So You Want to Be a Detective

Joe McDoakes becomes enmeshed in a corrupt political election.

So You Want to Be in Politics

1948

So You Want to Be on the Radio

5.7

1948

Joe McDoakes and his wife love to participate in radio show contests, but something seems to interfere every time they are lucky enough to be chosen as participants.

So You Want to Be on the Radio

1948

5.7

So You Want to Be a Baby Sitter

Joe McDoakes does NOT want to be a baby sitter.

So You Want to Be a Baby Sitter

1949

So You Want to Be Popular

Joe McDoakes takes advice on how to be more likeable from his only friend Homer Hotbox

So You Want to Be Popular

1949

So You Want to Be a Muscle Man

Joe wants to be a muscle man.

So You Want to Be a Muscle Man

1949

So You're Having In-Law Trouble

Joe's in-laws come over, and they suck.

So You're Having In-Law Trouble

1949

So You Want to Get Rich Quick

Joe comes up with a complicated scheme to bilk his dead uncle out of an inheritance.

So You Want to Get Rich Quick

1949

So You Want to Throw a Party

4.0

Joe and Alice McDoakes are planning on throwing a party, but Joe mixes up his list of creditors with the list of names Alice gave him to invite. The creditors have a much better time than Joe does.

So You Want to Throw a Party

1950

4.0

So You Think You're Not Guilty

5.8

Joe McDoakes pleads "not guilty" to a traffic violation but is convicted anyway. Handling this setback in his usual manner, the two-dollar fine quickly pyramids to a 10-year jail sentence.

So You Think You're Not Guilty

1950

5.8

So You Want to Hold Your Husband

Fed up with Joe's indifference toward her, Alice McDoakes takes her troubles to a marriage counselor. None of the courses of action she is advised to take have any impact on Joe, until she is advised to create the impression that she has left Joe for another man.

So You Want to Hold Your Husband

1950

So You Want to Move

Joe plans on moving but needs tips on how.

So You Want to Move

1950

So You're Going to Have an Operation

A satiric look at doctors and hospitals through the eyes of Joe McDoakes.

So You're Going to Have an Operation

1950

So You Want to Be a Handyman

Joe MacDoakes' next-door neighbor, Marvin, comes over to help him fix his lawn-sprinkling system, but they get the pipes crossed with the gas-line and almost asphyxiate themselves.

So You Want to Be a Handyman

1951

So You Want to Be a Cowboy

Joe McDoakes and his wife Alice attend a western movie and George soon has himself in the movie shown on the screen as Jump-Along Skip-Along McGur

So You Want to Be a Cowboy

1951

So You Want to Be a Paper Hanger

Joe McDoakes, ever obliging and always helpful, volunteers to hang the new wallpaper for his wife.

So You Want to Be a Paper Hanger

1951

So You Want to Buy a Used Car

In need of a new vehicle, Joe goes to the Cagey Car Company lot to get a used car,... with predictable results.

So You Want to Buy a Used Car

1951

So You Want to Be a Bachelor

"I never knew what happiness was till I got married—and then it was too late," Joe recalls, flashing back to bachelor days and his courtship with Alice.

So You Want to Be a Bachelor

1951

So You Want to Be a Plumber

3.0

In this comedic short, Joe McDoakes decides he should become a plumber.

So You Want to Be a Plumber

1951

3.0

So You Want to Get It Wholesale

Joe uses his "contacts" to buy a new oven as cheaply as possible.

So You Want to Get It Wholesale

1952

So You Want to Enjoy Life

2.0

Believing he has only a month to live, average guy Joe McDoakes decides to live life to the fullest in the time he has left.

So You Want to Enjoy Life

1952

2.0

So You Want to Go to a Convention

Joe has to find a way to go to a convention.

So You Want to Go to a Convention

1952

So You Never Tell a Lie

6.0

When a wristwatch intended for a office contest winner gets mixed up and confused with the one Joe McDoakes purchased for his wife, Joe once again finds himself on the short end.

So You Never Tell a Lie

1952

6.0

So You're Going to the Dentist

Joe McDoakes' dimwit neighbor Marvin becomes a dentist, and manages to convince poor Joe to let him become Marvin's first patient.

So You're Going to the Dentist

1952

So You Want to Wear the Pants

It's a dangerous hypnotic suggestion when a psychiatrist tells married couple Joe and Alice McDoakes to switch points of view during a session.

So You Want to Wear the Pants

1952

5.0

So You Want to Be a Musician

Joe McDoakes can't find a job as a bassoonist, so he pawns his instrument.

So You Want to Be a Musician

1953

So You Want a Television Set

6.0

Joe and Alice buy a television set and, due to some excuse, or another, the neighbors begin to drop in, stay to watch television, and raid their refrigerator.

So You Want a Television Set

1953

6.0

So You Love Your Dog

Despite the fact that during the war, Joe McDoake's dog Dusty did everything wrong including giving information to the enemy, Joe brings him home with him.

So You Love Your Dog

1953

So You Think You Can't Sleep

Average working man Joe McDoakes tries desperate measures to cure his chronic insomnia.

So You Think You Can't Sleep

1953

5.0

So You Want to Be an Heir

Thinking he may inherit a million dollars from his dying grandmother, Joe McDoakes finds himself the target of murderously greedy family members.

So You Want to Be an Heir

1953

So You're Having Neighbor Trouble

Joe starts having trouble with an obnoxious neighbor.

So You're Having Neighbor Trouble

1954

So You Want to Be Your Own Boss

Joe McDoakes, determined to be his own boss in this Joe McDoakes Comedy entry, opens up a new restaurant. Complaining customers and a sanitation inspector who closes the restaurant are just some of Joe's problems.

So You Want to Be Your Own Boss

1954

So You Want to Go to a Nightclub

In this Joe McDoakes Comedy, Alice insists they go to a night club, although Joe is both tired and broke.

So You Want to Go to a Nightclub

1954

So You're Taking in a Roomer

Joe and Alice decide to rent a room in their house to their neighbor Marvin, who says he is a potato broker.

So You're Taking in a Roomer

1954

So You Want to Know Your Relatives

Do-gooder Joe McDoakes is the guest on the "Know Your Relatives" TV show where, to his chagrin, many of his black sheep relations reveal the skeletons in the family closet.

So You Want to Know Your Relatives

1954

So You Don't Trust Your Wife

When his wife Alice questions Joe as to whether his insurance policy is paid up, he begins to see a plot to murder him in everything she does.

So You Don't Trust Your Wife

1955

5.0

So You Want to Be a Gladiator

Joe thinks he's back in the gladiator days, and finds himself sentenced to be thrown to the Coliseum lions after breaking a string while playing the lyre for King Nero.

So You Want to Be a Gladiator

1955

5.0

So You Want to Be on a Jury

Joe and Homer are both on a jury trying an accident case involving their boss and a gangster. Interference from both sides makes their task difficult.

So You Want to Be on a Jury

1955

So You Want a Model Railroad

Alice visits Mr. Agony with her latest problem with Joe. They had given Junior a toy railroad for a Christmas present, and Joe had taken it over and become obsessed to the point he has built a railroad empire using all of his time, energy and money. When Alice's mother comes to dinner, Joe even has a rigged-up train serving as the dumb waiter. Mr. Agony helps Alice to solve her problem.

So You Want a Model Railroad

1955

So You Want to Be a V.P.

8.5

Joe McDoakes is employed as the seventh vice-president in a firm that only makes promotions from the employee ranks.

So You Want to Be a V.P.

1955

8.5

So You Want to Be a Policeman

Joe McDoakes is a shy, rookie motorcycle cop.

So You Want to Be a Policeman

1955

So You Think the Grass Is Greener

When he gets to his office after a usual morning of nagging by his wife, Alice, Joe McDoakes starts to daydream about what life would be like married to the beautiful office blonde.

So You Think the Grass Is Greener

1956

So You Want to Be Pretty

1.7

In this comedic short, Joe and Alice McDoakes each wish their looks were better.

So You Want to Be Pretty

1956

1.7

So You Want to Play the Piano

4.0

Alice neglects her housework because she is enthralled with the long-haired piano player, Gregor Flatorsharpsky, next door. Joe buys a piano, and the accompanying free lessons, and sets out to impress Alice. Alice is vastly unimpressed.

So You Want to Play the Piano

1956

4.0

So Your Wife Wants to Work

7.0

Joe McDoakes' wife Alice wants to return to work to add income to the household. Joe would rather she stay at home to tend to domestic duties. When Alice threatens to return to her old job, a reluctant Joe agrees to her request to get her a job at his office. How will this work out?

