Nick and Nora Charles are fictional characters created by
Dashiell Hammett in his novel ''
The Thin Man
''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of '' Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main ...
''. The characters were later adapted for film in
a series of films between 1934 and 1947; for radio from 1941 to 1950; for television from 1957 through 1959; as a Broadway musical in 1991; and as a stage play in 2009.
Synopsis
Nick and Nora are a married couple who solve murder mysteries while exchanging sharp and smart repartee. The tremendous popularity of the characters made them a media
archetype
The concept of an archetype ( ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis.
An archetype can be any of the following:
# a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main mo ...
, as the bantering, romantically involved detective duo has become a well-used
trope in literature, stage, screen, and television ever since.
Novel
The characters first appear in Dashiell Hammett's best-selling last novel ''The Thin Man'' (1934). Nick is a former
private detective of Greek ancestry who retired when he married Nora, a wealthy
Nob Hill heiress. Hammett reportedly modeled Nora on his longtime partner
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, Prose, prose writer, Memoir, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism. She was black ...
, and the characters' boozy, flippant dialogue on their relationship. (The novel also mentions that Nick was once a
Pinkerton detective, as was Hammett.) The novel is considered one of the seminal texts of the hard-boiled subgenre of mystery novels, but the chief innovation distinguishing it from previous Hammett works such as ''
The Maltese Falcon'' or ''
The Glass Key'' was its relative lightness and humor. It is nearly as much a
comedy of manners
In English literature, the term comedy of manners (also anti-sentimental comedy) describes a genre of realistic, satirical comedy that questions and comments upon the manners and social conventions of a greatly sophisticated, artificial society. ...
as a mystery, and the story tumbles along to the sarcastic banter of Nick and Nora as a reluctant and jaded Nick is dragged into solving a sensational murder, cheered on by the fascinated thrill-enjoying Nora.
Films
The
film adaptation
A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
of ''The Thin Man'' was a resounding success. Although Hammett never wrote another novel with Nick and Nora Charles, five movie sequels were produced, two of which were adapted by Warner Brothers' writers from two original Hammett works written after the success of the first film.
The film followed the plot of the novel quite closely, but the Nick Charles character, described in the book as overweight and out of shape, was portrayed by the slim
William Powell. Nora was portrayed by
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style.
Born in Helena, Monta ...
. The title of both the book and the film referred to the murder victim, Clyde Wynant, that Nick is initially hired to find, but producers referred to "The Thin Man" in the titles of each of the sequel films for branding purposes. As a consequence "The Thin Man" was eventually elided by the public into an alias for the character of Nick Charles. So strongly were Powell and Loy identified with the characters of the Charleses in the public mind that many mistakenly assumed the actors were a couple in real life as well.
The on-screen chemistry between Powell and Loy, who often improvised on the set, was key to the wild success of the series and quickly became a defining feature of the characters. The films revolutionized the screen portrayal of marriage —previously earnest, virtuous, and staid —invigorating it with danger, irreverence, and sex appeal. Taking their cue from Hammett's humorous dialogue and comic elements, the movies moved even further from the traditional hard-boiled approach. In another departure from Hammett, the dog Asta — an integral character in both the book and movies — was a male
wire fox terrier, rather than the novel's female
schnauzer.
Over time a child, Nick, Jr., was also introduced, and elements of the Charleses'
backstory
A backstory, background story, background, or legend is a set of events invented for a plot, preceding and leading up to that plot. In acting, it is the history of the character before the drama begins, and is created during the actor's prepara ...
fleshed out. Nick was revealed to be the son of a medical doctor from the fictional small town of Sycamore Springs in upstate New York. The novel's references to his being the child of an immigrant from Greece were ignored, and Nick was now the black sheep of a respectable
WASP
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...
professional family who turned his back on the family profession of medicine because of his passion for detective work.
Detail was also added to Nora's background. She is shown to be the sole child of a deceased mining magnate from San Francisco modeled on the "kings" of the
Comstock Lode
The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada (then western Utah Territory), which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the U ...
. Now diversified into lumber, railroads, etc., Nora's fortune is apparently vast and is managed for the couple by her father's former partner who lives in an estate on Long Island's North Shore "Gold Coast". Nora is also shown to have a network of blue-blood relatives and friends in San Francisco and New York society, while Nick is a beloved celebrity among the criminal classes and those who associate with them (such as police, athletes, nightclub owners, etc.), particularly among San Francisco and New York's Irish communities.
Hugely popular with audiences, the films employed the common murder mystery trope—familiar from English detective stories such as
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...
's ''
Murder on the Orient Express
''Murder on the Orient Express'' is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. In the U ...
''—of assembling all of the characters for the climactic revelation of the culprit. The first film appeared the year after the repeal of
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
, and the series is also notable for the extensive and casual use of alcohol by the main characters.
