Jon Hamm Puts On Legal Briefs For 'Howl'

Let's just get the important part out first -- Variety reports that Jon Hamm, the man who looks like a cartoon pilot, has joined the cast of Howl. Commence girly shrieking, gaze at the photo to your left, sink into your chair with a grin on your face. It's cool. I did it too.

All right, now that's over with. Howl is already generating a lot of buzz, all of which should keep it from disappearing into indie obscurity. Not only does it center on a notorious moment of literary history, but its collected a heck of an ensemble cast -- James Franco (who is playing Allen Ginsberg), Paul Rudd, Mary-Louise Parker, David Strathairn, Jeff Daniels, Bob Balaban, Treat Williams and Alessandro Nivola are all on board. (Check out Peter Martin's piece to see who plays whom.)

Hamm has landed a very meaty part in the Ginsberg story -- he'll play the famous defense attorney Jake Ehrlich. Ehrlich was actually the attorney for Lawrence Ferlinghetti who had published Howl stateside as the owner of City Lights Bookstore. He faced a $500 fine and a 6 month sentence for daring to publishing Ginsberg's poem, and gained the services of Ehrlich thanks to the ACLU. Ehrlich took the case pro-bono, and later wrote an account of the trial titled Howl of the Censor, and was the inspiration for the television series "Perry Mason."

All joking and gushing aside, it's wonderful to see Hamm get to use his acting chops outside of Mad Men and Keanu Reeves. Now if some studio executive would watch that Lex Luthor video and make the obvious DC choice ...