So Your Wife Wants to Work

1956

7.0

Xavier Lombard is a world-weary private eye in London, in exile from his native Paris; his best friend is Nathalie, a high-class call girl. He gets a call from an old friend from the Paris police department, now a businessman whose brother-in-law is missing. The missing man's parents hire Xavier over their daughter's objections, and quickly he finds himself in the realm of children's sexual slavery.

The Lost Son

1999

6.0

Veronica Mars

6.6

2014

Years after walking away from her past as a teenage private eye, Veronica Mars gets pulled back to her hometown - just in time for her high school reunion - in order to help her old flame Logan Echolls, who's embroiled in a murder mystery.

Veronica Mars

2014

6.6

Mater Private Eye

6.4

2010

Detective Mater is hot on the trail of a dastardly car-napping! When Tia's sister goes missing, Mater is the only car she can turn to. With this tow truck on the case, anything can happen.

Mater Private Eye

2010

6.4

The Kid Detective

6.6

2020

A once-celebrated kid detective, now 31, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity. Until a naive client brings him his first 'adult' case, to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.

The Kid Detective

2020

6.6

The Nice Guys

7.1

2016

A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncovers a conspiracy.

The Nice Guys

2016

7.1

The Naked City

7.2

1948

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.

The Naked City

1948

7.2

Zero Effect

6.2

1998

Daryl Zero is a private investigator and—along with his assistant, Steve Arlo—he solves impossible crimes and puzzles. Although Daryl's a master investigator, he doesn't know what to do with himself when he's not working; he has no social skills, writes bad music and drives Steve crazy.

Zero Effect

1998

6.2

Bottle Rocket

6.7

1996

Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems far less sane than the former. Dignan has hatched a harebrained scheme for an as-yet-unspecified crime spree that somehow involves his former boss, the (supposedly) legendary Mr. Henry.

Bottle Rocket

1996

6.7

WHAT DID JACK DO?

6.3

2017

In a locked down train station, a homicide detective conducts an interview with a tormented monkey who is suspected of murder.

WHAT DID JACK DO?

2017

6.3

Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie

6.9

2023

Monk steps out of retirement as his stepdaughter's wedding turns tragic when her fiancé dies in a bungee jumping accident.

Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie

2023

6.9

Under the Silver Lake

6.4

2018

Young and disenchanted Sam meets a mysterious and beautiful woman who's swimming in his building's pool one night. When she suddenly vanishes the next morning, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal and conspiracy.

Under the Silver Lake

2018

6.4

Similar Movies

2 Days in the Valley

6.2

1996

In a sleepy bedroom community of LA's San Fernando Valley, the murder of a professional athlete by two hit men sets into motion a chain of events that puts the mundane lives of a dozen residents on a collision course. This clever tale tells the story of two hit men, a mistress, a nurse, a vindictive ex-wife, a wealthy art dealer and his lovelorn assistant, a suicidal writer and his dog, and a bitter cop and his partner.

2 Days in the Valley

1996

6.2

Fallen

6.8

1998

Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.

Fallen

1998

6.8

Murder at 1600

6.1

1997

A secretary is found dead in a White House bathroom during an international crisis, and Detective Harlan Regis is in charge of the investigation. Despite resistance from the Secret Service, Regis partners with agent Nina Chance. As political tensions rise, they learn that the crime could be part of an elaborate cover-up. Framed as traitors, the pair, plus Regis' partner, break into the White House in order to expose the true culprit.

Murder at 1600

1997

6.1

The Damsel

2014

A very short film about a modern day damsel.

The Damsel

2014

Space Case

2021

Space Case follows Bobbie Almond, a social outcast who has dreams to escape her small town life. She has a ticket to Mars! But when Bobbie's ticket to a new life gets stolen by her super Preppy sister, she's forced down a road of conformity, to be a part of the town's Beauty pageant! Will she conform? Or will she bail and follow her dreams!

Space Case

2021

Kiss the Girls

6.5

1997

Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.

Kiss the Girls

1997

6.5

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

6.7

1982

Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'.

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

1982

6.7

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

6.1

1990

To the Los Angeles elite, Ford Fairlane is known as "Mr. Rock 'n' Roll Detective." This loudmouthed ladies' man serves an exclusive rock star clientele, who depend on his keen eye and smug discretion. So when a heavy-metal musician dies mid-concert, Fairlane is on the case before the lights come up. But things turn shocking when radio personality Johnny Crunch hires Fairlane to find a missing groupie mere hours before he is electrocuted live on air.

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

1990

6.1

Textiles

4.4

2001