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So You Want to Be a Detective

18 votes

Producing House

Joe McDoakes imagines himself as a private detective on a murder case. Throughout the film, he spars verbally with narrator Art Gilmore.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1948-06-26

Runtime: 11 mins

Director: Richard L. Bare

Writer: Richard L. Bare

Spoken language: English

Genres: Comedy, Crime

Original title: So You Want to Be a Detective

Production Companies: Richard L. Bare Productions

Production Countries: United States of America

Cast

George O'Hanlon
Joe McDoakes (a.k.a. Phillip Snarlow)

George O'Hanlon

Art Gilmore
Narrator (voice)

Art Gilmore

Lila Leeds
Veronica Vacuum (uncredited)

Lila Leeds

Kit Guard
Barroom Thug (uncredited)

Kit Guard

So You Want... Collection

So You Want to Be a Detective
3.4

So You Want to Be a Detective

1948-06-26

Joe McDoakes imagines himself as a private detective on a murder case. Throughout the film, he spars

So You Want to Be Pretty
1

So You Want to Be Pretty

1956-03-10

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

So You Want to Hold Your Wife
2.9

So You Want to Hold Your Wife

1947-11-22

In this comedic short, Joe McDoakes attempts to save his five-year marriage to Alice.

So You Want to Hold Your Husband
0

So You Want to Hold Your Husband

1950-07-01

Fed up with Joe's indifference toward her, Alice McDoakes takes her troubles to a marriage counselor

So You Want to Know Your Relatives
0

So You Want to Know Your Relatives

1954-12-18

Do-gooder Joe McDoakes is the guest on the "Know Your Relatives" TV show where, to his chagrin, many

So You Want to Move
0

So You Want to Move

1950-08-19

Joe plans on moving but needs tips on how.

So You Want to Be a Bachelor
0

So You Want to Be a Bachelor

1951-09-22

"I never knew what happiness was till I got married—and then it was too late," Joe recalls, flashing

So You Want to Build a House
2.3

So You Want to Build a House

1948-05-15

In this comedic short, Joe McDoakes is evicted from his apartment and decides to build his own home.

So You Want to Be on a Jury
0

So You Want to Be on a Jury

1955-05-07

Joe and Homer are both on a jury trying an accident case involving their boss and a gangster. Interf

So You Want to Be a Salesman
2.8

So You Want to Be a Salesman

1947-09-13

Joe McDoakes begins a new job as a vacuum cleaner salesman but can't seem to sell any.

So You Want to Enjoy Life
1

So You Want to Enjoy Life

1952-03-29

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

So You Want to Be a Plumber
1.5

So You Want to Be a Plumber

1951-11-10

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

So You Want to Be in Pictures
2.9

So You Want to Be in Pictures

1947-06-07

Aspiring actor Joe McDoakes blows his first part at Warner Bros. and has to settle for being a stand

So You Want to Give Up Smoking
0

So You Want to Give Up Smoking

1942-11-14

A semi-humorous look at the various types of smokers and the methods available to them to kick the h

So You Want to Be in Politics
0

So You Want to Be in Politics

1948-10-02

Joe McDoakes becomes enmeshed in a corrupt political election.

So You Want to Be a Gladiator
2.5

So You Want to Be a Gladiator

1955-03-12

Joe thinks he's back in the gladiator days, and finds himself sentenced to be thrown to the Coliseum

So You Want to Be Your Own Boss
0

So You Want to Be Your Own Boss

1954-03-14

Joe McDoakes, determined to be his own boss in this Joe McDoakes Comedy entry, opens up a new restau

So You Want to Be a Baby Sitter
0

So You Want to Be a Baby Sitter

1949-01-08

Joe McDoakes does NOT want to be a baby sitter.

So You Want to Be a Handyman
0

So You Want to Be a Handyman

1951-01-03

Joe MacDoakes' next-door neighbor, Marvin, comes over to help him fix his lawn-sprinkling system, bu

So You Want to Play the Piano
2

So You Want to Play the Piano

1956-05-05

Alice neglects her housework because she is enthralled with the long-haired piano player, Gregor Fla

So You Want to Be a V.P.
4.3

So You Want to Be a V.P.

1955-10-29

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

So You Want to Wear the Pants
2.5

So You Want to Wear the Pants

1952-11-08

It's a dangerous hypnotic suggestion when a psychiatrist tells married couple Joe and Alice McDoakes

So You Want to Be a Muscle Man
0

So You Want to Be a Muscle Man

1949-07-02

Joe wants to be a muscle man.

So You Want to Get Rich Quick
0

So You Want to Get Rich Quick

1949-10-28

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

So You Want to Be a Gambler
2.4

So You Want to Be a Gambler

1948-02-14

In this comedic short, Joe McDoakes experiences the pitfalls of gambling.

