Created by Henry Beard (1945) Appearing under the gag pen name of Germaine Spillane, it's obvious that "My Gun is Cute" was intended of a parody of Mike Hammer. Only problem? With Spillane it's hard to tell who's zooming who, since more than a few people think Mike Hammer was already a parody. But here … Continue reading Meg Hammer
Category: Film
The Ensemble P.I Story
Truffaut's Stolen Kisses and Bogdanovich's They All Laughed The following is from Sam Wiebe's always interesting newsletter (available in free and paid versions), wherein he expounds on writing, crime fiction, film and whatever else catches his attention. Sam, of course, is the award-winning Canadian crime writer and the creator of Vancouver private eyes Dave Wakeland … Continue reading The Ensemble P.I Story
Antoine Doinel (Baisers volés/Stolen Kisses)
Created by François Truffaut & Marcel Moussy Shy, hapless and hopelessly romantic bookworm ANTOINE DOINEL is hardly your typical private eye. He tumbles in and out of love in a series of five romcoms by noted French director François Truffaut that follow him as he stumbles his way from rebellious teenager to manhood. He wanders through a … Continue reading Antoine Doinel (Baisers volés/Stolen Kisses)
My Scrapbook: Dashiell Hammett as The Thin Man
My Scrapbook Dashiell Hammett as The Thin Man A good part of Dashiell Hammett's initial — and ongoing —success and popularity was not simply due to his writing, but also to the fact that Hammett himself was a former detective for the Pinkerton Detective Agency. He wasn't no oil company exec, or a CPA, or, … Continue reading My Scrapbook: Dashiell Hammett as The Thin Man
John Russo, Charles Rutledge & Arthur Brodsky (They All Laughed)
Created by Peter Bogdanovich Leon: "I don't know what I'm going to do." Russo: "Who does?" A sleepy-eyed Ben Gazzara stars as New York private eye and man about town JOHN RUSSO, working for the decidedly blue collar Odyssey Detective Agency ("We Never Sleep"), in writer/director Peter Bogdanovich's They All Laughed (1981), a frothy cinematic … Continue reading John Russo, Charles Rutledge & Arthur Brodsky (They All Laughed)
Richard Stone
Created by Max Allan Collins P.I. renaissance man Max Allan Collins has also crossed over into other genres, including a couple of short novellasfeaturing 1840s Chicago private eye, RICHARD STONE, which combine dark fantasy elements with the P.I. story. Collins considers the first Stone novella 1996's "A Wreath for Marley" his gene-splice of The Maltese … Continue reading Richard Stone
Malcolm (The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery)
Created by Dean Hargrove (1938--) Why does The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery even exist? The 1975 film "comedy," co-written and directed by Dean Hargrove, has no real stars, few real laughs and little plot. And then the penny dropped. Two of the "stars" of this 1975 gobbler, Gabriel Dell and Huntz Hall, were previously … Continue reading Malcolm (The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery)
Margaret’s Man & Pam’s Man (Wolfs)
Created by Jon Watts “What’s the play here?” —Margaret's Man (Clooney) Two rival New York City fixers, who both prefer to work solo (hence the lone "Wolfs" of the title), are hired to do the same job in the 2024 "theatrical" release Wolfs, a goofy action thriller. The job? Clean up the mess left behind … Continue reading Margaret’s Man & Pam’s Man (Wolfs)
Nick Carpenter (Living to Die)
Created by Stephen Smoke (1949--) "I'm not here to borrow trouble, but I can afford it" Why? It's probably a bad sign for a film when there's more entertainment coming from the audience than from the screen. Call it the MST3K effect. But Living to Die is just that kind of film. It wasa 1991 vehicle … Continue reading Nick Carpenter (Living to Die)
My Scrapbook: The Three Stooges as Private Eyes?
My ScrapbookThe Three Stooges as Private Eyes?No, not really... Here's the cover for issue #1127 (August-October 1960) of Four Color, Dell's long-running and highly collectible series (1332 issues!), known for its photo covers and their film and television tie-ins. In their long, long run, Dell covered cartoons, kids shows, adult dramas, sci-fi, detective shows, westerns … Continue reading My Scrapbook: The Three Stooges as Private Eyes?