The Private Eye
(Tropes in American Film-noir) "Corporate copper", "Gumshoe", two terms that are both synonymous for the profession of Private investigator. Private investigation may be a controversial subject, but the actors who played them on the silver screen were vital to the American film industry. There is no doubt that the role of the Private detective in America cinema was as popular as the movies were exhilarating. Two actors were well known for their portrayal of the so-called, private dick. First, there was Dick Powell as "Phillip Marlowe" in "Murder, My Sweet". Humphrey Bogart also played Marlowe in "The Big Sleep"; however, Bogart's most well-known private eye feature was "The Maltese Falcon" in which he portrayed the private eye "Sam Spade". Both "The Maltese Falcon" and "Murder, My Sweet" made these two actors a household name, and because of their unique style in each film Bogart and Powell helped make the private eye a standard in film noir. …show more content…
The private eye easily fulfilled all three of these features and more, making them the perfect choice for any director of these classic dark films. With world war 2 causing huge deficits in the American film industry producers needed a trope that would bring action to films without a large price tag, and so the iconic Private eye prototype was born. Other action films, such as those about war and large fictitious creatures, had large budgets with scenes that had to be filmed on location with outlandish special effects. However, private eye films put the action on city streets with little need for more special effects than a gunshot. Nevertheless, the low budget nature of the films also caused the need for higher quality acting, so to make the trope work directors had to hire the best actors of the
(Tropes in American Film-noir) "Corporate copper", "Gumshoe", two terms that are both synonymous for the profession of Private investigator. Private investigation may be a controversial subject, but the actors who played them on the silver screen were vital to the American film industry. There is no doubt that the role of the Private detective in America cinema was as popular as the movies were exhilarating. Two actors were well known for their portrayal of the so-called, private dick. First, there was Dick Powell as "Phillip Marlowe" in "Murder, My Sweet". Humphrey Bogart also played Marlowe in "The Big Sleep"; however, Bogart's most well-known private eye feature was "The Maltese Falcon" in which he portrayed the private eye "Sam Spade". Both "The Maltese Falcon" and "Murder, My Sweet" made these two actors a household name, and because of their unique style in each film Bogart and Powell helped make the private eye a standard in film noir. …show more content…
The private eye easily fulfilled all three of these features and more, making them the perfect choice for any director of these classic dark films. With world war 2 causing huge deficits in the American film industry producers needed a trope that would bring action to films without a large price tag, and so the iconic Private eye prototype was born. Other action films, such as those about war and large fictitious creatures, had large budgets with scenes that had to be filmed on location with outlandish special effects. However, private eye films put the action on city streets with little need for more special effects than a gunshot. Nevertheless, the low budget nature of the films also caused the need for higher quality acting, so to make the trope work directors had to hire the best actors of the