The Dain Curse (1978) User Reviews

Damn Cursed Video Company

[triplem33 · 6/10 · 28 August 2005]

I was somewhat disappointed by this movie. I love Dashiell Hammett but the video I say, just over two hours, looks like it was edited by Picasso. There were some scenes that just didn't make sense. I would really like to see the entire movie if there is one available because I found the atmosphere and acting first rate though Coburn is as far from the Continental Op as a man could be. Frank Cannon would have been more appropriate. I understand why people are confused by this movie. At its present length it makes as much sense as a Richard Simmons workout video.

ITS THE CURSE MAN - THE CURSE OF BAD EDITING

Three self contained mysteries

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 1 October 2017]

Noting in the Wikipedia article on Dashiell Hammett only 3 of his 5 full length novels became motion pictures. But the three The Thin Man, The Glass Key and The Maltese Falcon became classic films all. The Maltese Falcon as we know was done 3 times as well.

A fourth one The Dain Curse was deliberately segmented into three self contained mysteries which for purposes of adaption fitted nicely into the television mini-series format.

James Coburn played our protagonist/cynical hero Hamilton Nash and I think Coburn should have done more detective stories, he was perfectly cast for the part.

It starts out as an investigation of a jewel robbery of a family the Leggetts. It's Coburn who deduces that he thinks the robbery story has a lot of holes in it. The Leggatts are Paul Harding, wife Beatrice Straight and her stepdaughter Nancy Addison. Straight is also Addison's blood aunt, Harding's first wife was Straight's sister. They are members of the Dain family upon which it is said there is a legendary curse.

One who tries hard to convince Nash there's something to this curse business is Jason Miller, Coburn's hard drinking novelist buddy. As this is 1928 and Prohibition rules the land that was some hard drinking indeed.

The Dain Curse might be the bloodiest novel Dashiell Hammett ever wrote. Several members of the Dain family die here including those who married into the family and those who had some involvement with them. Still Coburn thinks there's a guiding intelligence at work here and of course he's right.

A lot of expense went into this production and you really do think you're in 1928, cars and costumes definitely authentic.

Look for good performances by Jean Simmons as a cult church leader, Hector Elizondo as a hick sheriff, and the future Data from Star Trek, The Next Generation Brent Spiner as one of the cult members in good standing.

The Dain Curse is definitely worth watching for more than James Coburn and Dashiell Hammett fans.

LONG, but d hammett fans will dig it

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 24 February 2023]

An odd collection of stars.. brent spiner from star trek. Jean simmons, star of a thousand old movies. James coburn, who has made films in every genre. Jason miller, who was father karras in excorcist. This started as a miniseries, shown over several nights, but is currently on tubi streaming channel, and clocks in at three hours. When ham nash, private eye, is hired to recover stolen diamonds, we go on a grand adventure. With some dead bodies. And addiction. And cults. Bombings. A little of everything! It rambles here and there, similar to the big sleep, but even the rambling is fun to watch. It's a murder mystery, broken into three parts. And no, it really didn't need to be this long; it easily could have been two, maybe two and a half hours. Lots of jazz, in between the action. Long pauses. There seemed to be some slow motion here and there. And if you're wondering why dain is spelled that way, it's someone's name. I'm a huge hammett fan, so i found it entertaining. Some might find the story too slow, but it all gets wrapped up neatly by the end.

Great Mini-Series, But the video contains less than Half the original.

[bbrown-9 · 23 July 2003]

I'm not surprised other reviewers found this mini-series confusing if they watched this video version: it has over half the scenes cut from it. The original series ran over four nights at six hours. Minus the commercial time, it clocks in at just over 4 1/2 hours. This video release is only 2 hours, 17 minutes long (despite the fact that the box says 193 minutes!)

In it's original form, it's a near masterpiece of mood, style, and suspense with a terrific cast. Every time you think the mystery has been solved, a new mystery begins. And unlike most mystery movies today, when you finally arrive at the end and learn who the real villain is, it all makes perfect sense.

