Private Investigators

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Recently, I've become interested in P.I. movies, and I've come crawling to NMA to beg it's members for help in identifying some good ones.

By P.I., I mean of course the trench coat and fedora wearing, whiskey guzzling world-weary cynics who refer to women as "broads" and so forth (think Calvin's alter-ego of Tracer Bullet) and tend to be basically film-noir movies. These movies tend to be narrated by the protagonist and have a tradition of chiaroscuro.

Now, the only movies I've seen that come close to this are really stuff like Dick Tracy or Blade Runner, and I've been trying to get my hands on a few more. Has anyone seen any movies like this that really stick out, or even just decent ones? I don't really care how old it is, I'm just after some good fun and awesome atmosphere.
 
Obviously the Maltese Falcon (1941) is the godfather of the P.I. movies. Brilliant stuff.

In fact, most movies featuring Humphrey Bogart would be good for this.
 
What's the P.I. for actually? I'm not quite sure what you're talking about, though it sounds very interesting! I've seen most of the mentioned movies and liked them.
 
Vox said:
What's the P.I. for actually? I'm not quite sure what you're talking about, though it sounds very interesting! I've seen most of the mentioned movies and liked them.
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Read the topic?
 
Forget it, Specialist. It's Chinatown.

Not a movie with narration but definitely one of those famous detective movies. Great atmosphere, story, and above all an awesome performance from Jack Nicholson.
 
Sorry, I am a little drunk and actually my brain was affected by temporary loss of intelligence. Therefore I was unable to associate P.I. with the topic, for the mentioned reason. Now things are clear.
 
Out of the Past is an awesome noir. There are some private eye elements to it, although it's more than the typical detective story.

Philip Marlowe is one of the most well known private eye characters. He is played by Bogart in The Big Sleep and Dick Powell in Murder My Sweet. Both are great.

Kiss Me Deadly is a Mike Hammer story, which comes from the pulp novels Mickey Spillane wrote. Mike Hammer is quite the character - best way to sum him up is hard boiled.

Although it's not a private investigator movie, per se, Double Indemnity is considered one of, if not THE, premier film noirs and a must-see.

I highly recommend Out of the Past and Double Indemnity, as these are my favorites out of the ones I've listed. The others are great as well and are probably more in line with the typical detective iconography.

And I can definitely vouch for Chinatown. The Maltese Falcon is probably one of the better choices as well, as it comes before all the others I have mentioned, so it might be a great place to start. It holds a prominent place in film history (Unfortunately, I am shamed by the fact I still haven't seen it myself!).
 
Third Man is not really a PI movie. In fact I don't recall a PI in the film. Orson Welles is the crook, there is a military investigator and a hapless American who I think is a journalist. A Touch of Evil is also a good noir movie, but not a private investigator movie.

In terms of Noir, Third Man is great. But it's not really a film about Private Investigators- like Chinatown or the Maltese Falcon.

Kenneth Branagh's Dead Again- is kind of a private investigator film- pretty good.

Mickey Rorke in Angel Heart- another PI film with horror elements.

Steve Martin- Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - is a pretty good spoof.

But if you are on to spoofs of PI films, I am not sure if Alphaville might concern a PI- havent' seen that one in ages.

Gene Hackman's Night Moves concerns P.I's but I fell asleep in it.

I believe the Thin Man concerns a retired detective.

Hammett's Red Harvest is a lot of fun for a PI story set in a rather nasty mining town. Lots of bodies- thus the title.

For more- try here-
http://www.filmsite.org/mysteryfilms.html
 
I made a movie of me investigating my privates once.

I could mail it to you if you like.
 
Jebus - I don't think the world really needs to see you making an ass of yourself. You've done quite enough to prove that point already.
 
The first two that comes to mind for me has already been mentioned...

Angel Heart and Chinatown are really good noir films.

Angel Heart and Ninth Gate by Polanski have some common ground, tho the main character in Ninth Gate is not a PI, but i still think you would like it.

I have Nora inu by Kurosawa here in my collection but i haven't seen it yet but it should be exactly what you are looking for.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041699/

Also have a look here
http://www.imdb.com/keyword/noir/
 
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a good modern interpretation of what you're looking for, I think (I'm no expert in cinema styles and genres). A kind of investigative black comedy with pulp crime novel elements.

It also happens to be one of the best movies I've ever seen, and should be available in all good video rental stores. :D
 
welsh said:
Steve Martin- Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - is a pretty good spoof.
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I realized I was going to be beat to most of my favorites, but I even got beat to the obscure Steve Martin movie! Since everything I was going to say has been said, I'll add some movies that aren't strictly in the genre but share things in common with it, if only in a broad way.

"Blood Simple" by the Coen brothers is a great modern film noir, and actually does qualify as a PI movie, I think. "Miller's Crossing", "Fargo" and "The Man Who Wasn't There" are all in the same vein, and while none are really detective movies at base they share a lot in common with them and were all inspired by them. "The Big Lebowski" is partly a parody of detective movies, and is also one of the funniest movies ever made.

I'd also recommend "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Dr" by David Lynch. They aren't exactly PI movies and are pretty surreal, but in both the main characters are more or less acting as amateur detectives.

"Twin Peaks", also by David Lynch, is awesome and should be watched by everyone. The main character, Agent Cooper, works for the FBI but acts more like a PI in a lot of ways, and at heart the whole show is basically a very surreal detective story.
 
The Ninth gate is a good one. Not about a PI like he said, but it's the same type of story.

Blade Runner is also good, technically he is a PI. If you havn't seen it, definatly do.

Maltese Falcon is also a great one, and it makes an easter egg appearence in both Fallout and Fallout 2.

City of Ghosts is very good, but not as well known as I think it should be. Definatly check this one out,
http://www.cityofghostsmovie.com/
 
The best ones have already been mentioned by IvyMike. They are must-see films if you are interested in the genre. You might want to avoid artificially colourised versions, such as for the Big Sleep (1946). The other ones to start with should be Murder My Sweet (1944) and the Maltese Falcon (1941). I haven't seen Chinatown myself.

I haven't seen Lady in the Lake (1946), but I heard it was good. Another good one is the Big Heat (1953). A few more noir films include the Killers (1946), Dead Reckoning (1947), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1947), Mildred Pierce (1945) and the Glass Key (1942). Many of these classic noir films aren't actually P.I. crime fiction, but are still great. You might not be looking for this sort of stuff, but going beyond the P.I. aspect will be very rewarding. Even when the plot seems shaky, the writing, acting and atmosphere are usually excellent.
 
I agree that holding on to the presence of a Private Investigator as a necessary condition to seeing these movies is too limiting. The truth is that there are a lot of private investigator types out there. Journalists, attorneys, cops, feds- the world is full of PI types.

But to be totally honest, I think you lose something when you go to film from literature. The Maltese Falcon and the Thin Man, or Chandlers' the Big Sleep- are probably better books than movies.
 
Not a movie, but an excellent radio seires about an "insurance investigator with the action-packed expense account."

http://www.thrillingdetective.com/dollar_johnny.html

Johnny Dollar was a fun show to listen to that ran from 1949-1962. I honestly don't know where you can find any of the old recordings but if you stumble across them they are more than worth a listen.

I now return you to regularly scheduled ranting.
 
noticeably lacking in the noir department, and a comedy to boot, you might check out The Adventures of Ford Fairlane for a P.I. movie. It kind of sucks, but it's good for a laugh if you like blue humor.

Also, Sin City was a P.I. movie, but shown in a Pulp Fiction sort of way, with the viewpoint shifting around and the story going from event to event. Well worth watching, IMO.
 
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