Detective-Mystery Films
Detective-Mystery Films
Part 1 | Part 2 | Examples
Detective-Mystery Films are usually considered          a sub-type of crime/gangster films (or film noir ), or suspense            or thriller films that focus on the unsolved crime (usually the murder          or disappearance of one or more of the characters, or a theft), and on the          central character - the hard-boiled detective-hero, as he/she meets various          adventures and challenges in the cold and methodical pursuit of the criminal          or the solution to the crime. The plot often centers on the deductive ability,          prowess, confidence, or diligence of the detective as he/she attempts to unravel          the crime or situation by piecing together clues and circumstances, seeking          evidence, interrogating witnesses, and tracking down a criminal.
Filmsite's related Greatest Plot Twists, Spoilers, and Surprise Endings .
Detective-mystery films emphasize the detective or person(s)            (an amateur, a plain-clothes policeman, or a PI - Private Investigator) solving            the crime through clues and exceptional rational powers. The detective studies            the intriguing reasons and events leading to the crime, and eventually determines            the identity of the villain (a murderer, a master spy, an arch fiend, an unseen            evil, or a malignant psychological force). The central character usually explores            the unsolved crime, unmasks the perpetrator, and puts an end to the effects            of the villainy.
Suspense is added as the protagonist struggles within the            puzzle-like narrative to gather evidence and testimony, to investigate all            motives, and to discover the one essential clue or fatal flaw/alibi that betrays            the identity of the culprit. The detective (or main protagonist) often succeeds in cleverly trapping            the killer or criminal where law-and-order officers and local police officials            do not. Intensity, anxiety, and suspense build to an exciting climax, often with the detective (or protagonist) using his fists or gun to solve the crime.
This genre has ranged from early mystery tales, fictional            or literary detective stories, to classic Hitchcockian suspense-thrillers            to classic private detective films. A related film sub-genre is that of spy              films . If detection and the solution to a crime are not central to            a 'mystery' film, then it blends into other genre film types, such as horror            or suspense-thrillers.
The Earliest Mysteries:
Mysteries had their start in the early days of silent film.            The most primitive serials , such as            the well-known The Perils of Pauline (1914) ,            possessed a degree of mystery. This film type blossomed as a full film category            in the talking films of the 1930s, often borrowing from characters in popular            literature. Detective films were widely popular during the 1930s and 1940s            in B-series films.
Sherlock Holmes Films:
Sherlock              Holmes, the world's first private detective, was derived from Sir             Arthur Conan  Doyle's works (his first SH novel was 1887's A Study             in Scarlet (1887), followed by three other novels and 56 short             stories). The Baker Street sleuth became the fictional character most frequently             recurring on the screen. He has appeared in over 200 films since           1900 and been played by well over 70 actors.
Holmes              solved mysteries in hundreds of films with "elementary           deductions" and           with assistance from 221-B Baker Street sidekick assistant Dr. Watson.           Their setting in 19th  century England was updated in 1942 to the World           War II era, with Holmes battling  the Nazis. The only actor           to have played both Sherlock Holmes and his  assistant Dr. Watson was           Reginald Owen (see below).
The immortal, prototypical detective first appeared              on the film screen in a 30-second, 1900 one-reeler (registered in             1903) from American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, titled Sherlock             Holmes Baffled (1900).             It was the first recorded detective film on record, made specifically             for one-person mutoscope viewing machines in amusement arcades.
Between 1921 and 1923, UK actor Eille Norwood played             the Sherlock Holmes character almost 50 times in short two-reelers,             and in two feature films (The Hound of the Baskervilles  (1921,             UK),             and The Sign of Four (1923, UK)). He was the most prolific actor             ever to portray Sherlock Holmes. Another of the earliest Holmes films             was Albert Parker's silent 9-reeler Sherlock             Holmes (1922) with           John Barrymore.
