The Thin Man

The Thin Man was a major figure in mid-Twentieth Century detective fiction, featured in movies, radio, and television. This collection features two versions.

The Thin Man and After the Thin Man star William Powell and Myrna Loy reprising their roles from two motion pictures of the same names for the Lux Radio Theater. Powell plays the slightly disreputable Nick Charles, a private detective well-acquainted with the underworld and its hangers-on, who has married the wealthy and sophisticated Nora, portrayed by Loy. Despite its being clear that Nick has married up in the world, their affection is genuine, and, as Nick gets sucked into solving mysteries, Nora joins right in.

The other shows are from the long-running radio version, The Adventures of the Thin Man, which aired from 1941 til 1950. Claudia Morgan voiced Nora for the duration of the series, while Nick was voiced by several actors, most notably Les Tremayne and Les Damon. As with the films, the shows were characterized by light banter and wry humor.

The first film in the movie series was based on Dashiell Hammett's last novel, The Thin Man. Ironically, "the thin man" in the story is not Nick Charles, but rather one of the other characters, but the name caught the public's fancy and became attached to the fictional detective.

In addition to the two films represented here, Powell and Loy made four other Thin Man movies over a span of 13 years. Powell had become famous portraying Philo Vance in films, and the success of the Thin Man films cemented his stardom. There was also a half-hour television show in the early 1950s in which Peter Lawford had the role of Nick Charles.

For more information about the radio show, see Wikipedia,

Series description provided by Frank Bell.