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Dashiell Hammett and "The Thin Man"
Dashiell Hammett's "The
Thin Man" represented a new kind of
crime fiction which was about murder but which was also (1) …………..- ………….. and
funny.
The Thin Man was extremely
popular and (2) ……………… five sequels.
Richard Layman has been
involved in the publication of two novellas and the stories have been in his
(3) …………. /……….. for over twenty years.
MGM expected The Thin Man to
be another of the (3) ……-………../ …………… that they were usually involved in.
MGM had to ask Hammet to get
involved in the second series because they didn’t believe they had the talent
to do it (4) …………- ……….. .
In the second movie “After The
Thin Man”, Nick Charles and Nora return
to San Francisco, find a body and get involved in a murder investigation
despite the fact that they have (5) …………. / ………… crime.
As this murder is somehow
linked to Nora’s family, Nick Charles can’t (6) ………… / ……….. from it.
During the reading from the
story, one of the reporters suggests that Nick is no longer retired from being
a detective and is in fact, working (7) ………………. .
Hammett knew that his special
talents would be well received in Hollywood after he heard the first (8) “…………. “.
What made Hammett’s scripts different from the screenplay was
their (9) ………….. .
Joseph Breen was the (10)
…………….. / ………… of the Motion Picture Association.
The character of Nick Charles
spent most of his day drinking alcohol but his character seemed to improve with
(11) ………… / ……….. .
It would seem that this
capacity for alcohol was also a characteristic of Hammett and for this reason
he (12) …………….. this quality in Nick Charles.
MGM became disillusioned with
Hammett because of his habit of never appearing at the (13) ………………… /
…………… and also because he was a member
of the communist party with a (14)
………….. - ………….. / ……………… .
Hammett himself became sick of
the (15) …..…………… of the protagonists of his scripts.
After MGM paid a huge sum pf
money for the rights to his characters, Hammett wrote that no other writer had
ever produced a more (16) ………………. / ……………. set of characters.
KEY
Dashiell Hammett and "The Thin Man"
Dashiell Hammett's "The
Thin Man" represented a new kind of
crime fiction which was about murder but which was also (1) ……light……..- ……hearted……..
and funny.
The Thin Man was extremely
popular and (2) ……spawned………… five sequels.
Richard Layman has been
involved in the publication of two novellas and the stories have been in his
(3) ……file ……. /……cabinet….. for over twenty years.
MGM expected The Thin Man to
be another of the (3) …six…-…week……../ ……wonders……… that they were usually
involved in.
MGM had to ask Hammet to get
involved in the second series because they didn’t believe they had the talent
to do it (4) ……in……- ……house….. .
In the second movie “After The
Thin Man”, Nick Charles and Nora return
to San Francisco, find a body and get involved in a murder investigation
despite the fact that they have (5) ……sworn ……. / ……off…… crime.
As this murder is somehow
linked to Nora’s family, Nick Charles can’t (6) …back……… / …off…….. from it.
During the reading from the story,
one of the reporters suggests that Nick is no longer retired from being a
detective and is in fact, working (7) ……undercover…………. .
Hammett knew that his special
talents would be well received in Hollywood after he heard the first (8) “……talkie……. “.
What made Hammett’s scripts different from the screenplay was
their (9) …sexuality……….. .
Joseph Breen was the (10) ……appointed………..
/ …censor……… of the Motion Picture Association.
The character of Nick Charles
spent most of his day drinking alcohol but his character seemed to improve with
(11) ……each…… / ……sip….. .
It would seem that this
capacity for alcohol was also a characteristic of Hammett and for this reason
he (12) …invested……….. this quality in Nick Charles.
MGM became disillusioned with
Hammett because of his habit of never appearing at the (13) ……appointed…………… /
………time…… and also because he was a
member of the communist party with a
(14) ……long…….. - …term……….. / ……commitment………… .
Hammett himself became sick of
the (15) …exploitation…………… of the protagonists of his scripts.
After MGM paid a huge sum pf
money for the rights to his characters, Hammett wrote that no other writer had
ever produced a more (16) …insufferably……………. / …smug…………. set of characters.
Transcript
This is WEEKEND EDITION from
NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Dashiell Hammett's "The Thin Man" invented
a new kind of crime fiction. It was hard-boiled, but also light-hearted, funny,
with a hint of homicide. 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 and often depressed.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "THE
THIN MAN")
MYRNA LOY: (as Nora) How they
expect a woman to still have any mystery left from that after living in a place
like this for three days, I don't know.
WILLIAM POWELL: (as Nick) Darling,
you don't need mystery. You got something much better, something more alluring.
LOY: What?
POWELL: Me.
LOY: You?
SIMON: They also drank a lot -
Nick and Nora, not Asta, though he got an occasional leftover slurp. "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." And although
the screenwriting couple of Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich usually completed
the screenplays, the MGM studio needed the stories and characters that only
Dashiell Hammett could write. 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." They have been
edited and published by Richard Layman, who joins us now from the studios of
SEETV in Columbia, South Carolina. Richard, thanks so much for being with us.
RICHARD LAYMAN: Thank you for
having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
SIMON: Where have these
stories been?
LAYMAN: They've been in my
file cabinet since 1981 roughly. Before that, they were in the archives at the
legal office of MGM in Culver City.
