The Thin Man (1934)

The Thin Man is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy-mystery film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and based on the 1934 novel by Dashiell Hammett. The film stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a leisure-class couple who enjoy copious drinking and flirtatious banter. Nick is a retired private detective who left his very successful career when he married Nora, a wealthy heiress accustomed to high society. Their wire-haired fox terrier Asta was played by canine actor Skippy.

The film's screenplay was written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, a married couple. In 1934, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The eponymous "Thin Man" is not Nick Charles, but the man Charles is initially hired to find – Clyde Wynant. In the original novel Charles is described as being overweight and out of shape while Charles describes Wynant as a "thin man with white hair". The trim William Powell was cast for the films, leading many viewers to believe it referred to Nick Charles and, it was subsequently used in the titles of sequels as if referring to Charles. It was followed by five sequels. In 1997, it was named to the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".