HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE (1991) – I want to be very clear – this review covers the six-episode Arts & Entertainment Network original program Hollywood Detective, NOT the 1989 Telly Savalas made for TV movie The Hollywood Detective.
Hollywood Detective is set during the Prohibition Era and featured a fun, clever gimmick. Gregory Peck’s son Tony Peck starred as Barkley Nunn, a private detective in late 1920s and early 1930s Hollywood. Nunn’s cases find him involved with famous writers and other figures of the time. And speakeasies. Lots of speakeasies.
The stories are played straight but there’s always a tongue-in-cheek air about the proceedings because the nostalgia and quasi-historical events are more than half the appeal. Some critics complained about the less than trail-blazing mystery writing in the series but that’s like complaining about how the shows Columbo or Monk didn’t reflect authentic police work. Or how the Moses Wine novels had the detective interacting with pastiches of recognizable 1960s and 1970s public figures.
Barkley Nunn’s escapades were valentines to hardboiled detective tales of the 20s & 30s and to Old Hollywood lore. The mysteries are fun but are only part of Hollywood Detective‘s charm. Continue reading
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