The first talkie            Sherlock Holmes film was The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1929) with           Clive Brook in the sleuthing lead role. The character was also popularly           portrayed by many actors in the 1930s, including:
Raymond Massey (in The                 Speckled Band (1931, UK), Massey's first talking picture)
Robert Rendel (in The Hound of the Baskervilles                 (1932, UK))
Clive Brook (in Sherlock Holmes (1932))
Reginald             Owen (in A Study in Scarlet (1933))
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1937, Germ.) (aka                 Der Hund von Baskerville), d. Carl Lamac, with Bruno Güttner           as Holmes
Two Merry Adventurers (1937, Germ.) (aka The           Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes) - German actors Hans Albers & Heinz           Rühmann pretended to be the famous duo of Sherlock Holmes and           Dr. Watson
Arthur Wontner portrayed Holmes            in  5 films from 1931-1937:
Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour (1931, UK) (aka The                 Sleeping  Cardinal), based on Doyle's two stories, The                 Empty House and The Final Problem
Sherlock Holmes and The Missing Rembrandt (1932,                 UK),           based on Doyle's The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes' Greatest Case                 (1932, UK)
The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935, UK),               an adaptation of Doyle's The Valley of Fear
Murder at the Baskervilles (1937, UK) (aka Silver                  Blaze)
Basil Rathbone's 14 Sherlock Holmes Films               (1939-1946):
Its           most familiar, popular figure was the British actor Basil Rathbone           with an  Inverness cape, deerslayer hat and curved-stem calabash           pipe (accompanied by dull-witted, pipe-smoking Nigel Bruce as Watson           - who wasn't so clumsy and buffoonish in the original writings),           who appeared during the war years in 14 pictures from 1939 to 1946:
Sherlock Holmes
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), 20th Century              Fox
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), 20th Century              Fox
Universal Studios created the next 12 entries:
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942),           in which Holmes was linked with the Allied war effort
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942),               Holmes fought the Nazis, adapted from  Doyle's short story The               Adventure of the Dancing Men
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
The Spider Woman (1944)
The Pearl of Death (1944)
The House of Fear (1945)
The Woman in Green (1945)
Pursuit to Algiers (1945)
Dressed to Kill (1946)
Other Sherlock Holmes Variations Through the 1970s:
The Adventure of the Speckled Band (1949) (TV             episode of NBC's "Your Show Time"), with Alan Napier as           Holmes
Sherlock Holmes (1954-1955) (TV series) -               a half-hour TV series (of 39 half-hour episodes produced               in France with an all-British cast), with  Ronald Howard               as Sherlock Holmes and Howard Marion-Crawford as Dr. Watson
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959, UK),             Hammer Films, d. Terence Fisher, with Peter Cushing as Holmes
Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962,                 Germ.),               d. Terence Fisher, with Christopher Lee
Sherlock Holmes (1964-1965, and 1968) (BBC-TV               series) -   the series spanned two seasons               in the U.K.
The first batch was produced in 1964-65 and starred               Douglas Wilmer in the title role.
In the second season, 16 episodes           were originally produced, although only five stories remain (The               Hound of the Baskervilles, A Study in Scarlet, The Boscombe Valley               Mystery, The Sign of Four and The               Blue Carbuncle),               with Peter Cushing
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970, UK/US),               directed by Billy Wilder, in colorful Panavision with Robert Stephens               as Holmes, and Christopher Lee as Sherlock's brother Mycroft
They Might Be Giants (1971), Universal, with           George C. Scott (as Justin, who believed that he was Sherlock Holmes)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972) (ABC-TV               movie), with Stewart Granger as Holmes
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother                 (1975, US/UK), a comedy with actor/director/writer Gene Wilder                 (his directorial debut film) as Holmes' younger brother Sigerson                 Holmes (an alias used by Sherlock); Douglas Wilmer portrayed                 Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976) (NBC-TV               movie), with Roger Moore
Silver Blaze (1977, UK/Can.) (25-minute TV               movie), with Christopher Plummer as Sherlock Holmes, d. John Davies
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978, UK),               d. Paul Morrissey, a comedy spoof with Peter Cook as Holmes
Sherlock Holmes also appeared in various TV episodes:             in the cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in the             animated TV series Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and in             the TV drama series CSI:             Crime Scene Investigation.
