Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective
Encyclopedia
Dan Turner, also known as the Hollywood Detective, was a fictional private detective
created by Robert Leslie Bellem
. His first appearance was in the second issue of the pulp magazine
Spicy Detective, dated June 1934, and he continued to appear regularly in that magazine (which was retitled Speed Detective in 1943) until its demise in February 1947. He also appeared in his "own" magazine, Hollywood Detective, which was published by Culture Publications (later Trojan Publishing) and ran from January 1942 to October 1950.
Dan Turner was a typical hardboiled
private eye, who worked in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles
. Most of the stories are set in and around the film
studios, and focus on crimes involving people in the movie business – film stars
, stuntmen
, producers
, agents
, extras
and an endless array of glamorous female "starlets". The Dan Turner stories were notorious for their emphasis on sexual content, although this was generally implied rather than described explicitly.
A large number of the Dan Turner stories were written by Bellem himself, who had a good inside knowledge of Hollywood having worked as a film extra. The Hollywood Detective magazine also featured a Dan Turner comic strip, drawn by Max Plaisted. Adolphe Barreaux, who drew the much racier Sally The Sleuth, was the first to draw Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective in the 1940s (the stories by Bellem).
All the Dan Turner stories are written in the first person
, in a racy, slang
-ridden style that gives them a unique flavor. Guns are never "guns" but "roscoes", and they always go "ka-chow!". A woman is never simply a "woman" but a "dame", "frail", "quail", "wren" or, if particularly attractive, a "doll" or "cutie".
In his comic essay, "Somewhere A Roscoe...," humorist S.J. Perelman both praises and skewers the Dan Turner mysteries. In the essay, Perelman says of Culture Publications, Inc., "In Spicy Detective, they have achieved the sauciest blend of libido and murder this side of Gilles de Rais. They have juxtaposed the steely automatic and the frilly pantie and found that it pays off. Above all, they have given the world Dan Turner, the apotheosis of all private detectives."
Using quotes taken from various Dan Turner mysteries in Spicy Detective, Perelman pokes fun at Turner's hard-boiled character. (After finding a female body in his closet in "Corpse in the Closet", Dan Turner observes, "It's a damned screwy feeling to reach for pajamas and find a cadaver instead." Perelman comments on this, "Mr. Turner, you will perceive, is a man of sentiment.") (Likewise, in comics, Dan says things like, "She's deader than a Nazi's conscience!")
Perelman also quotes several murder scenes from several different Dan Turner mysteries, noting that they all bear a remarkable similarity. The murder scenes always involve a "roscoe" which says "Ka-chow!," "Chow! Chow!," or "Wh-r-r-ang!" After the body hits the floor, Dan Turner always comments that the victim is "as dead as an iced catfish" or "as dead as vaudeville" or "as dead as a smoked herring".
"The murders," Perelman notes, "follow an exact, rigid pattern, almost like the ritual of a bullfight or a Chinese play."
"The only other recurring character in the series was his pal, and sometime-rival, Lieutenant Dave Donaldson of the homicide squad, whose chief purpose seemed to be to get the bodies hauled away."
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
created by Robert Leslie Bellem
Robert Leslie Bellem
Robert Leslie Bellem was a prolific American pulp magazine writer, best known for his creation of Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective. He was born in either 1894 or 1902, and died in 1968. Before becoming a writer he worked in Los Angeles as a newspaper reporter, radio announcer and film extra...
. His first appearance was in the second issue of the pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
Spicy Detective, dated June 1934, and he continued to appear regularly in that magazine (which was retitled Speed Detective in 1943) until its demise in February 1947. He also appeared in his "own" magazine, Hollywood Detective, which was published by Culture Publications (later Trojan Publishing) and ran from January 1942 to October 1950.
Dan Turner was a typical hardboiled
Hardboiled
Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...
private eye, who worked in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Most of the stories are set in and around the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
studios, and focus on crimes involving people in the movie business – film stars
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
, stuntmen
Stunt performer
A stuntman, or daredevil is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be...
, producers
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, agents
Talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
, extras
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
and an endless array of glamorous female "starlets". The Dan Turner stories were notorious for their emphasis on sexual content, although this was generally implied rather than described explicitly.
A large number of the Dan Turner stories were written by Bellem himself, who had a good inside knowledge of Hollywood having worked as a film extra. The Hollywood Detective magazine also featured a Dan Turner comic strip, drawn by Max Plaisted. Adolphe Barreaux, who drew the much racier Sally The Sleuth, was the first to draw Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective in the 1940s (the stories by Bellem).
All the Dan Turner stories are written in the first person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
, in a racy, slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
-ridden style that gives them a unique flavor. Guns are never "guns" but "roscoes", and they always go "ka-chow!". A woman is never simply a "woman" but a "dame", "frail", "quail", "wren" or, if particularly attractive, a "doll" or "cutie".
In his comic essay, "Somewhere A Roscoe...," humorist S.J. Perelman both praises and skewers the Dan Turner mysteries. In the essay, Perelman says of Culture Publications, Inc., "In Spicy Detective, they have achieved the sauciest blend of libido and murder this side of Gilles de Rais. They have juxtaposed the steely automatic and the frilly pantie and found that it pays off. Above all, they have given the world Dan Turner, the apotheosis of all private detectives."
Using quotes taken from various Dan Turner mysteries in Spicy Detective, Perelman pokes fun at Turner's hard-boiled character. (After finding a female body in his closet in "Corpse in the Closet", Dan Turner observes, "It's a damned screwy feeling to reach for pajamas and find a cadaver instead." Perelman comments on this, "Mr. Turner, you will perceive, is a man of sentiment.") (Likewise, in comics, Dan says things like, "She's deader than a Nazi's conscience!")
Perelman also quotes several murder scenes from several different Dan Turner mysteries, noting that they all bear a remarkable similarity. The murder scenes always involve a "roscoe" which says "Ka-chow!," "Chow! Chow!," or "Wh-r-r-ang!" After the body hits the floor, Dan Turner always comments that the victim is "as dead as an iced catfish" or "as dead as vaudeville" or "as dead as a smoked herring".
"The murders," Perelman notes, "follow an exact, rigid pattern, almost like the ritual of a bullfight or a Chinese play."
"The only other recurring character in the series was his pal, and sometime-rival, Lieutenant Dave Donaldson of the homicide squad, whose chief purpose seemed to be to get the bodies hauled away."