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- EW Staff
- Jessica Fletcher (Murder, She Wrote) From the catchy intro to the cavalcade of guest stars with delightfully daffy Maine accents, rewatching Murder, She Wrote now is as cozy as sipping a warm cup of tea on a snowy night.
- Columbo. He could be anybody or nobody. Shabby hair, jacket big enough to swim in, one of those faces, a voice that mumbles a low tobacco rasp. The killers barely notice the unkempt LAPD detective.
- Sherlock and Watson. No list of pop culture detectives would be complete without the boys of Baker Street. In the last century, Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary heroes have been adapted so many times, they're practically synonymous with the word "mystery."
- Philip Marlowe. If Sam Spade invented the hardboiled detective, Philip Marlowe perfected it. As wisecracking and hard-drinking as Spade, Marlowe also has a touch of something gentler about him, as a philosophical creature with a soft spot for chess and poetry.
- 10 Jake Gittes
- 9 Rick Deckard
- 8 Harry Callahan
- 7 Clarice Starling
- 6 David Mills and William Somerset
- 5 Philip Marlowe
- 4 Loki
- 3 Hercule Poirot
- 2 Benoit Blanc
- 1 Sherlock Holmes
'Chinatown’
Roman Polanski’s Chinatown follows Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson), a private detective, who is hired to catch an adulterer, however, he ends up getting entangled in a web of lies, corruption, and murder. Chinatown is an undisputed masterpiece and is regarded as one of the finest murder mystery movies of all timewith 11 Oscar nominations. While Gittes is undoubtedly a capable investigator, Chinatown delves into the complexities of power, greed, and deception, suggesting that even the most skille...
‘Blade Runner’
Blade Runner takes place in a dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, where the powerful Tyrell Corporation has created replicants, or synthetic humans, to labor in space colonies. The film follows a burnt-out cop, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) grudgingly agrees to track down a fugitive crew of advanced replicants as they flee back to Earth. Despite a decaying world and a dreadful profession along with his both cool and somewhat defeated look, Detective Deckard still manages to care, perhaps more deepl...
‘Dirty Harry’
Dirty Harry is set in San Francisco in 1971 during the time when the “Scorpio Killer” terrorizes the city by shooting defenseless people and extorting money via notes left at the crime scene. Clint Eastwood's Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahanis tasked with solving the case. Because of Inspector Callahan's fame, the obscene moniker "Dirty Harry" has come to symbolize a merciless police officer. "Dirty" Harry is motivated to defend and exact revenge for those who have been the victims of violent...
‘The Silence of the Lambs’
The Silence of the Lambs is a psychological horror film adapted from Thomas Harris's 1988 novel of the same name. The film follows a young FBI trainee named Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) who is searching for a serial killer with the help of another imprisoned psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer, Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). Agent Starling, who isn't a detective in the traditional sense, still succeeds in utilizing her investigative skills to not only get information from Lect...
'Se7en'
David Fincher’s Se7en follows a disillusioned investigator William Somerset (Morgan Freeman), who is close to retirement, and his new colleague, recently transferred David Mills (Brad Pitt), as they work to catch a serial killer before he can complete a string of killings based on the seven deadly sins. The tension-filled pursuit of an Old Testament-inspired serial killer and the conflicted chemistry between the two detectives are what make the movie and this duo legendary. They each have dif...
‘The Big Sleep’
Based on the 1939 novel of the same name by Raymond Chandler, Howard Hawks's The Big Sleep follows private detective, Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) who is hired by a wealthy family to help resolve their daughter’s gambling issues. However, things aren’t easy as Marlowe has witnessed murders and extortion before he can close the case. Underneath the sarcastic, intoxicated, and tough exterior, Marlowe is subdued, reflective, and philosophical, which makes him a very interesting character. He...
