Thursday, December 31, 2009

Who is the 'Thin Man' in The Thin Man?

Just in case you didn't know The Thin Man is the 1934 American comic detective film stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a flirtatious married couple who banter wittily as they solve crimes with ease. Nick is a hard drinking retired detective and Nora a wealthy heiress. Their dog, the Wire-Haired Fox Terrier Asta, played by Skippy, was also a popular character.

Completed in 1934 and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, the film was directed by W.S. Van Dyke from a script by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich; the screenplay was based on the mystery novel The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett, supposedly based on his relationship with playwright Lillian Hellman. Also appearing in the film were Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton, Minna Gombell, Cesar Romero and Porter Hall.

In 1997, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

But who is the 'Thin Man' in The Thin Man?

The "Thin Man" in the title of the film The Thin Man was actually the lead suspect, but the name was thought by virtually everyone to refer to Nick Charles, and it was used in the titles of the sequels, although no one ever called him that.

During TCM Thin Man Marathon I decided to tweet the question. Here some interesting answers from fellow TCManiacs:

Worth Retweeting

Do you know who the 'Thin Man' is in The Thin Man? Hint: its not Nick Charles y'all...tweet me

Kellykoop
8:49pm, Dec 31 from Power Twitter

@TCManiacs The Thin Man is Wynant

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@TCManiacs Everybody knows it's Edward Ellis. It's one of the first things I taught my children when they started talking.

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@TCManiacs Cyde Wynant is the "Thin Man", not Nick Charles as everyone assumes from title.

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lhbflute
8:24pm, Dec 31 from UberTwitter

@TCManiacs Yeah, it's the victim!

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@TCManiacs Or did you want the actor's name? Edward Ellis. We are a Thin Man family.

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@TCManiacs the man missing a suit ;)

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@TCManiacs It's Clyde Wynant isn't it? The inventor?

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@TCManiacs it isnt?

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Who is the mysterious TCManiac?

First, I'll tell you who I am not. I am not affiliated with TCM. I am not some superbot created by software developers. I am not being paid by TCM or anyone else to dedicate my time to tweeting. I am a real flesh and blood human being. I am a real maniac for TCM. I really do keep my TV tuned to TCM 24-7. I created the TCManiacs twitter as a result of my sincere passion for watching Turner Classic Movies.

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Well, I've been a fan of TCM since its inception. As I lay flat on my back recovering from a disabling health crisis unable to do little more than watch TV and surf the internet, I found refuge watching TCM round the clock. I soon developed an obsessive habit of keeping a browser tab open for the TCM schedule and beating Robert Osbourne's introductions to finding out facts for upcoming movies. My entire day and night became defined by the TCM line-up. At the beginning of 2009 I decided to check out twitter and lucked up on some fellow TCM fans to friend. During the 31 days Oscar I decided to dedicate a twitter just to share my TCM obsession by tweeting about every movie every day of February. I was totally overwhelmed by the number of fellow TCM maniacs that became my following. Its been a WIN WIN in everyway for me. I have had the opportunity to share fun stuff with some incredible fellow classic movie lovers and bloggers. With so many followers I became committed to maintaining the twitter schedule and finding fun stuff for upcoming TCM movies.
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