The TV-movie/pilot Sherlock (2002) starred             James D'Arcy as Sherlock and Roger Morlidge as Watson
Another modern,             updated BBC-TV series composed of three feature-length episodes,               titled Sherlock: Season One (2010), found             the sleuths (Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman)  solving             crimes in present-day London
Curious Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes:
Mr. Magoo's Sherlock Holmes (1965), an animated               short which aired in 1965 (as part of the mid-1960s TV series The               Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo), with Paul Frees as the voice               of Sherlock Holmes
A Study                 in Terror (1965, UK),               and Murder                 by Decree (1979, UK/Can.), in these two mystery-thrillers,                 Sherlock Holmes (John Neville, Christopher Plummer) and Dr. Watson                 (Donald Houston, James Mason) were in pursuit of Jack the Ripper
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976, UK/US),               Sherlock Holmes (Nicol Williamson) was treated for cocaine addiction               by Dr. Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin) in Vienna; also with Robert Duvall               as Dr. Watson/Narrator
Time After Time (1979), in the sci-fi time               travel film, H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) claimed to be "Sherlock           Holmes"
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984, UK) (TV               show series, 1984-1985), with Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes in               13 episodes (in two seasons)
Sherlock Hound (1984-, Jp.), animated TV               show from 1984-1985 (26 episodes), a canine version of the Holmes               story
Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), directed by               Barry Levinson, with Nicholas Rowe as the teen version of Sherlock               Holmes, with a script by Chris Columbus; noted for ground-breaking               special effects - it was the first feature film to have a completely               CGI  character: the stained-glass window               knight
Without a Clue (1988, UK), a comedy in which               Dr. Watson (Ben Kingsley) claimed that Holmes was only his fictional               creation, allowing him to solve crimes incognito - actor Reginald               Kincaid (Michael Caine) was hired to impersonate "Holmes"
Most recently, the adventures of Sherlock Holmes have             been portrayed in a pair of director Guy Ritchie action films, starring             Robert Downey, Jr (as Holmes) and Jude Law (as Dr. Watson); unique             in that Holmes was a martial-arts specialist in Wing-Chun Kung Fu:
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011),               a sequel
Also, there were these versions, on TV and the big             screen:
Sherlock (2010-, UK), the continuing BBC's               Emmy-winning TV series about a "new sleuth for the 21st century," with Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock and Martin Freeman as Dr.               Watson
Elementary (2012-), the continuing CBS-TV               series was set in NYC, starring drug-addicted Holmes (Jonny Lee               Miller) and his recovery sponsor Dr. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu)
Mr. Holmes (2015, UK/US), by director Bill Condon (based upon the novel A Slight Trick of the Mind),               with Ian McKellen as 93 year-old retired detective Holmes
Foreign Sleuths:
Charlie Chan -
Short            who-dun-its in the 1930s and 40s featured the B-movie, Canton-born, Honolulu-based            Oriental sleuth Charlie Chan, derived from Earl Derr Biggers' works, and based            on real-life Hawaiian cop Chang Apana (very unlike the movie version). The            round-faced, meticulous sleuth was one of the screen's most prolific detectives,            with 46 Chan films and one serial from 1926 to 1949. [Charlie Chan was never played on the screen by a Chinese actor.]
Detective Charlie Chan was introduced in Pathe's 10-part serial The House Without a Key (1926) - portrayed by Japanese actor George            Kuwa. The second screen appearance was in Universal's and German director            Paul Leni's The Chinese Parrot (1927), with Japanese actor Kamiyama            Sojin in the lead role (the film was remade as Charlie Chan's Courage (1934)).            The first sound Charlie Chan film was Fox's Behind That Curtain              (1929), with Korean actor E.L. Park as the sleuth.
The            character was best played by Swedish actor Warner Oland (from 1931-1938 in            16 films), who portrayed Chan as a dapper fellow who was always polite and            unassertive but nevertheless was solving the crime using physical evidence            and logical deduction. The sly, composed Charlie Chan would eloquently spout            Confucius-type proverbs, aphorisms, and wisdom in pidgin English, achieved            by dropping definite articles and verbs: ("difficult to catch fly with one            finger," "bad alibi like dead fish - can't stand test of time," "Joy in heart more desirable than bullet," "must not too soon            come to conclusion," "Perfect case like perfect doughnut - has hole" and "silence is golden, except in police station," for example),            always with a courteous, paternalistic, and inquisitive manner.