‘Prisoners’
Prisoners revolves around the kidnapping of two young girls in Pennsylvania and the accompanying police search for the alleged kidnapper. Jake Gyllenhaal masterfully plays Detective Loki, the assigned police officer on the case. As Loki investigates, he arrests a suspect, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but due to a lack of evidence, Jones is released. The father of one of the daughters takes matters into his own hands as he kidnaps Alex and holds him captive. In addition to his dusty appearance with...
‘Death on the Nile’
Death on the Nile is based on Agatha Christie's 1937 novel of the same name that continues to follow the adventure of the Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh). The film centers on a beautiful honeymoon of a picture-perfect couple which is brutally cut short after the wife was mysteriously shot dead. Branagh is the fifth actor to play Poirot, although they all exhibit the unique qualities and skills that are associated with the character as depicted in Christie's novels. Additional...
‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’
Daniel Craig returns to his role as detective Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion after the success of the 2019 Knives Out. Glass Onion starts when the tech billionaire, Miles Bron (Edward Norton) invites his friends on vacation on a private Greek island, and as soon as a body is discovered, Detective Blanc takes on his new case. The last time fans met Det. Blanc, he appears to be a calm, self-assured, and slightly eccentric man as he conducts his interviews with the victim’s family members and searc...
‘Sherlock Holmes’
The most well-known investigator in the field is Sherlock Holmes, who in many ways established the very definition of a detective. Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmesfollows the titular character as he is hired by a secret society in 1890 to thwart a mysticist's scheme to seize control of Britain via ostensibly magical powers. There are many different depictions of Holmes on the big screen, but Robert Downey Jr.'s is distinctive. Regardless of which version, each actor who portrays Holmes on screen...
- Jessie Nguyen
- Senior List Writer
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991) A nightmare in which lambs are being slaughtered on a firm haunts a young trainee from Quantico, Virginia. She feels that if she could save another innocent from the clutches of a crazy psychopath, she just might get rid of those dreams.
- Vertigo (1958) A man afraid of heights who had seen his fiancée jumping from the top of a tower, suddenly finds her alive. But she claims herself to be someone else.
- The French Connection (1971) Inspired by a true story, ‘The French Connection’ is a gritty, fast-paced, and innovative police drama about two New York City cops trying to intercept a huge heroin shipment coming from France.
- Zodiac (2007) In the late sixties/early seventies, a serial killer was roaming loose on the streets of San Francisco. Each of his killings was followed up by an encrypted letter to the local news papers, taunting the police to crack them.
- The Maltese Falcon. Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre. 68 votes. The Maltese Falcon (1941), directed by John Huston, is a cornerstone of the film noir genre, delivering a spellbinding mix of intrigue, betrayal, and mystery.
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Ida Lupino. 51 votes. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1931), starring Basil Rathbone as the iconic Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as his loyal companion Dr. John Watson, is a classic in the detective genre that has enthralled audiences for decades.
- The Maltese Falcon. Bebe Daniels, Ricardo Cortez, Dudley Digges. 51 votes. The 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon, predating the more famous 1941 adaptation, is a noteworthy early attempt to bring Dashiell Hammett's celebrated novel to the silver screen.
- Seven. Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow. 80 votes. Seven is a gripping psychological thriller that delves into the dark heart of human morality and sin.
Inspector Lewis: With Kevin Whately, Laurence Fox, Clare Holman, Rebecca Front. DI Robert Lewis and DS James Hathaway solve the tough cases that the learned inhabitants of Oxford throw at them.
- (16K)
- 2006-07-30
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- 90
Inspector Morse: With John Thaw, Kevin Whately, James Grout, Peter Woodthorpe. Chief Inspector Morse has an ear for Western classical music, a taste for beer, and a nose for crime.
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Who is Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther?
Jul 26, 2024 · Arguably one of the most iconic comedy mystery films of all time, The Pink Panther introduced the world to the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, played with inimitable charm by Peter Sellers. As Clouseau attempts to recover a stolen gem, the film serves up an irresistible blend of slapstick, verbal sparring, and deftly-constructed intrigue.