Tagged: The Thin Man
The Thin Man: Nick’s Christmas Loungewear
William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man (1934)… with Skippy as Asta!
Vitals
William Powell as Nick Charles, retired private detective
New York City, Christmas 1933
Film: The Thin Man
Release Date: May 25, 1934
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Wardrobe Credit: Dolly Tree
Background
Suffice it to say that Nick and Nora Charles had quite a Christmas. Following a drunken holiday party, the sleepy couple was interrupted by the gat-wielding Joe Morelli (Edward Brophy), a fast-talking “get me, see?”-type of gangster whose quick trigger finger is no match for Nick Charles’ quick wit.
A few hours later, Nick spends Christmas morning recovering and in a perpetual daze possibly due to his recent flesh wound, the magic of the holidays, or – most likely – a large quantity of Scotch in his system. Continue reading
A Black Tie Christmas with Nick Charles
BAMF Style’s 5 Days of Christmas
To celebrate the holidays, BAMF Style will be chronicling the finest yuletide looks from some of our favorites. If you have any suggestions that don’t make it onto the blog this week, don’t worry, there’s always next year. Or the year after. (Or, if it’s a really good one, Christmas in July?)
William Powell as Nick Charles in The Thin Man (1934).
The easiest way to begin (and to celebrate Formal Friday) is naturally…
Vitals
William Powell as Nick Charles, retired private detective
New York City, Christmas 1933
Film: The Thin Man
Release Date: May 25, 1934
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Wardrobe Credit: Dolly Tree
Background
Following his Christmas celebrations, Nick Charles is naturally called upon by the police to solve a murder. With the two most useful tools at his disposal – a sharp wife and an infallible liver – he does so with gusto. Unlike most policemen’s standard procedure of bringing a suspect in for questioning, this would be the waste of a fine dinner party opportunity for a bon vivant like Nick. Naturally, the suspects are the guests of honor, aptly served their dinner and drinks by armed policemen. Continue reading
The Thin Man: Nick Charles’ First Suit
William Powell as Nick Charles in The Thin Man (1934)
The holidays are a time of homecoming, family, tradition, and libations.
Unless you’re Nick Charles, who believes in getting far away from family to spend Christmas Eve with criminals he had sent to prison during his days as a policeman. Naturally, the libations part is still essential.
Vitals
William Powell as Nick Charles, retired private detective
New York City, Christmas 1933
Film: The Thin Man
Release Date: May 25, 1934
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Wardrobe Credit: Dolly Tree
Background
The big screen’s introduction to Nick Charles is one of my favorites. We have already met the “Thin Man” himself, Clyde Wynant, during the film’s opening scene. (Despite Powell’s slim frame, he actually is not the “Thin Man” of the title) We then cut to a big Christmas party at a bar – drinks, dancing, fun. Clearly people are still celebrating the end of Prohibition which, according to the film’s storyline, had been only weeks earlier.
We search through the party and, naturally, find William Powell standing at the bar, shaking a cobbler shaker vigorously “to waltz time”. He strains into a tiny martini glass and, ever the gentleman, places it on the waiter’s tray. He then turns back to the waiter, accepts his drink with a polite smile, and enjoys his first onscreen Martini. Or the sixth, according to him. Continue reading