Chinatown, San Francisco, 1928. Former private detective Dashiell Hammett, a compulsive drinker with tuberculosis who writes pulp fiction for a living, receives an unexpected visit from an old friend asking for help.
Frederic Forrest
as Hammett
Peter Boyle
as Jimmy Ryan
Marilu Henner
as Kit Conger / Sue Alabama
Roy Kinnear
as English Eddie Hagedorn
Lydia Lei
as Crystal Ling
Elisha Cook Jr.
as Eli the Taxi Driver
David Patrick Kelly
as The Punk
R.G. Armstrong
as Lt. O'Mara
Richard Bradford
as Detective Bradford
Jack Nance
as Gary Salt
Michael Chow
as Fong Wei Tau
Sylvia Sidney
as Donaldina Cameron
