Determined, working women were the vogue of 1930s and 1940s films, especially when it came to solving a crime. In mystery and crime films of this era, female reporters and detectives kept up with their male counterparts, often outwitting them rather than being a damsel in distress. Sometimes, they were the reason a case was cracked.

Of the nine films released between 1936 and 1939, seven starred Farrell, with Lola Lane and future Oscar winner Jane Wyman each stepping in for one. Torchy Blane (Glenda Farrell) and Steve McBride (Barton MacLaine)

Title Director Cast Country Notes 1940: The Bank Dick: Edward F. Cline: W. C. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel: United States: Crime comedy [1]: The Fatal Hour ...

This is a list of fictional female investigators from novels, short stories, radio, television, films and video games. Laura Ackroyd is an investigative reporter who solves crimes in West Yorkshire with her boyfriend DCI Michael Thackery in a book series begun by Patricia Hall (Maureen O’Connor) in 1994.

"The Big Sleep", "The Maltese Falcon", "Laura", "The Killers", & "Murder, My Sweet" are on The Best Detective Films of the 1940s on Flickchart.