He only wrote one as a novel, The Thin Man, but the characters lived on in a series of movies, radio broadcasts, TV shows, a Broadway presentation, and another stage play.
A quick aside—originally, the thin man referenced in the title was not Nick himself, who was described as overweight and out of shape. The thin man was the victim, Clyde Wynant. When the novel was adapted for a movie, William Powell, a much more attractive man than the written description might imply, was selected to play Nick Charles. Nora was played by Myrna Loy.
With the dashing, svelte Powell as Nick, the “thin man” soon became synonymous with Nick Charles in the public’s eyes.
One thing that caught my attention was the constant consumption of alcohol by the characters. As all creative works, the stories are products of their time.
Nick and Nora’s drinking reflect their identity. Urbane, witty, and effortlessly stylish. Along with other comic aspects, their tipsy exchanges lighten the tone of the murder investigations, making the stories feel more entertaining than grim. Nick’s perpetual drinking, and his casual side exploits in search of a drink at inopportune times, display nonchalance in the face of danger.
Alcohol drenches much of the Golden Age detective fiction, although its purpose was often functional rather than psychological.
Agatha Christie used drinks, both alcoholic and non-, as a murder vehicle. In Sparkling Cyanide, poisoned champagne shows up at a dinner party. Death in the Clouds brings us murder by coffee.
Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter Wimsey is particular about his wine and port, signaling
Ngaio Marsh often used drinking parties to create crowded, chaotic environments where motives and opportunities for crime were rampant. In Vintage Murder, a celebration featuring wine sets the stage.
As the mystery genre advances, we see more characters turning to alcohol as a crutch or an escape, sometimes to the point of interfering with their ability to proceed with the tasks at hand.
Is the consumption of alcohol important to your characters? Do they drink to socialize? To celebrate? To forget? Or do they abstain?
No heavy drinkers in my novels. Wine and beer on occasion. My Seamus McCree series title character's favorite wine comes in a box. In my current WIP, I use one character ordering a nonalcoholic beer to tip off another that the first is pregnant.
ReplyDeleteAs my daughters used to say, Dad is a wine connoisseur. He drinks the finest wines boxed in the US.
DeleteYour Dad and I have a lot in common.
DeleteMy characters are "a glass of wine wiith dinner" rather than hard core whiskey drinkers. I'm curious about mocktails and signature cocktails at weddings. I'm sure my kids can enlighten me.
ReplyDeleteJust went to a family wedding that had signature cocktails. It was interesting, but we left as soon as we reasonably could because the music was so loud and the entire occasion was degenerating into an alcoholic haze. Lovely wedding, though, and I think it's what the bride & groom wanted.
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ReplyDeleteInteresting perspective on novels and movies from that era. Seeing characters dressed in their formal gear holding a drink in a style of glass that none of them would probably ever own or drink out of (think martini glasses), helped people escape their hum drum lives. I have noticed a lot more drinking and even more smoking in films these days.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't noticed that, but then, I don't watch many films. And not too many folks dress up in their formal gear anymore.
DeleteMy characters have been known to imbibe the odd glass of wine or tropical drink, but mostly they live on coffee! Many years ago, pre-Internet for sure, a magazine printed a collection of drinks recipes of the 1930s. There were a lot, and some were quite inventive. When I was growing up my parents often hosted cocktail parties. A definite thing of the past!
ReplyDeleteYes, opening a story with a cocktail party would be a very good way to ground the readers in time and place.
DeleteIt is a throwaway usually for me. I tend to use coffee more.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes. Coffee. Definitely coffee. Or endless cups of tea, as in many of Ann Cleeves' stories.
DeleteI tend to avoid books that have their main characters, frequently drinking solo, always drinking.
ReplyDeleteThere is one series that I liked but stopped reading because the protagonist was almost always drunk or suffering from a hangover and the descriptions of his lack of sobriety just took over the story line and I just didn’t want to read about it.
Unless it is an integral part of the plot, I don’t feel describing a characters constant drinking really adds to the story.
Sometimes those sad-sack alcoholic detectives wallowing in their self-pity inspire frustration or even boredom in the reader, rather than the sympathy the author probably intended.
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