I finally read The Thin Man, by Dashiell Hammett. I’ve watched almost all of the movies (there are 6) with William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles. I wanted to see how it stood up to the movie, and vice versa. The movie is a thinner version of the book, but very true to the feel of the book. Several phrases are lifted straight from the book. It’s told from Nick’s point of view, in the Christmas season of 1932. Now a moment to set the time period. The radio, the phonograph (record player) and movies are the primary media, along with magazines and newspapers. Direct communication is through the dial phone. The FBI crime lab has just been set up. The 1932 Winter Olympics are at Lake Placid, the Lindburgh baby is kidnapped, Amelia Earhart flies from the US to Derry, Northern Ireland, and prohibition is still in full swing (it ends in 1933).The Miranda warning doesn’t become in use until 1966, and interrogations with the police can get violent. The primary long distance travel option is the train.
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Nick Charles is the son of a Greek immigrant, who had been working for a detective agency, before he met, and married Nora, a socialite. Now they live in California, but have gone East to evade the holiday season with Nora’s family. They’re in the tax bracket that can rent a suite in an expensive hotel while in New York. Nick meets an ex-client’s daughter, Dorothy, daughter of Clyde Wynant. She hasn’t seen him for years, and can’t find him. Which is how the story begins, and the Charles’ involvement in the entire mystery. Several times I came across lines that are featured in the film, “you got types?” “Only you, darling—lanky brunetts with wicked jaws. Despite trying his best to not be pulled into the mystery of the murdered secretary, and the disappearing inventor, he is dragged into it. The Charles’ deal with gangsters (both known and unknown to Nick), the rich, and the Wynant family. Asta, the schnauzer is featured, too, and is female.
This was my first time actually reading Hammett, and was surprised at how many sections of dialogue were included in the movie. It’s written in very spare prose, without much of what Nick thinks of situations, except when he says what he thinks. A title this old does have some non–PC language, but not as much as one would think. Apparently, Hemingway liked Dashiell Hammett’s books, and he was admired by Hammett. Nora is definitely herself in the book, and they are both definitely care for each other. The characters do come across, even in this spare style of writing. But you’ll need to read it to find the twists that keep the mystery moving. It’s a snapshot of a very specific time.
Hammet had been with the Pinkerton detective agency, as a detective. The experience underpins his work, giving it a realistic feel. He’s credited for the Hardboiled Detective school of detective fiction. His books and short stories certainly influence film noir style movies. In 1990 the Crime Writers Association picked three of his five novels for their list of The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time. Of all his novels, The Thin Man is the only one to include comedy as well as detection. It is also his last novel.
The Thin Man, by Dashiell Hammett, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Edition, a division of Random House, 1992 (First printed in 1933, 1934, by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. trade paperback.
