5 Ingenious Detective Films Not on Netflix or Hulu
From fumbling inspectors to undercover cops, you won’t find these movies streaming anywhere else
A footprint in the mud, a fingerprint on a mirror, the smoking gun tossed to the side of the crime scene… a good detective film soaks in these little details to engage the audience and fold them into the action. The movie equivalent of a good beach read, an awesome detective movie is easy to take in and endlessly entertaining, which is why we think you should check out some great ones now streaming on the service. Each week here at Tribeca Shortlist, we like to bring to your attention some of our best movies you won’t find streaming anywhere else, and this week we’re recommending five awesome detective films that aren’t on Netflix or Hulu.
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The Pink Panther
Our first three entries in this week’s recommendations are all from the classic comedy/mystery series The Pink Panther. The first of director Blake Edwards’ delightfully slapstick-laden detective comedies finds famously inept French Inspector Jacques Clouseau on the perpetual trail of Sir Charles Litton, a suave jewel thief known as ‘The Phantom,’ who has come to a deluxe resort in search of the precious “Pink Panther” diamond. When the jewel is stolen at a posh costume ball, Clouseau is framed for the crime.
A Shot in the Dark
Inspector Clouseau is back on the case! The idiosyncratically exaggerated French accent that was to become a hallmark of Peter Sellers’ hilarious Jacques Clouseau is first introduced in this second installment of the Pink Panther series, which finds the infamously inept inspector investigating the murder of a chauffeur at the Parisian chateau of a millionaire and haplessly falling in love with the prime suspect at the same time.
The Return of the Pink Panther
Finally, we present the fourth film in the Pink Panther franchise (forget about the third, it wasn’t directed by Blake Edwards and didn’t star Peter Sellers). When the “Pink Panther” diamond is stolen once again, and only one clue is left behind — a white glove, the trademark of world-renowned but presumed retired jewel thief, ‘The Phantom’ — perpetually bumbling French Inspector Clouseau takes the case in this fourth installment of Blake Edwards’ beloved farcical series.
Infernal Affairs
Now it’s time for something a bit more serious. In this beautifully crafted Chinese crime thriller, two men go deep undercover: A fresh-faced Mafioso becomes a policeman, while a young cop infiltrates the mob. Ten years later, with the psychological pressures of living a lie for so long starting to wear on them, each is unknowingly assigned by their superiors to find the traitor in their midst — to find themselves, that is.
Angel Heart
This final selection is an under-seen gem with some serious talent on screen. Raggedy, 1950s New York private eye Harry Angel (a distinctly unkempt Mickey Rourke) is hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre (a devilishly stylized Robert De Niro) to track down missing singer Johnny Favorite. But when his investigation takes him to the outskirts of New Orleans, everyone he questions about the singer’s whereabouts ends up killed in a brutal, ritualistic fashion.