So if you ever have a chance to catch it on some cable station, or if the DVD ever comes out, don't miss it. But skip the ripoff video!

fun mystery

[CatTales · 9/10 · 6 June 2003]

James Coburn makes a wonderfully playful detective, somewhere between Nick Charles (The Thin Man) and Sam Spade. Like the movies of those characters, this is a complex story: actually 3 smaller mysteries wrapped in a larger one, which creates an odd tempo in the film. Normally a movie ends when the mystery is solved, but this movie keeps going onto another mystery like a rollercoaster. The version I saw was the 144 minute Anchor Bay video, which must have been abridged. This might account for a few scenes which faded inexplicably into others. Aside from that, the movie was quite entertaining. Though I was relieved when the entire mystery was really solved, I wanted to keep watching that wise, older, chivalrous, not-too-world-weary to be heartbroken detective.

Avoid this mutilated travesty at all costs:

[robertguttman · 2/10 · 27 January 2019]

"The Dain Curse" was one of Dashiell Hammett's most convoluted detective stories and one of his best, ranking with "The Matese Falcon" and "The Thin Man". It certainly rates an adequate movie treatment. However, despite the efforts of a first-rate cast of actors, this is definitely not it. Having read the novel some years ago, I finally got the chance to see this 1978 version recently on Amazon. First of all, the principal character has been given the name "Hamilton Nash", clearly a play on the name of the author and, as portrayed by James Coburn, equally clearly intended to physically resemble him as well. However, in the book, which is narrated in the first person, his name is never mentioned at all. In "The Dain Curse", as well as in many of Hammett's other stories, he has come to be known simply as "The Continental Op", because he was a detective employed by the Continental Detective Agency. In Hammett's stories "The Continental Op" is invariably referred to as being 5 foot 6 inches tall, middle-aged and a running a bit to fat; not at all the tall, dashing detective depicted in this film. However, by far the biggest problem with this film is that the original version was shown on television as a six-hour "mini-series", while the Amazon version has been edited down to three hours. The result is that this version is almost completely incomprehensible, even to those who may actually have read Hammett's intricately-plotted novel. Watching this film will leave the viewer scratching his head and wondering if he has missed something. Well, the answer is that, in fact, he literally has missed something, in fact, about half of the story. My advice is to forget this film and to read the book, you will find it infinitely more satisfying.

Excellent Hammett Adaption

[ScarletPimpernel64 · 10/10 · 11 March 2007]

Although Hammett's Continental Op is written as short and squatty, Coburn manages to fit the role perfectly. The novel never gives him a name, but in a four-and-a-half hour film, he of course has to have one. This is the main change from Hammett's masterful novel, which the filmmakers have wisely chosen to stick to like glue. Beware the shortened version. If you can catch the complete version, it's worth it. Excellent cast, and terrific score. Coburn has never been better, and it's always great to see Jean Simmons. Hector Olonzdo is worth watching as the sheriff. This is a terrific tale of redemption, corruption, and unrequited love. This is one of Hammett's forgotten tales, and it's amazing that it was never filmed until 1978.

Incoherent travesty of Dashiell Hammett novel

[bmacv · 3/10 · 9 July 2002]

Just awful. It's almost unbelievable that, with characters and situations provided by Dashiell Hammett, such a plodding, passionless mishmash could result. But that's television for you -- filler between commercials. The first warning signal sounds from the fussiness of the period re-creation, which screams "1928" in banner type. Flivvers and touring cars, fedoras and waistcoats, cloches and speakeasy jazz (jarringly played) -- with all the attention paid to pointless, arty detail, the important matters get ignored.