SIMON: Tell us about these
writing contracts that Hammett would get from MGM. I don't know if that kind of
thing is done any more in Hollywood.
LAYMAN: After "The Thin
Man" was first produced in 1934 by MGM but 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. In fact, the movie was a big
success. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and
it made the studio a lot of money. So, they decided immediately that they
needed a second story in the series. They didn't have the talent to do it
in-house, they didn't believe, so they went to Hammett.
SIMON: Let's try and set this
up, the story, 'cause once again in this story, Nick Charles and Nora have
sworn off crime solving, but they come home to San Francisco, find a body and
get dragged back in. What happens?
LAYMAN: Well, Nick Charles is
always reluctantly pulled into a murder. This time, the murder has associations
with Nora's family, so he can't back away from it.
SIMON: Let's hear a reading
from "After the Thin Man."
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Reading)
They arrive at the house and they go up the front steps. Nora: Last one in bed
is a sissy. They run into the house pulling off clothes. From the living room
to meet them come Asta and the reporters they left at the Hall of Justice, the
reporters asking questions. The police suspect Mrs. Landis. What connections
did Pedro Dominguez have with the Landis killing, etc., etc.? Nick insists he
knows nothing about it and has nothing to say as they go back into the living
room winding up with: I'm going to give you boys one drink apiece and then put
you out. One of the reporters asks, well, answer another question for us and we
won't print it if you don't want us to. Is it true that you actually didn't
retire as a detective but are working undercover? Nick, starting to pour
drinks: No, it's not true, but don't print it, because I don't want my wife's
relatives to know that I'm living on her money.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMON: What do you learn by
working with Hammett words about Hammett dialogue?
LAYMAN: Oh, Hammett was a
master of dialogue and that was why it was so important to MGM. You know, when
Hammett was first attracted to Hollywood, 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, Hollywood had gone from a formula by which action advanced a plot in
the days of the silent movies to a formula in which dialogue and character
advanced the plot. And the two things that Hammett did superbly was develop
character and write dialogue.
SIMON: Were the screenplays,
the stories that he wrote, darker than the movies that got made out of them?
LAYMAN: In some respects, they
were darker. But the big difference that you see between the Hammett story and
the produced movie has to do with the drinking and the sexuality, but
especially the sexuality. It was a time in which the Motion Picture Association
had developed a code of decency. A character named Joseph Breen was the
appointed censor. When he saw Hammett's scripts, he must have had fits of
apoplexy.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "THE
THIN MAN")
LOY: (as Nora) Now, how many
drinks have you had?
POWELL: (as Nick) This will
make six martinis.
LOY: All right. Will you bring
me five more martinis?
SIMON: Nick Charles drank from
morning to midnight and seemed to grow more charming and clever with each sip.
Was that true of Dashiell Hammett?
LAYMAN: It was indeed. You
know, there was a famous photo session of all of the former writers for Black
Mask magazine. Raymond Chandler was also a Black Mask writer. And this photo
that was made in, what, 1935, 1936, one of the only known photos of Hammett and
Chandler together. Afterwards, Chandler wrote to someone saying that Hammett
had had at least 12 drinks during the time that they worked together and didn't
show the least effect from them.
SIMON: And so that's a quality
with which he invested Nick Charles.
LAYMAN: Yes, it was. Nick
Charles is, in many respects, like Hammett, just as Nora is, in many respects,
like Hammett's girlfriend Lillian Hellman, to whom "The Thin Man,"
the published book, is dedicated.
SIMON: Why did the studio
eventually get tired of Dashiell Hammett?
LAYMAN: The studio got tired
of him for two reasons, I think. First of all, because of his, quote,
"irregular habits."
SIMON: Irregular habits meant
regular drinking.
LAYMAN: Regular drinking. He
had a reputation for not showing up at the appointed time, often because he was
drunk, sometimes because he had been out partying all night and just didn't
feel like getting out of bed. But more important than that, Hammett was, at
that time, becoming political active and he was involved in the Screenwriters
Guild, a unionization effort of the screenwriters, to force the studios to give
the writers credit and money for the work that they did.
SIMON: And he'd also been at
least briefly a communist.
LAYMAN: No. It wasn't briefly
- it was a long-term commitment. He was a member of the Communist Party,
card-carrying. He apparently joined the party in about 1935, at about the time
he was - just before the time he was writing after "After the Thin
Man." And he remained a member of the party, you know, for the next, what,
two decades.
SIMON: How did he grow to feel
about this franchise that he'd created?
LAYMAN: I think he was fed up
with Nick and Nora Charles. Not fed up - he was tired of them pretty early on
and he was fed up with the studios for the exploitation of the characters that
he saw. Just before he finished the last draft for "Another Thin
Man," MGM bought all rights to the characters Nick and Nora Charles and
Asta so that they could develop the series without him. They paid $40,000 for
those character rights. And Hammett wrote to Lillian Hellman just after that:
There may be better writers than I am, but nobody ever created a more
insufferably smug set of characters than the Charleses, and they can't take
that away from me, even for $40,000.
SIMON: Richard Layman. He's
edited two stories by Dashiell Hammett, featuring the beloved characters, Nick
and Nora Charles and the little dog Asta...
(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING)
SIMON: They're published under
the title "The Return of the Thin Man." Richard, thanks so much for
being with us.
LAYMAN: Thank you.
