he sometimes gets bogged down in too much detail, and neither he nor Swackhamer can keep the film moving along totally compellingly, with the long running time working against it rather than for it. Nevertheless, with plenty of atmosphere, mystery and tension, along with the engrossing performances, there is much to enjoy for vintage detective thriller fans.

It received three 1978 Primetime Emmy Award nominations (for the director, the writer and Supporting Actress Beatrice Straight). The script, by Robert W Lenski, won the 1979 Edgar Award for Best Television Feature or Miniseries at the Edgar Allan Poe Awards.

An edited version of the series was released on VHS in the 1990s, running 144 minutes, but a complete two-disc DVD edition, running 280 minutes, is now available.

Dashiell Hammett’s novels are Red Harvest, The Dain Curse, The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key and The Thin Man.

Dashiell Hammett’s novel film adaptations are Roadhouse Nights (1930), City Streets (1931), The Maltese Falcon (1931), The Thin Man (1934), Woman in the Dark (1934), The Glass Key (1935), Satan Met a Lady (1936), After the Thin Man (1936), Secret Agent X-9 (1937), Another Thin Man (1939), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), The Glass Key (1942), The Thin Man Goes Home (1945), Secret Agent X-9 (1945), Song of the Thin Man (1947) and No Good Deed (2002).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,165

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