So You Want to Be an Heir
0

So You Want to Be an Heir

1953-12-19

Thinking he may inherit a million dollars from his dying grandmother, Joe McDoakes finds himself the

So You Want to Be a Cowboy
0

So You Want to Be a Cowboy

1951-04-14

Joe McDoakes and his wife Alice attend a western movie and George soon has himself in the movie show

So You Want to Go to a Convention
0

So You Want to Go to a Convention

1952-06-07

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

So You Want to Play the Horses
3

So You Want to Play the Horses

1946-10-05

In this outing, Joe loves playing the horses and shows what you can do to improve your odds of winni

So You Want to Get It Wholesale
0

So You Want to Get It Wholesale

1952-01-12

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

So You Want a Model Railroad
0

So You Want a Model Railroad

1955-08-27

Alice visits Mr. Agony with her latest problem with Joe. They had given Junior a toy railroad for a

So You Want an Apartment
2.5

So You Want an Apartment

1948-01-03

Joe McDoakes and his wife go apartment hunting.

So Your Wife Wants to Work
3.5

So Your Wife Wants to Work

1956-07-14

Joe McDoakes' wife Alice wants to return to work to add income to the household. Joe would rather sh

So You Want a Television Set
3

So You Want a Television Set

1953-05-23

Joe and Alice buy a television set and, due to some excuse, or another, the neighbors begin to drop

So You Want to Be Popular
0

So You Want to Be Popular

1949-03-12

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

So You Think You're a Nervous Wreck
3

So You Think You're a Nervous Wreck

1946-12-28

Joe McDoakes attempts to deal with his myriad neuroses.

So You Think You're Allergic
2

So You Think You're Allergic

1945-12-01

Joe McDoakes thinks he's allergic.

So You Think You're Not Guilty
2.9

So You Think You're Not Guilty

1950-04-15

Joe McDoakes pleads "not guilty" to a traffic violation but is convicted anyway. Handling this setba

So You Think You Can't Sleep
2.5

So You Think You Can't Sleep

1953-10-31

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

So You Think You Need Glasses
2

So You Think You Need Glasses

1942-12-26

A humorous but informative look at how an average man can remedy common vision problems.

So You Think the Grass Is Greener
0

So You Think the Grass Is Greener

1956-01-28

When he gets to his office after a usual morning of nagging by his wife, Alice, Joe McDoakes starts

So You Want to Keep Your Hair
3

So You Want to Keep Your Hair

1946-12-07

Average American Joe McDoakes searches in vain for any cure that will halt his fast-disappearing hai

So You're Going to Be a Father
2.1

So You're Going to Be a Father

1947-05-10

In this comedic short, Joe McDoakes goes through the problems and anxieties of becoming a new father

So You're Going to Have an Operation
0

So You're Going to Have an Operation

1950-12-02

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

So You're Going to the Dentist
0

So You're Going to the Dentist

1952-09-20

Joe McDoakes' dimwit neighbor Marvin becomes a dentist, and manages to convince poor Joe to let him

So You Want to Be on the Radio
2.9

So You Want to Be on the Radio

1948-11-06

Joe McDoakes and his wife love to participate in radio show contests, but something seems to interfe

So You're Having In-Law Trouble
0

So You're Having In-Law Trouble

1949-08-22

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

So You're Having Neighbor Trouble
0

So You're Having Neighbor Trouble

1954-01-30

Joe starts having trouble with an obnoxious neighbor.

So You Want to Throw a Party
2

So You Want to Throw a Party

1950-02-04

Joe and Alice McDoakes are planning on throwing a party, but Joe mixes up his list of creditors with

So You Want to Be a Paper Hanger
0

So You Want to Be a Paper Hanger

1951-06-02

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

So You Want to Buy a Used Car
0

So You Want to Buy a Used Car

1951-07-02

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

So You Never Tell a Lie
3

So You Never Tell a Lie

1952-08-02

When a wristwatch intended for a office contest winner gets mixed up and confused with the one Joe M

So You Want to Be a Musician
0

So You Want to Be a Musician

1953-01-10

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

So You Love Your Dog
0

So You Love Your Dog

1953-08-01

Despite the fact that during the war, Joe McDoake's dog Dusty did everything wrong including giving

So You Want to Go to a Nightclub
0

So You Want to Go to a Nightclub

1954-05-01

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

So You're Taking in a Roomer
0

So You're Taking in a Roomer

1954-10-30

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

So You Don't Trust Your Wife
2.5

So You Don't Trust Your Wife

1955-01-29

When his wife Alice questions Joe as to whether his insurance policy is paid up, he begins to see a

So You Want to Be a Policeman
0

So You Want to Be a Policeman

1955-12-17

Joe McDoakes is a shy, rookie motorcycle cop.

Reviews

t

talisencrw
This short film, an extra from my blu of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' is one of the better Richard Bare-directed 'Joe McDoakes' comedic shorts. Like Leonard Maltin states in his introduction to the 1948 'Warner Night at the Movies' that Warner Bros. attempts to recreate with this (as well as the cartoon 'Hot Cross Bunny'), it was a clever homage/satire of both Bogart's detective work in 'The Maltese Falcon' and the first-person point-of-view camera work prevalent in Robert Montgomery's 'Lady in the Lake' from the previous year.
2016-08-04

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