If you are of a certain age, you probably remember a show called Magnum PI starring Tom Selleck. Magnum was a private investigator who drove around in a Ferrari and had a thing for ladies wearing skimpy bikinis. He always got results and made the life of a PI seem impossibly exciting, but was this an accurate portrayal of a real life private investigator?
50s television was black and white–perfect for private eyes. Gritty fedora-hatted tough guys with a past represented by Boston Blackie, Mike Hammer and Richard Diamond who made the transition from movies and radio. Diamond morphed from Dick Powell’s singing New York radio version to David Janssen’s LA noir persona. More glamorous were Nick and Nora Charles and a quirkier take on the genre was Have Gun Will Travel’s Paladin. Favorite for the 50s - Peter Gunn, a classic with a jazz club setting and Henry Mancini theme. Dun, dun, dun, dun…Dun, dun, dun, dun, DA DA.
A Ferrari 308GTS revs past scenes of ocean and tropical forest, a Detroit Tigers baseball cap, Hawaiian shirts, Higgins and “the lads”. T.C. pilots the chopper, Rick serves drinks at the King Kamehameha Club, the luxury of Robin’s Nest. For eight years, Thomas Magnum was on the case.
