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Detective Film Series

Author	Comment
HamBrooks	Detective Film Series	Lead	[-]
Mar 10 08 2:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hello all. I'm a newbie and was wondering if anyone had a fairly comprehensive list of the various detective film series of the 30's and 40's. By this, I mean, recuring lead character, same studio, etc. I'm thinking The Saint, The Falcon, Charlie Chan, etc. Thanks in advance for the help.
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ryanbrennan		#1	[-]
Mar 10 08 6:14 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Welcome!. Googling around I didn't come across anything. But, that doesn't mean there isn't a list on the internet somewhere. There are a couple of books on the subject with listings of all the "franchise" series. I have a couple but don't know where they are right now. You might check your local library to see what they have.
estiban miranda	Detective Film Series	#2	[-]
Mar 10 08 8:41 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This seems like a good partial list: http://www.mysterymovies.com/
Lawrence Nepodahl		#3	[-]
Mar 11 08 7:36 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A good book to read that covers the various detective series is-THE DETECTIVE IN HOLLYWOOD, by Jon Tuska.
sirharryflashman		#4	[-]
Mar 11 08 8:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	There was a book that turned me on to a good number of series when I was a kid, although as an adult I find the coverage was more than just a little a bit wonky, I still have great affection for it. Anyway, the book was Otto Penzler's "The Private Lives of Private Eyes, Spies, Crimefighters and Other Good Guys". Cheers, Charles Prepolec Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes available October 2008 BakerStreetDozen.com: Sherlock Holmes in Film, Books and Media
LesDaniels	Detective Film Series	#5	[-]
Mar 12 08 12:45 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Here's the list from a comprehensive two-volume work devoted to this subject, FAMOUS MOVIE DETECTIVES by Michael R. Pitts (Scarecrow Press, 1991). You should try to find a copy--it would have saved me a lot of typing! VOLUME 1: Boston Blackie, Bulldog Dummond, Charlie Chan, Crime Doctor, Dick Tracy, Ellery Queen, The Falcon, Hildegarde Withers, The Lone Wolf, Michael Shayne, Mr. Moto, M. Wong, Philo Vance, The Saint, Sam Spade, The Thin Man, Torchy Blane, Bill Crane, Craig Kennedy, J. G. Reeder, Lemmy Caution, Nancy Drew, Nero Wolfe, Nick Carter. VOLUME 2: Arsene Lupin, Hercule Poirot, Inspector Clouseau, Inspector Maigret, Mike Hammer, Miss Jane Marple, Nurse Sarah Keate, Perry Mason, Philip Marlowe, Raffles, Sexton Blake, The Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, The Whistler, Bill and Sally Reardon, C. Auguste Dupin, Father Brown, Flash Casey, Frank Cannon, Hank Hyer, Inspector Hornleigh, Jack Packard and Doc Long, Joe Dancer, Joel and Garda Sloane, Kitty O'Dea, Kojak, Lew Archer (Harper), Lord Peter Wimsey, Philip Trent, The Roving Reporters, Russ Ashton, Shaft, Thatcher Colt, Tony Rome, Travis McGee, Wally Benton. Some of these are more recent than the 1940s (including TV movies), and some characters have multiple films but not an actual series. Last Edited By: LesDaniels Mar 12 08 12:52 AM. Edited 1 times.
HamBrooks		#6	[-]
Mar 12 08 7:07 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks gentlemen. These will certainly get me started.
Scathach80		#7	[-]
Oct 28 11 9:27 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It would, as I noted elsewhere, appear that more detective film series came out in the 1930's and the 1940's than horror film series.
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telegonus	The Detective In Hollywood	#8	[-]
Oct 31 11 6:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Jon Tuska's The Detective In Hollywood (it has other titles as well) is far and above the best book I've ever read on the topic of movie detectives. It's extremely well researched and written, contains many interviews. For the most part it's an appreciation of movie detective series, not a series of lists, though I believe it does have some lists. I highly recommend it.
Lawrence Nepodahl		#9	[-]
Oct 31 11 11:10 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	To the Jon Tusca book, I concur; It's one of the first books I go to, when I've just finishing watching one of my myriad of Detective character films. Although, there have been some good books, recent ones at that, which make for nice companions when watching these movies.
telegonus		#10	[-]
Nov 1 11 5:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tuska's book is a classic of its kind. I can't imagine it ever being dated, going out of style. His mini-biography of Willard Huntington Wright (aka S.S. Van Dine) is really heartbreaking, and Tuska's empathy for Van Dine and his enthusiasm for his work is admirable. The stuff on the Charlie Chans is outstanding, as Tuska is clearly a Chanophile,--and so am I--so it was a pleasure reading his comments on the films.
SiBurning		#11	[-]
Feb 5 12 10:33 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	LesDaniels wrote: Here's the list from a comprehensive two-volume work devoted to this subject, FAMOUS MOVIE DETECTIVES by Michael R. Pitts (Scarecrow Press, 1991). You should try to find a copy--it would have saved me a lot of typing! There's actually 3 volumes. I just picked them up. The third volume mostly adds a few entries to the existing detectives and adds a few others that weren't in the first two, such as Tommy & Tuppence. There's also sections on silent films, radio, and television. Guide to Resources on CHFB
Airgunner		#12	[-]
Feb 16 12 5:10 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thank you, Lawrence Nepodahl and Telegonus for recommending the Jon Tusca book! I searched and found a like-new copy online and I am about halfway through it. It is, as you say, a wonderfully informed appreciation of the detective in film, an important addition to my small film reference library.
studiomanderley		#13	[-]
Feb 21 12 5:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	...could not agree more(!) about the jon tuska book, 'the detective in hollywood' - mandatory reading... 'detective' was published in 1978 and a revised edition was released in 1988 under the title 'in manors and alleys' (in case one wishes to track down a copy of either version).
RexBannister.movieserialmess...	Film Detectives	#14	[-]
Feb 21 12 9:33 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Mystery Movie Series of 1940s Hollywood, published a few years ago by McFarland, is also a good, comprehensive work on the decade's detective film series, with a few non-detective mystery series thrown in, such as Universal's Inner Sanctuim series.
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