The series continued, with less noteworthy quality, with American            actor Sidney Toler (1938-1947 in 22 appearances), and American film and TV            character actor Roland Winters (1947-1949 in 6 films) as the sixth and last            screen Chan. Fox was responsible for the Chan films from 1929-1942,            followed by Monogram (from 1944-1949). Charlie Chan also appeared on TV in            39 half-hour episodes, The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, during 1957-58:
Behind That Curtain (1929), Fox's first film,               with  E.L. Park as Chan; first sound film in series
With Warner Oland (1931-1938)
(Charlie Chan in) The Chinese Ring (1947)
(Charlie Chan in) Docks of New Orleans (1948)
(Charlie Chan in) Shanghai Chest (1948)
(Charlie Chan in) The Golden Eye (1948)
(Charlie Chan in) The Feathered Serpent (1948)
(Charlie Chan in) The Sky Dragon (1949)
Foreign Sleuths:
Mr. Moto -
To            compete with Charlie Chan, another Far-Eastern sleuth - of Japanese descent,            derived from the I.A. Moto character in Pulitzer Prize-winning John P. Marquand's            novels (which first appeared as Saturday Evening Post serials), was            developed by 20th Century Fox, and named Mr. Moto. Hungarian-born German actor            Peter Lorre (in his 7th American film role) starred in the title role as the            enigmatic, quiet, self-effacing, unobtrusive, spectacle-wearing and brilliant            detective in the eight-film series (produced in less than three years from            1937-1939):
Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937)
Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937) - the best in the series
Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938)
Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938)
The Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938) - another great one
Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939)
Mr. Moto in Danger Island (1939)
Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)
Mr. Moto was resurrected 26 years later, to compete with the            popular James Bond action series, with Caucasian actor Henry Silva            as the quizzical Moto, in The Return of Mr. Moto (1965).
Mr. Wong -
A fictional Chinese-American detective, named James             Lee Wong (simply Mr. Wong) created by Hugh Wiley (for a series of             stories in Colliers Magazine in the mid-1930s) was the lead character             in a series of six films from Monogram Pictures. In the first five             films, Boris Karloff took the lead role. In the sixth (and final)             film in the Mr. Wong series, Phantom of Chinatown (1940), Chinese-American actor Keye Luke             took the role of the title character. This marked the first time             an American film featured an Asian character as a lead Asian detective.
Mr. Wong Detective (1938)
Phantom             of Chinatown (1940)
The Thin Man Series - (Nick and Nora Charles)
The            most popular film detectives of the 1930s were a delightful, high-society            sleuthing couple: the inebriated Nick Charles with his wife Nora (and dog            Asta). The characters in MGM's The Thin Man (1934) were derived from Dashiell Hammett's 1934 novel of the same title. The sophisticated,            wise-cracking, boozing couple (magnificently portrayed by William Powell and            Myrna Loy) managed to solve crimes and crack jokes in a long series of screwball-mystery            gems. After their first film in 1934, there were five more grade-A sequels            from 1936-1947 from MGM, although none were as good as their first effort.            The first four films were directed by W.S. Van Dyke:
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945), d. Richard Thorpe
Song of the Thin Man (1947), d. Edward Buzzell
On television, Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk starred as the            couple in 72 30-minute episodes, beginning in the fall of 1957.
Bulldog Drummond -
Another            literary figure from "Sapper's" (Herman Cyril McNeile) famed detective novels            - Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond - became the featured suave,           gentleman-spy hero in many films mostly made between the silents through           to the late 40s. Drummond battled foreign agents, kidnappers, spies,           and other villains during his adventurous exploits. The detective was           portrayed by, among others:
Ronald Colman in Bulldog Drummond (1929) -               Colman's  talkie debut
Ronald Colman in Bulldog Drummond Strikes                 Back (1934)
Ralph Richardson in The Return of Bulldog Drummond                  (1934, UK) [Note: He portrayed the villain in Bulldog                  Jack (1935)]
Atholl Fleming in Bulldog Jack (1935, UK) (aka Alias                  Bulldog Drummond)
Ray Milland in Bulldog Drummond Escapes (1937)
John Lodge in Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1937)
John Howard in Bulldog Drummond's Revenge (1937), Bulldog                 Drummond Comes Back (1937), Bulldog Drummond's Peril (1938), Bulldog                 Drummond in Africa (1938), Arrest Bulldog Drummond (1939), Bulldog                 Drummond's Bride (1939), and Bulldog Drummond's Secret                 Police (1939)
Ron Randell in Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947) and Bulldog                 Drummond Strikes Back (1947) - Columbia Pictures' ill-fated           attempt to revive the series
Tom Conway in The Challenge (1948) and 13           Lead  Soldiers (1948)
Walter Pidgeon in Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951,               UK)
Bulldog Drummond was resurrected for a short             period of time in the mid-to-late 1960s as a resourceful British             agent, during the flurry of James Bond imitators:
Richard Johnson in Deadlier Than the Male (1967,                 UK)
Richard Johnson in Some             Girls Do (1969, UK)
Boston Blackie -
Columbia Pictures presented fourteen low-budget installments             of another detective series (from 1941 to 1949) titled Boston             Blackie,            starring square-jawed Chester Morris in the lead role as a former jewel             thief/con  artist and debonair tough guy who reformed himself and             turned detective. The series was based on the 1910 book by Jack Boyle,             and the wise-cracking character first appeared in various silent             era versions:
Boston Blackie's Little Pal (1918), Metro, with              Bert Lytell as the safe-cracker
Boston Blackie (1923), Fox, starring William Russell
The Return of Boston Blackie (1927), Chadwick, with              Raymond Glenn (Bob Custer)
The 14 mass-produced Columbia Pictures films in the             1940s, often training grounds for a number of future prominent directors,             were:
Meet Boston Blackie (1941), d. Robert Florey
Confessions of Boston Blackie (1941), d.               Edward  Dmytryk - one of the best in the series
Alias Boston Blackie (1942), d. Lew Landers
Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942), d. Michael              Gordon
After Midnight With Boston Blackie (1943), d. Lew              Landers
The Chance of a Lifetime (1943), d. William               Castle (his debut film)
One Mysterious Night (1944), d. Bud Boetticher,             Jr.
Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion (1945), d. Arthur              Dreifuss
Boston Blackie's Rendezvous (1945), d. Arthur Dreifuss
A Close Call for Boston Blackie (1946), d. Lew Landers
The Phantom Thief (1946), d. D. Ross Lederman
Boston Blackie and the Law (1946), d. D. Ross Lederman
Trapped by Boston Blackie (1948), d. Seymour Friedman
Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture (1949), d. Seymour              Friedman
On television, there were 58 half-hour episodes in a 1951 Boston Blackie series, with Kent Taylor as the sleuth.
The Shadow -
A crime-fighting vigilante, The             Shadow was based upon the Walter B. Gibson character created             in the early 1930s. He made             his first appearance on July 31, 1930, as the mysterious narrator         of a radio program titled The Detective Story Hour. In 1931 and         1932, Universal Pictures created a series of six film shorts based on         the popular Detective         Story Hour radio program, narrated by The Shadow.
A pulp series           detective magazine from Street & Smith was also dedicated exclusively           to The Shadow. The magazine was titled The             Shadow - A Detective Magazine, published in April of 1931, and             it featured The Shadow in his first literary pulp story, "The             Living Shadow." It was created and primarily written by the prolific             Walter B. Gibson, who had been hired by the publisher to create a           backstory. Author Gibson refashioned the sinister narrator of CBS Radio's The           Detective Story Hour into a dark super-hero - a super-sleuth who           often battled against super-criminals. Then, in September of 1937, The Shadow radio drama premiered, and the first full-length           feature film about The Shadow was released           by Grand National Pictures.
His alter-ego was Lamont Cranston, an           amateur criminologist and detective, a wealthy crime-fighter who often             wore black, a trench coat, and a face-concealing mask. The words             that introduced The Shadow in the radio program (and the films) have             become immortalized: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Only the Shadow knows!"
The Shadow Strikes (1937),               Grand National Pictures, with Rod La Roque as Lamont Cranston/The               Shadow [Based upon the pulp adventure story "The Ghost of the Manor" by Walter Gibson]
International Crime (1938),             Grand National Pictures, with Rod La Roque as Lamont Cranston/The               Shadow
The Shadow (1940), a 15-part serial from               Columbia Pictures, with Victor Jory as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow,               battling the villainous Black Tiger
The Shadow Returns             (1946), Monogram Pictures, with Kane Richmond as Lamont Cranston/The             Shadow
Behind the Mask (1946), Monogram Pictures,               with Kane Richmond as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow
The Missing Lady (1946), Monogram Pictures,               with Kane Richmond as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow
The Shadow (1954) (TV short, 25-minute pilot               episode), with Tom Helmore as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow
Invisible Avenger (1958), with Richard               Derr as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow [A feature film composed of               two segments or episodes of Republic Pictures' TV pilot made in               1957] - re-released as Bourbon Street Shadows (1962), about               the investigation of the murder of a New Orleans jazz bandleader.
