he heard the first talkie and he knew that the talents that he had were in demand in Hollywood - and indeed they were. You know, when Hammett was first attracted to Hollywood. 'Oh, Hammett was a master of dialogue, and that was why he was so important to MGM. They didn't have the talent to do it in-house, they didn't believe, so they went to Hammett.' And it made the studio a lot of money, so they decided immediately that they needed a second story in the series. It was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture. 'After The Thin Man was first produced in 1934 by MGM - it was a B-movie, it was done on a $250,000 budget, and MGM expected it to be just another of the, you know, six-week wonders that they routinely produced. On how Hammett got a writing contract with MGM Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Layman talks with NPR's Scott Simon about Nick and Nora, and how Hammett borrowed from his own heavy drinking to create the beloved characters.Ĭlose overlay Buy Featured Book Title Return Of The Thin Man Subtitle The Original Screen Stories, After The Thin Man, Another Thin Man, 'Sequel To The Thin Man' Author Dashiell Hammett They have been edited by Richard Layman and Julie M. Now, for the first time, the stories of After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man have been published as novellas - The Return of the Thin Man. And although the screenwriting couple of Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich usually completed the screenplays, MGM Studio needed the stories and characters that only Hammett could write. In 1934, The Thin Man was made into a popular motion picture, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy - and a wire-haired terrier - which spawned five sequels, including After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man. They also drank a lot - Nick and Nora, not Asta, though he got an occasional leftover slurp. Nick and Nora Charles - and Asta, their wire-haired terrier - were rich, witty and in love, when America was in the middle of the Depression. It was hard-boiled, but also light-hearted funny, with a hint of homicide. Myrna Loy and William Powell (and a wire-haired terrier) starred as Nick and Nora Charles (and Asta) in the 1934 film adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man.ĭashiell Hammett's The Thin Man invented a new kind of crime fiction.

The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett