Source: wtfzodiacsigns.com
Nick and Nora Charles: Best Detectives Ever by Greg Ferrara
Are Nick and Nora Charles of THE THIN MAN series the greatest movie detectives ever? My answer is simple: Yes, obviously. Now don’t get me wrong, classic Hollywood is practically overflowing with great detectives. There’s Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Philo Vance and Mike Hammer. But they’re all loners, either by choice or because their partner got killed (sorry Sam). Nick and Nora work together, and with a dog to boot! But here are the main reasons I rank them at the top:
The characters of Nick and Nora Charles are simply perfect!
The main characters in THE THIN MAN films are Nick and Nora Charles, a married couple made up of one-part retired detective, Nick, and one-part wealthy heiress, Nora. They drink away their days, reluctantly solve murders when called upon and love each other dearly. How often does a noir give you that warm, fuzzy feeling?
They’re played by William Powell and Myrna Loy!
Okay, okay, Philo Vance was also played by William Powell but absent Myrna Loy, there’s just no comparison. It’s a rare enough thing in the movies to find two actors with great chemistry but it’s even rarer for those two actors to land the perfect roles to exploit it. Powell and Loy did other movies together, like LOVE CRAZY, and while I love that movie it’s nothing compared to their work on THE THIN MAN movies. I would rank their chemistry near the top of the all-time list. Maybe the very top itself.
The banter!
When Dashiell Hammett wrote THE THIN MAN, he based much of the banter between Nick and Nora Charles on the kind of banter he enjoyed with his partner, Lillian Hellman. When the movie was written, the studio brought in the great husband and wife team of Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and they were instructed to focus on the banter specifically. The actual murder case needed to be understandable and move from point A to point B but the banter between Nick and Nora was what was considered important.
The drinking!
Now I’m not here endorsing irresponsible drinking and goodness knows, if you try to keep up with Nick and Nora, unless you’re Karen Allen in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, you’re going to lose. But the drinking is a large part of the charm of this couple. At a time when Prohibition had just ended, drinking in the movies had a celebratory nature that the Charles’ played off of wonderfully. When Humphrey Bogart downs a shot in a noir you can feel the despair. When Nick and Nora take a drink, they’re saying to the world, “Relax and enjoy the ride. We’re only going around once.”
Asta!
The Charles’ have a dog. Can you imagine Spade, Marlowe or Hammer dealing with a dog? And when you give Marlowe a cat, he promptly loses it. Asta becomes an actual part of the team and more of a child for the couple than a pet.
The Sequels!
It’s not often you’ll hear me going on about how great sequels are but THE THIN MAN sequels are the best! Every New Year’s Eve, my wife and I have a standing tradition of watching THE THIN MAN movies to ring in the New Year. Doesn’t matter which one or in what order, because here’s the great thing about the sequels: Since the series was always reliant upon the chemistry and banter of the Charles’, rather than the complexity of the murder case, each movie works splendidly on its own or as a part of a whole.
Their Singularity!
What do I mean by this last one? Simple. Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Mike Hammer, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, and on and on and on— all have actors that have played them brilliantly and are mostly identified with the roles. But Spade and Marlowe, Holmes and Marple and many others, have been played by multitudes of actors with varying degrees of success. Nick and Nora Charles, despite a tv offering in the ‘50s, are William Powell and Myrna Loy. Nick and Nora Charles do not exist as extant characters awaiting new mysteries to tell and new actors to play them. They are William Powell and Myrna Loy and they always will be. They are unique. They stand alone. Powell, Loy, Nick and Nora are not four people but two. So, when I look at THE THIN MAN movies, I feel like I’m looking at the real Nick and Nora Charles, as if they’re real people. No other detective or detective team has ever done that to me.
So long live Nick and Nora Charles, aka William and Myrna. The greatest detectives in the history of the movies!
God bless this write up! It’s perfection.
I also almost lost my cool when the author mentioned Karen Allen’s in Raiders of the Lost Ark when Marion Ravenwood beat a whole guys in a drinking contest. Marion is tied for my favorite movie character ever with Nora Charles.
Two lovebirds on a birthday date by the sea! Amigo was spotted snuggling up to his lovely lady Elizabeth on her 9th hatchday today, as they took in a romantic view of the Monterey Bay. 🐧❤️🐧
And yes, Amigo just turned two on January 19, in case you were keeping track of our penguins’ hatchdays.
Viviamo la stessa Musica I Nostri gemiti di passione, le note Il calore dei corpi le parole
L’Armonia delle nostre Anime La Colonna Sonora
Vittorio Ciani Proprietà intellettuale riservata Instagramm cianivittorio Tumblr vittoriocianimastersoul
You are not a visitor to my thoughts; you have become home, the one person who never leaves the threshold of my mind.
T.B. LaBerge
Yes…..💋