The             Shadow (1994), with Alec Baldwin as The Shadow/Lamont Cranston
British Detectives:
The Saint (Simon Templar) -
One of the most popular, long-running mystery film series            of the late 1930s through the early 40s featured the Saint, a mysterious,            sophisticated, and debonair British detective named Simon Templar. The half-crooked            sleuth, a rogue-turned crusader for Scotland Yard, was derived from Leslie            Charteris' popular crime novels of the late 20s. Eight films (of the nine            films) in the 15-year long series were from RKO, with one entry from Republic            in 1943. In the first and last Saint films, Louis Hayward played the            role of Simon Templar. The other two actors were George Sanders and Hugh Sinclair:
The Saint in New York (1938), RKO, with Louis               Hayward,  the best in the series
The Saint Strikes Back (1939), RKO, with               George Sanders
The Saint in London (1939), RKO, with George               Sanders
The Saint's Double Trouble (1940), RKO, with               George Sanders
The Saint Takes Over (1940), RKO, with George               Sanders
The Saint in Palm Springs (1941), RKO, with               George Sanders
The Saint's Vacation (1941), RKO, with Hugh               Sinclair
The Saint Meets the Tiger (1943), Republic, with              Hugh Sinclair
The Saint's Girl Friday (1953), RKO, with               Louis Hayward
On television in the British-made series of hour-long shows            in the mid-1960s, Roger Moore portrayed the worldly traveler.
British Detectives:
The Falcon -
Another hardboiled detective, a suave and sophisticated sleuth            named the Falcon, was featured in another RKO series during the 1940s            - almost a carbon-copy of RKO's former Saint. The debonair and aristocratic            Falcon character was taken from Michael Arlen's detective stories. In six            years, there were 13 black and white films in the RKO series. Various actors            portrayed the Britisher (named Gay Falcon, Tom Falcon, and Mike Waring) in            the 16 Falcon pictures, including the former Saint George Sanders            (1941-1942) in the first four, and then Tom Conway (Sander's real-life brother)            in the next nine (from 1943-1946). After a two-year break, independent low-budget            Film Classics bought the rights to the Falcon, and produced three more            entires with John Calvert (1948-49):
The Gay Falcon (1941)
A Date with the Falcon (1941)
The Falcon Takes Over (1942) - with most of its              plot borrowed from Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely, and remade              two years later as Murder, My Sweet with Dick Powell
The Falcon's Brother (1942) - Sanders and Conway              co-starred
The Falcon Strikes Back (1943)
The Falcon and the Co-Eds (1943)
The Falcon in Danger (1943)
The Falcon in Hollywood (1944)
The Falcon in Mexico (1944)
The Falcon Out West (1944)
The Falcon in San Francisco (1945)
The Falcon's Alibi (1946)
The Devil's Cargo (1948), Film Classics
Appointment with Murder (1948), Film Classics
Search for Danger (1949), Film Classics
On TV during 1954-55, the Falcon (Mike Waring) was portrayed            by Charles McGraw in 39 30-minute episodes.
Agatha Christie's Adaptations:
The prodigious works of British mystery author Agatha             Christie (a total of 72 novels, 160 short stories, and 15 stage plays)             provided a great source for a number of classic detective film mysteries.
One was 20th Century Fox's atmospheric And Then               There Were None (1945) (aka Ten Little Niggers (UK)) from               director Rene Clair. It was often remade (for feature films or               TV movies) with Christie's original novel title Ten Little Indians               (or Ten Little Niggers):
Ten Little Niggers (1949, UK) (TV) - lost               film
Ten Little Indians (1959) (TV)
Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians' (1965,                 UK) (aka Ten Little Indians)
Ten Little Indians (1974, It./W.Germ./Fr./Sp./UK) -               the first English language color version
Ten Little Indians (1989, UK)
[Christie's book was first published as Ten Little               Niggers in the UK in 1939, and then in 1940 as And Then               There Were None in the US (the offensive title was changed).               It was adapted in 1943 by the author and titled Ten Little Niggers in               the UK for its stage opening in 1943. It was retitled Ten Little               Indians for its US stage opening in 1944. In further film versions,               UK's Seven Arts Films moved the setting to a remote mountain top               castle in the Austrian Alps and released the film as Ten Little               Indians (1965, UK). Avco-Embassy, Inc., produced a third film               version titled Ten Little Indians (1974), with the setting               in a remote hotel in the Iranian desert. In its fourth incarnation               titled Ten Little Indians (1989, UK), Breton Films moved               the locale to an African safari.]
A four-character short story by Christie was made into             a London/Broadway stage hit and was filmed by famed director Billy             Wilder as Witness for the Prosecution (1957).
