Trench Coats to Bright Shirts
For years' end, how all changed
We've come a long way, baby.
In the 1940s, we had Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe. Today's P.I.s lack their look. The change was subtle at first, then snowballed.
Let's look at those changes.
1940s: Unapologetically hardboiled
In the 1920s, the Private Investigator had a pulp magazine called Black Mask. Characters like Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe began there, developing into novella-length stories that were expanded into novels.
These heroes had no problem with physical violence and honesty so blunt it's nearly cruelty.
(To be fair, police officers weren't gentle. Police brutality won't seen as bad then.)
Under the trench coat, these detectives wore business suits. After all, they were still in a conservative era.
1970s: Changes
The last time I saw a new character wearing a fedora was an investigative reporter, Kolchak, the Night Stalker. He's a cult character.
[IMDB link]
I've seen police officers in trench coats, like Columbo. [IMDB]
Kojak was a gruff police detective back then, too. [IMDB]
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Both these shows led to jokes about the mannerisms of the main characters, but they were still hits.
One series turned the P.I. genre on its' head: The Rockford Files [IMDB]. Unlike the moral centers of older characters, Jim Rockford is an ex-con. Rockford would instead run away, whereas Spade and Marlowe had no problem fighting.
The classic detectives dressed as businessmen. Rockford dressed casually, in jeans.
Rockford may have been the first example of a new interpretation of a P.I. on the screen.
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1980: Goes even further
The most popular P.I. on TV was Magnum P.I. [IMDB]
Magnum is a former Navy vet and Vietnam Special Ops expert who resigns because he never got to be a young adult outside of war.
He relocates to Hawaii and works for a secretive wealthy author, using that author's Ferrari, while becoming a P.I.
Tom Selleck plays a detective different from anything we'd ever seen: unruly, curly hair, Hawaiian shirts, and that mustache!
Thomas Magnum took a sharp turn from the hardboiled detectives I idolize—and I must admit, it was fun to watch.
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In the late 1980s came style over substance (my poor eyes!), Miami Vice [IMDB]
Crocket and Tubbs (Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas) are undercover Miami police detectives who infiltrate the world of drug dealers.
Part of their disguise is a motorboat and suits in garish paisley colors.
Part of being undercover is they can get away with more violence.
There are no affiliate links for this one. The visual style was, first and foremost, an eyesore. We remember the writing less than the visuals.
It bothers me more here in Canada. This style has led to all our shows being filmed like this (in the 1990s), regardless of content. I can't give any titles. They were that forgettable.
There were other shows about undercover police detectives, but they were substance first.
There were also good detective shows around this time: Moonlighting [IMDB], with clever writing and Cybill Shepherd. Bruce Willis pre-Die Hard when he was still a TV actor.
I found it on Amazon—affiliate link.
Like Rockford, this was one of the rare shows back then in which neither detective had formal training. That continued for many series.
2018: What's old is new again
TV producers launched a remake of Magnum P.I.
Now, Thomas Magnum is a Navy Seal, retired after being imprisoned in… Afghanistan? Thomas and his friends were imprisoned together, making their bond tighter.
Thomas still lives on Robin Masters' estate, uses his fancy cars, and never sees Robin. This Thomas is clean-shaven and well-groomed. He does still wear Hawkins shirts sometimes.
Oh yes, in this version, Higgins is female.
She and Magnum become a couple at the end of season 4. I don't feel their chemistry, but I saw it coming after a scene with Higgins having dreams about Magnum.
Reviews of the show on IMDB are mixed. Some like it, some hate it. I'm in the 'like' camp. As one person points out, the original was over 40 years ago. This is our version.
Chemistry aside, I like the series. I like the characters and the overall writing.
Because Magnum has no legal restrictions, he gets away with most violence and illegalities. His friends in the police learn to bend the law for him.
There are five seasons, and there will be more, but shows have a curse: when the characters get romantically involved, the show loses steam and can't continue.
Check it out on Amazon—affiliate link.
Conclusions
Counting back, the detectives that inspired me were 80 years ago. The clothing has changed dramatically. While each had one thing in common:
They were cool.