Like narrative clarity, or plausibility, or competent writing and acting. The plot sets one of Hammett's operatives ("Hamilton Nash" so whether he's called "Ham" or "Nash" we think of "Hammett" or "Dash") investigating a bogus diamond theft. Thus is introduced the young woman who supposedly carries the Dain Curse (the charmless and talentless Nancy Addison, who went back to soaps where she belonged); she belongs to a crackpot religious cult led by Jean Simmons and seems addicted to "drugs" as well; there's also a Mysterious Gaseous Drug which seeps into rooms....

But enough. The writing is never more pedestrian than when it reaches for the poetic or high-flown, and the cast parrots it the only way they know how: by grotesquely overacting. Simmons gets treated like minor royalty from Old Hollywood, but the grande-dame treatment doesn't wash. Hector Elizondo for some reason enjoys second billing (after Coburn) for a dispensable part. Other familiar faces drift through, doing little good for their resumes.

The actors aren't even photographed to look good; Jason Miller is an especial fright, but extreme close-ups of Coburn are pitiless, too. Coburn probably copped this role because, with mustache, he bears a strong resemblance to Hammett. He needed more guidance than that; nobody has given him the vaguest hint as to how to play his character, or of the story's tone, or of how the different strands of the plot mesh together (they don't, at least not in this telling). So he flashes his big Chesire-cat grin whether called for or not.

The Dain Curse is available on videotape, in a variety of lengths. For those foolhardy enough to "see for themselves," the shortest abridgement is the kindest cut of all.

A traveling circus that gets . . . nowhere

[bigpurplebear-1 · 13 August 2003]

Someone, back in the misty reaches of 1977-78, had a pretty good idea: Take Dashiell Hammett's "The Dain Curse" and turn it into a TV mini-series "event." The novel itself, after all, had started out as a serialization in "Black Mask" magazine, and a legion of readers had faithfully followed its plot convolutions there, so why -- or so the reasoning must have gone -- shouldn't it work equally well on the installment plan by spreading a TV dramatization out over several nights?

This, unfortunately, was the last good idea experienced by anybody in conjunction with the production.

Any number of object lessons can -- and should be --drawn from what wound up being presented as "Dashiell Hammett's The Dain Curse." (Presumably, to differentiate it from "Joe Blow's The Dain Curse," an important distinction.) Object lesson #1: If you're going to slavishly follow a plot that has enough twists and turns and old fashioned red herrings to make "The Canterbury Tales" read like "Dick And Jane Floss Their Teeth," then you'd best make sure you've at least got a director and cast who can maintain a pace that will keep your audience riveted. Otherwise, you run the risk of numerous viewers snapping awake simultaneously during a commercial break and saying "For THIS we missed 'Three's Company?'"

Similarly, if you're going to adhere to the plot (and its dialogue), it's generally a good idea to cast actors who can carry it off. The novel's short and fat, middle-aged (but extremely tough) protagonist happens to also be anonymous, all for a purpose; changing him into the tall and thin, dapper (but extremely sardonic) James Coburn and giving him a name like Hamilton Nash (sounds like Dashiell Hammett, get it? wink! wink!) may gain you a bit of star power, except that he hasn't a clue how to relate to his material.

Equally to the point, if you decide to change the story's setting from San Francisco and the central California coast to New York City and some generic seashore locale, keep in mind that any number of Hammett partisans -- whose teeth are already set in terminal-grind mode by this point -- are going to expect you to have a very good reason for doing so.

In fairness, it should be mentioned that all concerned appear to give it their best shot (Hector Elizondo, as small-town sheriff Ben Cotton, and Jason Miller, as Owen Fitzstephan, are both standouts) as this "event" lurches from situation to situation; unfortunately, best shots here have a tendency to fall short of the mark, rather like a trapeze artist who can never quite make that third midair somersault in time or a high-wire artist with chronic nosebleed. The end result is a traveling circus, gamely striking its tent and moving on but getting . . . you guessed it!

