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Bumbling Detectives

Inside Cinema trains its magnifying glass on a pratfalling archetype of crime fiction.

Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple invariably know what they're doing, but the comically inept Inspector Clouseau-like sleuth is one of the mystery movie's tried-and-tested conventions.

A look at how comic relief helps to offset the grisliness of murder, but also how the detective's seeming ineptitude - sometimes a deceptive act - encourages the viewer to play along and figure out the solution first.

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5 minutes

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