The Commercial Genre Supersystem of Early Cinema Screen Detectives

This contribution traces the history of early detective films, discussing them as commercial genre supersystems. The analysis focuses on examples such as Sherlock Holmes, Nick Carter, Stuart Webbs, and Joe Deebs, all of which find a culmination of sorts with the adaptation of Erich Kästner’s Emil and the Detectives (1931). The aim is twofold: On the one hand, the contribution establishes a diachronic as well as synchronic perspective on the media networks formed around the aforementioned detective characters, using Siegfried J. Schmidt’s corresponding media-theoretical model. On the other hand, it outlines the way in which the individual media texts coalesce as media networks within the detective genre system. The first part of the chapter describes the Sherlock Holmes media network as an example of pre-war detective films (1900–1914), the second and third parts similarly outline the serial genre of the detective films during the First World War (1914–1918), followed by the genre’s decline at the end of the 1920s (1918–1920). In closing, the contribution takes a look at the representation of children and young adults as audience members, supplemented by observations on contemporary debates concerning so-called Kinoschund (cinematic trash) and trivialization.