Titles
* ''
The Thin Man
''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of '' Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main ...
'' (1934)
* ''
After the Thin Man'' (1936)
* ''
Another Thin Man'' (1939)
* ''
Shadow of the Thin Man'' (1941)
* ''
The Thin Man Goes Home'' (1945)
* ''
Song of the Thin Man'' (1947)
Subsequent adaptations
The popularity of the film series spawned a radio program based on them, ''
The Adventures of the Thin Man''. It successfully ran from 1941 to 1950, starring
Claudia Morgan as Nora, with
Les Damon,
Les Tremayne
Lester Tremayne (16 April 1913 – 19 December 2003) was a British-born American actor who performed in Vaudeville, film, theatre, radio and television.
Early life
Tremayne was born in Balham, London. He moved with his family at the age o ...
, David Gothard and Joseph Curtin all giving voice to Nick, depending on the season.
The television series ''
The Thin Man
''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of '' Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main ...
'' ran two seasons from 1957 to 1959 starring
Peter Lawford and
Phyllis Kirk
Phyllis Kirk (born Phyllis Kirkgaard or Kirkegaard; September 18, 1927 October 19, 2006) was an American actress.
Early life
Kirk was born in Syracuse, New York, although some sources state her birthplace as Plainfield, New Jersey. She contra ...
as Nick and Nora. The series transplanted the couple to New York's
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
, updating the 1930s big band glamour to the 1950s
Beat Generation. There were 72 episodes. In 1975,
Craig Stevens and
Jo Ann Pflug starred in the made-for-TV movie ''Nick and Nora'', part of the
Wide World of Mystery series of TV movies.
In 1991, a
Broadway musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
, ''
Nick & Nora'' with a book by
Arthur Laurents, lyrics by
Richard Maltby Jr.
Richard Eldridge Maltby Jr. (born October 6, 1937) is an American theatre director and theatrical producer, producer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He conceived and directed the only two musical Revue, revues to win the Tony Award for Best Musical ...
, and music by
Charles Strouse
Charles Louis Strouse (June 7, 1928 – May 15, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist best known for writing the music to the Broadway musicals ''Bye Bye Birdie'', ''Applause (musical), Applause'', and ''Annie (musical), Annie''.
Backgrou ...
was based on the characters.
Barry Bostwick played Nick, and
Joanna Gleason played Nora. The chief innovation of this incarnation was to introduce strife and resentment into the relationship. After one of the longest preview periods in Broadway history, the show opened to poor reviews and closed after nine performances.
In 2009, the City Literature Theatre, a Chicago repertory company, mounted a stage production of the original Hammett novel adapted by Terry McCabe. In 2018, Vertigo Theatre in
Calgary
Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
, Canada premiered a new adaptation of ''The Thin Man'' by playwright Lucia Frangione. The Charleses were played by Curt McKinstry and Nadien Chu, respectively. A mostly loyal adaptation of Hammett's novel, the character of Nora Charles was given a new backstory as the Chinese-American heiress of a silk import/export fortune in San Francisco. This added the layer of an interracial marriage between the main characters, and shone light on the systemic racism of pre-WWII America. Frangione said: "An element that was in the original novel and the film was the fact that Nora and Nick were a married couple with no children who spent their Christmas with strangers. Both joy and sorrow hold a couple together, so as a writer I had to ask myself, 'Why are they socially isolated?' Hammett and Hellman were outsiders because of race and politics. So, I decided to flesh out a story point that was already hinted at in the novel and film. Nora is a wealthy heiress from San Francisco, why couldn't she be Chinese? I have always sought intelligent ways to diversify my casts. We live in a multi-racial society, that should be reflected on stage."
The
Thrilling Adventure Hour stage show often featured a segment called "Beyond Belief" in which
Paul F. Tompkins and
Paget Brewster portrayed paranormal mystery-solving couple Frank and Sadie Doyle, who were parodies of Nick and Nora.
In 2011, it was announced that a film version, starring
Johnny Depp
John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...
as Nick Charles, was in development but it has since been
shelved.
Nick and Nora were spoofed in the 1976 comedy film ''
Murder by Death''.
David Niven played detective Dick Charleston and
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had List of Maggie Smith performances, an extensive career on stage and screen for over seve ...
played his wife Dora Charleston.
See also
*
Nick & Nora (glass), named for the characters
*
William Powell and Myrna Loy
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Nick And Nora
Fictional American detectives
Fictional private investigators
Characters in American novels of the 20th century
Characters of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction
Literary duos
Literary characters introduced in 1934
Fictional film duos
Thriller film characters
Dashiell Hammett characters
Female characters in literature
Fictional married couples