# The Cheap Detecive **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495 "2009-08-15T04:46:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495/1 "2009-08-15T04:46:25Z")
Which Bogart movies do I have to show Mrs. Plant before she can appreciate this film? I’m thinking _The Maltese Falcon_ and _Casablanca._ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495/2 "2009-08-15T05:22:12Z")
I might throw in _The Big Sleep_, too. It’s not necessary background, just a great movie. “Don’t call me ‘darling’ in front of the police, with a dead husband.” ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495/3 "2009-08-15T06:42:57Z")
Not a Bogart movie but add _Murder My Sweet_ with Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe. Some classic lines: > [@](#): > > Philip Marlowe: She was a charming middle-aged lady with a face like a bucket of mud. I gave her a drink. She was a gal who’d take a drink, if she had to knock you down to get the bottle. > [@](#): > > Philip Marlowe: “‘Okay Marlowe,’ I said to myself. ‘You’re a tough guy. You’ve been sapped twice, choked, beaten silly with a gun, shot in the arm until you’re crazy as a couple of waltzing mice. Now let’s see you do something really tough - like putting your pants on.’” ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495/4 "2009-08-15T13:16:22Z")
How about **The Black Bird** or **Murder by Death**? ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495/5 "2009-08-17T15:04:18Z")
Murder by Death does make a good double-feature with the Cheap Detective. But it’s not a necessary prerequisite. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495/6 "2009-08-17T16:20:25Z")
Also not Bogart, but it is a Philip Marlow and of the style. “Lady in the Lake” with Robert Montgomery in the lead role. In places a hair more light hearted than Bogart would play it, but still well done. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495/7 "2009-08-17T19:12:28Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’m thinking _The Maltese Falcon_ and _Casablanca._ I’m thinking you answered your own question. There are lots of other great noir films, but those happen to be the two main inspirations for _The Cheap Detective_, as well as a great introduction to the genre. As for _The Black Bird_ or _Murder by Death_, I don’t see why you would watch a parody in order to appreciate another parody, rather than watch the source material. You might enjoy _Spaceballs_,\* but surely _Star Wars_ would give you more understanding of _Blue Harvest_. \*Purely hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495/8 "2009-08-17T21:11:12Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > …As for _The Black Bird_ or _Murder by Death_, I don’t see why you would watch a parody in order to appreciate another parody… I think you could (well, possibly) say that _Murder by Death_ is meant as more of an homage than a parody. I would like to say the same about _The Black Bird_ because I truly love the concept that the _The Black Bird_ put out there, but really, it was just a parody. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495/9 "2009-08-19T16:53:18Z")
Also you might want to screen “To Have and Have Not”. Just for the reference about ‘you know how to whistle, don’t you?’ Plus it’s just a great movie. Bogey and Bacall backed up by Walter Brennan and Hoagy Carmichael. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495/10 "2009-08-19T18:35:54Z")
> [@Satchmo](#): > > Also you might want to screen “To Have and Have Not”. > Just for the reference about ‘you know how to whistle, don’t you?’ I don’t remember a “you know how to whistle” reference in _The Cheap Detective_; I haven’t seen it in a while, and that movie is so full of jokes that one or two may be eluding my memory for the moment. There is a parody of that scene in _Ded Men Don’t Wear Plaid_. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cheap-detecive/506495/11 "2009-08-19T18:40:51Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I don’t remember a “you know how to whistle” reference in _The Cheap Detective_; It’s there, but I don’t recall the context. I thought it was from _The Big Sleep,_ but I’m probably confusing “go ahead and scratch.” 🙂