Backdrop fallback

Private Detective

Private Detective

Share

Private Detective

"CALL THE RIOT SQUAD! For the Biggest Laugh Riot in All Mystery History!"

1939

0h 55m

6.8(4 votes)

Mystery

Overview

A female private eye joins forces with a police detective to investigate the suspicious murder of a millionaire.

Links & Resources

Social & External

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures

The people behind it

Cast & crew

10 featured cast members

Starring

Jane Wyman

Jane Wyman

Myrna Winslow

Dick Foran

Dick Foran

Jim Rickey

Gloria Dickson

Gloria Dickson

Mona Lannon

Maxie Rosenbloom

Maxie Rosenbloom

Brody

John Ridgely

John Ridgely

Donald Norton

Morgan Conway

Morgan Conway

Nat Flavin

John Eldredge

John Eldredge

Millard K. Lannon

Joseph Crehan

Joseph Crehan

Capt. Murphy

William B. Davidson

William B. Davidson

Inspector Evans

Selmer Jackson

Selmer Jackson

Simmy Sanger

Creative team

Directed by: Noel M. Smith
Written by: Earle Snell
Kay Krausse
Produced by: Bryan Foy

Similar Movies

Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow

Skeptical young detective Ichabod Crane gets transferred to the hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, New York, where he is tasked with investigating the decapitations of three people – murders the townsfolk attribute to a legendary specter, The Headless Horseman.

The Trial

The Trial

Arrested for an unnamed crime, Josef K. is trapped in a surreal bureaucratic maze where justice is unknowable and guilt is assumed.

Music Box

Music Box

A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.

Gone Mom: The Disappearance of Jennifer Dulos

Gone Mom: The Disappearance of Jennifer Dulos

The story of Jennifer Dulos, the wealthy Connecticut mother-of-five who mysteriously vanished on May 24, 2019. Jennifer believed that she had found her Prince Charming in Fotis Dulos, but by the time of her disappearance, their 13-year marriage had disintegrated and they were engaged in a bitter divorce and a contentious custody dispute for their five children. When she disappeared without a trace after dropping off her children at school, the police turned the spotlight on Fotis, who claimed that Jennifer had staged her own disappearance a la Gone Girl.

Angel Heart

Angel Heart

A down-and-out Brooklyn detective is hired to track down a singer on an odyssey that will take him through the desperate streets of Harlem, the smoke-filled jazz clubs of New Orleans, and the swamps of Louisiana and its seedy underworld of voodoo.

Tightrope

Tightrope

Wes Block is a detective who's put on the case of a serial killer whose victims are young and pretty women. The murders are getting personal when the killer chooses victims who are acquaintances of Block. Even his daughters are threatened.

Who's Harry Crumb?

Who's Harry Crumb?

Harry Crumb is a bumbling and inept private investigator who is hired to solve the kidnapping of a young heiress which he's not expected to solve because his employer is the mastermind behind the kidnapping.

The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon

A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

Castle in the Desert

Castle in the Desert

Charlie Chan, with son Jimmy on a week's pass from the Army, takes up a request for help at a castle-home, miles from anywhere in the American desert south-west and inhabited by an eccentric, reclusive historian and his wife, a descendant of Lucrezia Borgia. Once there, he finds the request's legitimacy denied by all who are present, but still necessary as one houseguest has already been murdered, the other guests are at each other's throat, and the Borgia-related chatelain is suspected...

Money Hunt: The Mystery of the Missing Link

Money Hunt: The Mystery of the Missing Link

In this film noir comedy, detective Cash Hunt follows clues to solve a difficult puzzle. The producers offered a prize of $100,000 for the first viewer who could find the solution.

Shadow of a Doubt

Shadow of a Doubt

In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.

Psycho

Psycho

When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.

Rashomon

Rashomon

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

Agnes of God

Agnes of God

When a dead newborn is found, wrapped in bloody sheets, in the bedroom wastebasket of a young novice, psychiatrist Martha Livingston is called in to determine if the seemingly innocent novice, who knows nothing of sex or birth, is competent enough to stand trial for the murder of the baby.

Kiss Me Deadly

Kiss Me Deadly

One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.

The Sentinel

The Sentinel

As a young girl, Alison Parker attempted suicide after being traumatized by her father's sexual exploits. Now an elite fashion model, she moves to a Brooklyn Heights apartment building where she encounters a number of bizarre, eccentric tenants and attempts to uncover the building's sinister secret.

No Evil In Bebop

No Evil In Bebop

Buddy, a private investigator, visits the home of a suspect in a kidnapping case as he grapples with the notions of justice and the allure of revenge.