Agatha Christie's Master Sleuth:
Hercule Poirot -
And             in the 1970s and 80s and afterwards (and even in the 1930s), there were a few screen who-dun-its derived from the works of Agatha Christie             with all-star casts, featuring Christie's colorful, insufferable,             meticulous and fussy Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot. The films (and             stars) included:
Alibi (1931, UK), Black Coffee (1931, UK), and Lord                 Edgware Dies (1934, UK) - with Austin Trevor
The Alphabet Murders (1965, UK) (aka The                 ABC Murders) - with Tony Randall
Murder on the Orient Express (1974, UK) -               with Albert Finney
Death on the Nile (1978, UK) - with Sir Peter               Ustinov
Evil Under the Sun (1982, UK) - with Peter               Ustinov
Thirteen at Dinner (1985, UK/US) - TV movie               - with Peter Ustinov
Dead Man's Folly (1986, UK/US) - TV movie               - with Peter Ustinov
Murder in Three Acts (1986, UK/US) - TV movie               - with Peter Ustinov
Murder by the Book (1986, UK/Can.) - TV movie               - with Ian Holm
Appointment with Death (1988) - with Peter               Ustinov
Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989-2013) - TV               series - with David Suchet
Murder on the Orient Express (2001) - TV               movie - with Alfred Molina
Agatha Christie's Famous Female Detective:
Miss           Marple -
The character of Agatha Christie's Miss Jane Marple,             a gray-haired, wily, spinsterish detective, was also portrayed in             the movies and on TV over many years, beginning in the 1930s, and             prominent in the 1960s (with four films starring Margaret Rutherford)             and afterwards. The films (and stars) included:
Murder She Said... (1961, UK) - (based on               Christie's 4:50 From Paddington) - with Margaret Rutherford
Murder at the Gallop (1963, UK) - (based               on Christie's After the Funeral) - with Margaret Rutherford
Murder Most Foul (1964, UK) - (based on Christie's Mrs.                 McGinty's Dead) - with Margaret Rutherford
Murder Ahoy (1964, UK) - (some plot borrowings               from Christie's They Do It With Mirrors) - with Margaret               Rutherford
The Mirror Crack'd (1980) - with Angela Lansbury
A Caribbean Mystery (1983) - TV movie - with               Helen Hayes
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: (approx. 1984-1992) -               BBC TV Mini-series and Masterpiece Mystery (many titles) and TV               movies - with Joan Hickson
Murder with Mirrors (1985) - TV movie - with               Helen Hayes
Agatha Christie's Marple (approx. 2004-2007) -               ITV series (12 episodes) - with Geraldine McEwan
Agatha Christie's Marple (approx. 2008-2013) -               ITV/Acorn series (11 episodes) - with Julia McKenzie
Another of the best of the late 40s murder mysteries             from Britain was director Sidney Gilliat's film Green For Danger             (1947), featuring Alistair Sim as Scotland Yard Inspector Cockrill.
Other Fictional Crime Fighters:
Philo Vance -
The gentlemanly, artistocratic, independently-wealthy             New  Yorker, amateur detective Philo Vance was introduced in the             works of Willard  Huntington Wright (S.S. Van Dine), first in his             1926 novel The Benson           Murder Case. Thin Man star William Powell and others portrayed           Philo  Vance from 1929 to 1947:
The Canary Murder Case (1929), (in silent and sound              versions) Paramount, William Powell
The Greene Murder Case (1929), Paramount, William              Powell
The Bishop Murder Case (1930), MGM, Basil Rathbone
The Benson Murder Case (1930), Paramount, William              Powell
The Kennel Murder Case (1933), WB, William Powell
The Dragon Murder Case (1934), WB, Warren William
The Casino Murder Case (1935), MGM, Paul Lukas
The Garden Murder Case (1936), MGM, Edmund Lowe
The Scarab Murder Case (1936, UK), Paramount/British,               Wilfrid Hyde-White (lost film)
Night of Mystery (1937), Paramount, Grant               Richards (rare or lost film)
The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939), Paramount,              Warren William
Calling Philo Vance (1940), WB, James Stephenson
Philo Vance Returns (1947), PRC (Producers Releasing              Corp.), William Wright
Philo Vance's Gamble (1947), PRC, Alan Curtis
Philo Vance's Secret Mission (1947), PRC, Alan Curtis
Other Fictional Crime Fighters:
The Lone Wolf -
During the silent era, Bert Lytell often played the             crime sleuth Michael Lanyard (The Lone Wolf), derived from the novels             by Louis Joseph Vance. The Lone Wolf invariably was an international             ex-jewel thief who also served on the side of the law after a change             of heart.