The Dain Curse locales

[eaglepub · 4/10 · 6 February 2007]

I appeared as an extra and was on location as a journalist covering "The Dain Curse". My involvement was during the segments of this film shot in Jim Thorpe, Pa. (Jim Thorpe was also one of the locations of the 1969 film "The Molly Maguires"). I reported the 'action' in the Emmaus Free Press newspaper where I was editor 1978-80 (the paper ceased publication int he 1990s). I recall the excellent attention to detail of the period costumes, automobiles, etc. The modern asphalted streets of Jim Thorpe were covered with gravel to mimic a 1920s rural town of the south. At the time, I interviewed the producer and spoke briefly with the director during a set change break; I did not get to interview James Coburn which was always a great disappointment to me. As an aside, I appear briefly in one of the street scenes wearing a snap- brim hat and a tweed jacket. The producer asked me to "jump in" and it was a real thrill. I still have a collection of black and white stills I took of the production work for the newspaper. Someday, they may be of interest to film/television historians.--Lou Varricchio

A classic Dashiell Hammett detective novel brought to life

[if-3 · 26 December 1999]

In Dashiell Hammett's world, nothing was ever what it seemed and people were mysteries to be unwrapped layer by layer. The characters in the "Maltese Falcon" and "The Thin Man" were enigmas to Sam Spade and Nick Charles and so it is in "The Dain Curse." If you are looking for a simple plot, go elsewhere. The hero of the novel was a nameless detective known as "The Continental Op." In the movie, the hero is Hamilton Nash (a nod to Hammett who once was a Pinkerton detective). The film captures the flavor of Hammett's writing and is well cast (look for Jean Simmons in a supporting role, Hector Elizondo as a local sheriff, Brent Spiner as a baddie and Sidney Tolar (the last film Charlie Chan) in a minor role. James Coburn is well suited to the part of Nash. The show captures the flavor of the roaring '20s very well and is a must see for Hammett fans.

Casting Correction

[lcalabraro · 19 December 2006]

This did have the last actor to play Charlie Chan in a movie series. However, it was Roland Winters, not Sidney Toler. Nevertheless, mystery buffs should see this on DVD and not VHS as you will see the entire series. It is a lot less confusing that way.

James Coburn is brilliant in it. You will see a young Star Trek: Next Generation "Data" here. I think this may before he appeared in Night Court.

So get a DVD copy of this and take your time watching it. You will see an intricate mystery, actually multiple mysteries, unfold before your eyes. It may even take a couple of viewings to get it all.

While slow paced it could only be presented that way for maximum enjoyment. The story has an extra treat as you get a glimpse of life in bygone times. It is fairly authentic to those by-gone times.

Enjoy.

Worth watching

[stumpmee77 · 29 October 2011]

I'm referring to the full version. I don't know what other distribution companies have put it out but the one I purchased (Image Entertainment) said on the package it was the full version and I believe it--Because the story made sense. Another version I saw was disjointed to the point of ridiculous and boring. Only portion close to boring in uncut Dain Curse was Gabriella beating her habit and that because it got monotonous. Also a slightly negative point I guessed who the chief villain was by midway through part 2.

That aside, I found it rather entertaining and efforts to make it look a period piece a superior one and all the bulk of the cast captured the era's behavior modes.

Confusing Murder Mystery/waste of talent

[camiela · 6 April 1999]

This confusing story begins like a movie you came into after it began.The charactors all knew each other before, and make reference to things we don't see that appear to have something to do with all the strange goings on.

It involves a weird cult, a girl who is a drug addict and who may have killed her husband, and the detectives efforts to get the girl off drugs.

Mostly it's forgettable and sometimes laughable.

The stupidest mistake here is that the cast includes Jean Simmons and they made very poor use of her talents. She only had four scenes and only spoke in two of them (in one scene she is tied up on an altar and is in danger of becoming a human sacrifice).The film could have been better if they had made the female lead older and used Simmons in the part instead of in the supporting role. Even that however, could not have made this less confusing...just more watchable!