The Girl Hunters

Tjc: This is a complicated situation. (Note: The film can be watched free at Tubitv.com, so contributors and staff here can check the credits themselves.)

In the closing credits of The Girl Hunters (1963), Mickey Spillane is indeed listed last after all the other cast members, prominently on his own card. So, normally, that would mean that he should be listed last according to the following policy:

• Acting credits are ordered according to the most comprehensive cast list (the one listing the most actors); in most cases, this will be the list appearing in the end credits.

However, looking at the film's credits, I see Hy Gardner listed in the opening credits but not in the closing credits. And that means that the closing credits are incomplete as to the cast. Nine cast members are mentioned in the opening credits, Gardner being 8th; and twenty-three cast members are listed in the closing credits, Gardner not being among them.

So that means that another policy should apply:

• In some cases (i.e., TV movies), the cast list is split between the opening credits and end credits; in those cases, the two portions should be treated as one long cast list that happens to be interrupted by the actual movie. This also applies to some movies from the 1950s, where a list of the main cast appeared at the beginning, and was then repeated in reverse order at the end, with pictures, followed by additional cast members.

In other words, for The Girl Hunters, we should list the nine cast members appearing in the opening credits as #1 through #9, followed by the other 15 actors listed in the closing credits who were not also in the opening credits, in the order that they are listed in the closing credits starting with #10.

And if we follow that policy, then indeed Spillane should be listed in order #1 since he is listed first in the opening credits.

I realize that some contributors here may disagree with my suggestions here. And it is odd that the lack of placement of a Hy Gardner credit in the end credits would entitle Spillane to move from last in the cast list to first. But that's how I interpret the credit order policies which can be found at https://help.imdb.com/article/contribution/filmography-credits/credit-order/G8QZ9QSY5EVKAPNF#.

We've added Mickey Spillane as one of the stars of the title: