Barney Miller
So thats where they got the idea.
shareI thought exactly the same thing. Is it true?
"At the end of life, we will be judged by love" ST John of the Cross
MovieChat Forums > Detective Story (1952) Discussion > Barney Miller
Cops working in NYC precinct houses were a staple of movies and television for years before Barney Miller came to TV. It had even been done for years before the Broadway play Detective Story was turned into a movie in 1951.
Life in a precinct house was such an overdone theme by the 70s that Barney Miller producer Danny Arnold had a hard time selling it to the network.
"It's been done to death" they said, but Arnold convinced them it would work because it would be a comedy with occasional dramatic moments. He was right. Barney Miller was one of the really great TV shows.
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I find this thread a bit shocking, but then I don't fully understand what you're looking for -- are you looking for crime dramas involving detectives, film noirs featuring detectives, detective films before 1951 or after 1951? There's a whole lot, so I can only make some suggestions. I don't know how close they are to what you want:
The Racket (1928)
M (1931)
Bureau of Missing Persons (1933) feat. Bette Davis and Pat O'Brian
The Thin Man (1934) feat. William Powell and Myrna Loy
After the Thin Man (1936) feat. William Powell and Myrna Loy
Dick Tracy (1937)
The Great O'Malley (1937) feat. Pat O'Brian and Humphrey Bogart
Another Thin Man (1939) feat. William Powell and Myrna Loy
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) feat. William Powell and Myrna Loy
The Maltese Falcon (1941) feat. Humphrey Bogart
Gang Busters (1942)
Crime by Night (1944) feat. Jane Wyman and Jerome Cowan
Shield for Murder (1954)
Vertigo (1958) feat. James Stewart and Kim Novak
The Pink Panther (1963)
A Shot in the Dark (1964)
The French Connection (1971)
Also, amateur sleuths in detective films was huge from as early as the 1930s. Although this includes The Thin Man series Nick was originally a detective. The list of very old amateur sleuths with multiple movies are Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Charlie Chan, Perry Mason, ect. But even so there are still actual detectives who feature in several pre-1975 films including Sam Spade and Columbo. I know there's a lot more, but I can't remember them right now.
Detective TV series:
Dick Tracy (1950)
Inside Detective (1950)
Dragnet (1951)
Richard Diamond, Inside Detective (1957)
The Thin Man (1957)
77 Sunset Strip (1958)
Hawaiian Eye (1959)
Bourbon Street Beat (1959)
Columbo (1971)
Barnaby Jones (1973)
Just a few of the tv shows. There were a lot more and practically all of those involved actual detectives.
As for recs, some of the movies I listed are very popular and although all involve detectives, not all have the same feel as Detective Story and not all involve the police station itself. Some, like the Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark are detective comedies. My personal favorites a Vertigo, Rear Window (which is amateur detective), The Thin Man (all of it. I love Dashiell Hammett's novels and the Thin Man adaptations of it), and M. There's also a lot of reporter-as-detective stories such as His Girl Friday and Front Page Woman that are black and whites too. Those are pretty good too, but the ones I mentioned aren't very gritty or dark.
If you are interested in police dramas...you might like "L.A. Confidential" (1997)
OR "Sea of Love" (1989)
And "Serpico" (1973)
OR "The Naked City" (1948)
And "Cop Land" (1997)
Even "Lethal Weapon"
OR "The Hard Way" (1991)
There's several police tv series... like "The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor" (1959)
Or the tv series "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993)
Or "Hill Street Blues". It was on for like 6 seasons...and I think it's on dvd.
Or maybe "NYPD Blue". It was on for a dozen seasons...and I think they still show reruns on TNT
Maybe even "Kojak"
And "Police Story" (1973)
And "The Streets of San Francisco" (1972)
And "Hawaii Five-O" (1968)
Or "McCloud" (1970)
OR "Nash Bridges" (1996)
Even "Alien Nation" (1989)
And "The District" (2000)
OR "Cagney & Lacey" (1982)
OR "Adam-12" (1968) Which was created by Jack Webb, the man behind Dragnet.
And there's the comedy "Car 54 Where Are You".
Or "Hooperman" (1987) Which was created by Steven Bochco, who was the man behind Hill Street Blues and NYPG Blue.
Lastly... "Call Northside 777" (1948) Based on a true story. Just to mention...the man administering the polygraph test to convict Richard Conte, was the actual inventor of the polygraph or lie detector machine, Leonard Keeler. He plays himself in the movie.
I'd never seen Detective Story until last night. The similarity to Barney Miller was immediately obvious, including the comic purse-snatcher, and the paranoid woman who wants police protection.
Police dramas can't avoid showing the precinct house. But both Detective Story and (especially) Barney Miller show it in the context of day-to-day, often boring activity. I don't know if this was new for motion pictures, but it was definitely new for television.