The Columbia series was capped            by nine performances from Warren William (from 1939-1943) as the upper-class             retired crook:
The Lone Wolf Returns (1935), Columbia, Melvyn               Douglas (also made as a silent film in 1926 also by Columbia)
The Lone Wolf in Paris (1938), Columbia, Francis              Lederer
The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939), Columbia, Warren              William
The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1940 or 1941),               Columbia, Warren William
The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady (1940), Columbia, Warren              William
The Lone Wolf Strikes (1940), Columbia, Warren           William
The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance (1941), Columbia, Warren              William
Secrets of the Lone Wolf (1941), Columbia, Warren              William
Counter-Espionage (1942) (aka The Lone Wolf               in Scotland Yard),  Columbia,                Warren William
One Dangerous Night (1943), Columbia, Warren William
Passport to Suez (1943), Columbia, Warren William
The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946), Columbia, Gerald              Mohr
The Lone Wolf in Mexico (1947), Columbia,           Gerald Mohr
The Lone Wolf in London (1947), Columbia, Gerald              Mohr
The Lone Wolf and His Lady (1949), Columbia, Ron              Randell
On television, Louis Hayward portrayed the Lone Wolf in 1954's            39-part series (of half-hour shows) entitled Streets of Danger.
Other Fictional Crime Fighters or Sleuths:
Hildegarde Withers -
The 40ish, crime-solving, frumpy, spinsterish             schoolteacher in NYC, a version of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple,             was the fictional creation of Stuart Palmer. His second novel in             1931 with the character was titled The Penguin Pool Murder -             also the title of the first feature film.  Edna             May Oliver, the definitive character, played the gaunt, thin Miss             Withers in the first three films from RKO Radio Pictures in the mid-1930s.             Her comic foil in all six of the murder mystery film series was Inspector             Oscar Piper (James Gleason).
Penguin Pool Murder (1932) -               RKO, with Edna May Oliver
Murder on the Blackboard             (1934) - RKO, with Edna May Oliver
Murder on a Honeymoon (1935) - RKO, with               Edna May Oliver
Murder on a Bridle Path (1936) - RKO, with               Helen Broderick
The             Plot Thickens (1936) - RKO, with ZaSu Pitts
Forty Naughty Girls (1937) (aka The Riddle of                 the 40 Naughty Girls) -               RKO, with ZaSu Pitts
There was also A Very Missing Person (1972) (CBS-TV             movie) starring Eve Arden as Miss Withers.
Ellery Queen -
A smart, scholarly and analytical             crime-solver named Ellery Queen was a recurring who-dun-it detective-hero             derived from the late 1920s novels of cousins Frederic Dannay and             Manfred Bennington Lee (who used "Ellery             Queen" as             their joint pseudonym). Ellery Queen appeared for the first time             in the detective mystery novel The         Roman Hat Mystery (1929).
In the mid-30s, Republic was the first studio to release           low-budget  films about Ellery Queen, a brilliant amateur detective.           These were followed  by seven films from Columbia Pictures (from 1940-1942), with two actors, Ralph Bellamy  and William Gargan in           the lead role.
The Spanish Cape Mystery (1935), Republic, Donald              Cook
The Mandarin Mystery (1936), Republic, Eddie Quillan
Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940), Columbia,              Ralph Bellamy
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941), Columbia,              Ralph Bellamy
Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime (1941), Columbia,              Ralph Bellamy
Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring (1941), Columbia,              Ralph Bellamy
A Close Call for Ellery Queen (1942), Columbia,              William Gargan
A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen (1942),               Columbia,  William Gargan
Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen (1942), Columbia,              William Gargan
There were other iterations of the character in many              TV shows-movies or series, beginning in 1950:
The             Adventures of Ellery Queen was             a live ABC TV show from 1950-1952 with Richard Hart (and then Lee             Bowman) as Ellery Queen
Hugh Marlowe starred in the 1954-1957 The             Adventures of Ellery Queen (TV series)
George Nader              and Lee Philips starred in the 1958-1959 The Further             Adventures of Ellery Queen (TV series)
Peter Lawford starred in the TV movie Ellery             Queen: Don't  Look Behind You (1971) (TV)
Following the TV show's cancellation in 1959 and               a 16-year delay, Ellery was revived and returned to TV for one-season,               with the title shortened to simply Ellery Queen. The made-for-TV               pilot film Ellery             Queen (1975) (aka Too Many Suspects) preceded Ellery             Queen (a 1975-1976 TV series for one               season on NBC, with 22 episodes) that             starred Jim Hutton as the great fictional detective.