A Glean movie guide
The Definitive Detective Cinema Guide
Masterpieces of mystery and suspense.
From hardboiled private eyes to cerebral whodunits, these are the essential mystery classics.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Maltese Falcon
Humphrey Bogart defines the hardboiled private eye in this foundational film noir masterpiece.
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.
- 02
Chinatown
A cynical private investigator uncovers a massive conspiracy in this perfectly crafted neo-noir.
Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.
- 03
The Big Sleep
Philip Marlowe navigates a labyrinthine plot of blackmail and murder in a definitive 1940s mystery.
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.
- 04
Vertigo
Alfred Hitchcock’s haunting tale of obsession follows a retired detective on a surreal surveillance mission.
A retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.
- 05
Rear Window
A confined photographer turns amateur sleuth in this masterclass of suspense and visual deduction.
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
- 06
The Third Man
Post-war Vienna provides a stunning, atmospheric backdrop for a search for a mysterious missing friend.
In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a "third man" present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Major Calloway, and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna.
- 07
L.A. Confidential
Three very different detectives navigate corruption and scandal in 1950s Los Angeles.
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.
- 08
In the Heat of the Night
A brilliant Philadelphia detective must solve a murder while facing deep-seated racial hostility.
African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.
- 09
Murder on the Orient Express
Hercule Poirot must identify a killer among a train full of suspects in this quintessential whodunit.
In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.
- 10
The Thin Man
Nick and Nora Charles bring wit and sophistication to this charming early detective series.
A husband and wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.
- 11
Touch of Evil
Orson Welles directs this gritty, late-period noir about corruption on the US-Mexico border.
A border-town bombing draws Mexican investigator Miguel Vargas into a corruption-ridden police investigation led by crooked captain Hank Quinlan, setting off a deadly struggle over power, justice, and truth.
- 12
Seven
Two detectives track a methodical serial killer in this dark, highly influential modern classic.