A Fall from Grace

A Fall from Grace

When a law-abiding woman gets indicted for murdering her husband, her lawyer soon realizes that a larger conspiracy may be at work.

The Mad Magician

The Mad Magician

Don Gallico is an inventor of stage magic effects who aspires to become a star in his own right. Just before his first performance his act is shut down by capricious manager Ross Ormond who wants Gallico's brilliant buzz saw effect for the act of The Great Rinaldi, an established star. With this defeat, and the humiliation of having already lost his wife Claire to Ormond, Gallico decides it is time to take matters into his own hands.

Recommended Movies

Marlowe

Marlowe

Mysterious Orfamay Quest hires Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother. Though the job seems simple enough, it leads Marlowe into the underbelly of the city, turning up leads who are murdered with ice picks, exotic dancers, blackmailed television stars, and self-preserving gangsters. Soon, Marlowe's life is on the line right along with his case.

The Interview

The Interview

A duel between a suspected murderer and a detective pressed by people who want results. But whose skin is really wanted?

The Long Goodbye

The Long Goodbye

In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.

Cult Killer

Cult Killer

A private investigator is forced into a dangerous alliance with a killer in order to uncover a quiet town’s grisly criminal underbelly and clear the name of her mentor, who is implicated in the crimes.

Righteous Kill

Righteous Kill

Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?

Zero Effect

Zero Effect

Daryl Zero is a private investigator and—along with his assistant, Steve Arlo—he solves impossible crimes and puzzles. Although Daryl's a master investigator, he doesn't know what to do with himself when he's not working; he has no social skills, writes bad music and drives Steve crazy.

Reptile

Reptile

Following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems, and by doing so dismantles the illusions in his own life.

Who's Harry Crumb?

Who's Harry Crumb?

Harry Crumb is a bumbling and inept private investigator who is hired to solve the kidnapping of a young heiress which he's not expected to solve because his employer is the mastermind behind the kidnapping.

The Kid Detective

The Kid Detective

A once-celebrated kid detective, now 31, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity. Until a naive client brings him his first 'adult' case, to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.

Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone

When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons—they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live.

McQ

McQ

Police Lieutenant Lon McQ investigates the killing of his best friend and uncovers corrupt elements of the police department dealing in confiscated drugs.

Knives Out

Knives Out

When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.

The Mirror Crack'd

The Mirror Crack'd

Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.

Jesse Stone: No Remorse

Jesse Stone: No Remorse

Police Chief Jesse Stone, who was suspended by the Paradise, Mass. Town Council, begins moonlighting for his friend, State Homicide Commander Healy, by investigating a series of murders in Boston, leaving Rose and Suitcase to handle a crime spree in Paradise on their own. Jesse pours his energy into his work in an effort to push away his twin demons: booze and women. When his investigation leads to notorious mob boss Gino Fish, Jesse's pursuit becomes hazardous.

The Thin Man

The Thin Man

Former detective Nick Charles has retired from police work, preferring a life of cocktails, parties, and relaxation with his wealthy wife, Nora. Their holiday is interrupted when the daughter of Nick’s former client asks for help finding her missing father, eccentric inventor Clyde Wynant. When Wynant’s body is discovered, Nick is drawn back into the investigation, with Nora eagerly joining him. As the couple questions Wynant’s family, friends, and business associates, a tangled web of greed, deception, and murder begins to unravel. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke and adapted from Dashiell Hammett’s novel, The Thin Man combines witty dialogue, sophisticated comedy, romance, and classic mystery. William Powell and Myrna Loy are perfectly matched as Nick and Nora Charles, whose playful banter and effortless chemistry made them one of Hollywood’s most beloved screen couples. This stylish 1934 mystery remains a landmark of classic American cinema.

The Big Fix

The Big Fix

Private detective Moses Wine is hired by his former college girlfriend to investigate a political smear campaign and he sets out to find out who is responsible, with deadly results.

Hollywoodland

Hollywoodland

When Hollywood superstar George Reeves dies in his home, private detective Louis Simo is hired to investigate his death and gets caught in a web of lies involving a big studio executive's wife. Based on a true story.

Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise

Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise

When Jesse Stone looks into the murder of a teen-age girl whose body is found floating in a local lake, it brings him up against the Boston mob and into the affluent world of a bestselling writer who exploits troubled teens.

The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon

A lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of a private detective, who is quickly caught up in the mystery and intrigue of a statuette known as the Maltese Falcon.

The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.