The Film Geeks' Top Ten P.I. Films (2012) OKAY, it may be hard to believe, but the entire world does not revolve around private eyes... Shocking, innit? Some people, even people who profess to love mysteries and detective stories and all kinds of crime fiction, aren't quite clear on exactly what defines a private … Continue reading So it’s come to this…
Category: Film
Jo & Steve (Chan is Missing)
Created by Wayne Wang & Terrel Seltzer "I'm no Charlie Chan." — Jo confesses NOT EXACTLY a P.I. film, but the spirit is certainly willing in the 1982 indie cult fave Chan is Missing. It's was about as low-budget as you could get, reportedly costing less than $20,000 to produce, and filmed in gritty, grainy … Continue reading Jo & Steve (Chan is Missing)
Andre Shame (A Low Down Dirty Shame)
Created by Keenen Ivory Wayans "Oh boy!" I thought, when I first heard about A Low Down Dirty Shame. A hilarious, sharp-eyed spoof on Shaft and all those enjoyably cheesy but vital Blaxploitation B-flicks back in the seventies that followed? A tongue-in-cheek action flick look back written, directed and starring Keenan Ivory Wayans, a man who … Continue reading Andre Shame (A Low Down Dirty Shame)
Jack Packard, Doc Long & Reggie York (I Love a Mystery)
Created by Carlton E. Morse (1901-93) "No job too tough, no mystery too baffling." — The Triple A-1 Detective Agency Motto AN EXTREMELY popular radio show in there 1940s, I Love Mystery followed the adventures of three men who met while fighting with the Chinese against the Japanese in World War II. Upon their return … Continue reading Jack Packard, Doc Long & Reggie York (I Love a Mystery)
Tom Welles (8MM)
Created by Andrew Kevin Walker Everyone take a shower. Happily-married, and boasting a new-born daughter, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania surveillance expert and private eye TOM WELLES is hired by a wealthy widow to track down the origins of a reel of 8mm film that seems to depict the murder of a young girl. Tom's soon in way … Continue reading Tom Welles (8MM)
BJ (Yokohama BJ Blues)
Created by Shōichi Maruyama & Yûsaku Matsuda In Yokohama BJ Blues, a 1981 Neo-noir set in, well, Yokohama, Japan, shaggy-haired struggling blues singer and part-time private eye BJ is working a missing persons case, hunting for a lost boy, to make ends meet when his best friend, a cop, is murdered. And if that isn't … Continue reading BJ (Yokohama BJ Blues)
Biff Basham (Help! My Gumshoe’s an Idiot!)
Created by Michael Webb Clueless young New Orleans private eye BIFF BASHAM stumbles into a dumpster fire of a case in Help! My Gumshoe’s an Idiot!, a low-budget 2018 turkey that attempts to do to the Shamus Game what Airplane! did to air travel. Nope. Not even close. With so many absurd sight gags, wisecracks, … Continue reading Biff Basham (Help! My Gumshoe’s an Idiot!)
Mary Roberts (Whispering City/La forteresse)
Created by Michael Lennox and George Zuckerman Newshawk MARY ROBERTS works the Québec City crime beat in the Duplessis-era Whispering City, an obscure but surprisingly strong noir from 1947. The fatal car crash of a long-retired actress intrigues intrepid reporter Roberts, sporting a rather nifty tam, and she decides to investigate further. She soon discovers … Continue reading Mary Roberts (Whispering City/La forteresse)
JJ Flask
Created by Chris R. Notarile Sing along if you know the words... In 2021, a black & white film short, J.J. Flask, was announced, written and directed by filmmaker Chris R. Notarile. The eponymous hero, JJ FLASK, we're told, is "an old fashioned, hard-boiled P.I. in a modern day setting," trying to scrape out a … Continue reading JJ Flask
My Scrapbook: This or That? (A Lincoln Lawyer Dilemma)
My ScrapbookThis or That? I'm just asking... FURTHER INVESTIGATION Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer)Our take... My ScrapbookA Cornucopia of Tear Sheets, Illustrations, Photos, Scribbles & Other Crap That I Think is Cool. Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.