Return of the Thin Man

by Dashiell Hammett, Richard Layman (Editor), Julie M. Rivett (Editor)

Collects the two novellas that were the basis of the 1930s movies After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man, but were never published themselves, until now. (mystery & detective).

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Classics, Audiobook, Noir, Short Stories

419 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2012

About the author

Also wrote as Peter Collinson, Daghull Hammett, Samuel Dashiell, Mary Jane Hammett

Dashiell Hammett, an American, wrote highly acclaimed detective fiction, including The Maltese Falcon (1930) and The Thin Man (1934).

Samuel Dashiell Hammett authored hardboiled novels and short stories. He created Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon), Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man), and the Continental Op (Red Harvest and The Dain Curse) among the enduring characters. In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on film, Hammett "is now widely regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time" and was called, in his obituary in the New York Times, "the dean of the... 'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction."

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashiell...

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to these two sort of novella/screenplays, the Thin Man and Another Thin Man, that were written as sequels to one of the best noir detective novels ever, The Thin Man, Dashiell Hammett's last full novel (1934), which was made into one of the great thirties movies with William Powell as Nick and Myrna Loy as Nora. It's screwball comedy comes to detective tales, with rapid-fire clever dialogue, drinking and some suspense (though Hammett was known for the first two and not much for memorable plots). See my review of The Thin Man for the basic idea.

These two stories are derived as sequels from the original source. MGM made a pile of money in Depression-era dollars and so they kept paying Hammett lots of money to keep the franchise going. And these sequels are good, as sequels, funny and clever with the urbane Nick contrasting dese and dose guys who are sometimes just described as thugs and creeps in the script. Two scholarly essays are informative and well-written about how the scripts got shaped. Hammett was a seriously ill alcoholic, and he was in and out of hospitals during this period, but he managed to write pretty successful stories filled with boozy crackling characters. For Hammett scholars this is invaluable, lost scripts finally available. To the general reader, well, you'd only read it if you loved The Thin Man, book and/or movie.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dashiell Hammett is often referred to as one of the ‘Big Three’ when it comes to pulp fiction along with Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain. He is known for his hard-boiled novels turned film noir classics including The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man. Return of the Thin man is a collection of two previously unreleased novellas featuring Nick & Nora Charles from The Thin Man.

While “After the Thin Man” and “Another Thin Man” have been promoted as two never before published novellas, these are basically glorified screen plays by the pulp legend. The cynical ex-detective is back along with his very cleaver wife for some more drinking, flirting and crimes. But you really need to have read or seen The Thin Man before reading this because they are sequels that relay heavily on the character development that has already taken place.

The main problem is there are no stories here; nothing to demonstrate the power of Hammett’s pulp styles. These are just scripts for cashing in on the success of The Thin Man film adaptation. I think they would have worked a lot better if they were made into movies in the 1930’s. It reminds me of the recent movie release of Taken 2; all the plot and character development was in its predecessor, it is just cashing in on the success by trying to continue the story.

As a pulp fan I was looking forward to reading this and I really wanted to love it, but I was very disappointed. This is a gimmick release, not recommended for people new to Dashiell Hammett and Nick & Nora Charles. But if you loved The Thin Man there is a slight pleasure in seeing what Hammett had planned for these characters. The Thin Man was never a favourite of mine, I do really like Nora but for someone interested in trying the author I would recommend The Maltese Falcon or my personal favourite, Red Harvest.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2012/...

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't been able to track down a copy of The Thin Man movie so I decided to assuage my sudden obsession with Nick and Nora by listening to Return of the Thin Man. It isn't really a sequel so much as the rough screen play for the second and third Thin Man movies. Before each story there is an essay of sorts about the movie production and the difficulties between the movie studios and Dashiell Hammet. While this made a wonderful audio book, this separation of story and essay was hard to picture, since it felt repetitive and jarring sometimes.
I really enjoyed the first of the two screen plays (After the Thin Man). It involves Nora's relatives and gives a fascinating glimpse into their relationship. It lacked some of the darker elements of The Thin Man and replaced it with more humor. I didn't care as much for Another Thin Man. While Baby Nickey had great promise and the story occasionally felt charming, the overall presentation felt less pulled together and it had more gruesome elements.
Throughout, I often struggled with remembering who was who as a host of young men dot the pages only to fade into obscurity and then come bursting forth as relevant to later plot points.
Overall, though, engaging and satisfying enough to fill my cravings for more of this delightful detective duo. I wish there were more. (But from the way Hammett behaved towards his characters and in his personal life, it probably is a good thing there were not.)

[Jason Pettus · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this review, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

It's "Thin Man" week here at CCLaP! And in fact, it was pure but lucky coincidence that the original 1934 novel came up in my "CCLaP 100" reading queue this month, which I then followed up with a screening of the equally famous 1934 movie; because it just so happens that a brand-new contemporary book on the subject came to the top of my reading queue this month as well, the fascinating Return of the Thin Man edited by Richard Layman and Julie M. Rivett. See, even though The Thin Man would be the last novel Dashiell Hammett ever wrote, the resulting film version turned out so popular that movie studio MGM hired Hammett to write "treatments" for the next two sequels (After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man), not exactly stories and not exactly scripts, but rather if someone was describing a script in story form, neither of which have ever been published until this book this year. And so of course that makes this a must-read for Hammett fans, because it's not going to be very often anymore that they're going to come across unpublished work by him*; but of equal interest to history buffs are the lengthy contemporary essays that appear before and after each treatment, in which films scholars Layman and Rivett detail all the steps that went into making these films, their ultimate fates with both the studio and the public, and the cantankerous relationship the runaway alcoholic Hammett had with his MGM bosses, leading them to unceremoniously dump him after Another Thin Man and to hire journeyman writers to pen the last three scripts in the series. A fast, punchy and entertaining read, just like all of Hammett's work, this comes recommended to both hardboiled detective fans and those interested in the history of early cinema.

Out of 10: 9.0

*Although of course I shouldn't speak too soon; just last year, for example, a Hammett scholar unearthed a dozen unpublished short stories of his in the Hammett Archives at the University of Texas-Austin, which I believe are in the process of being turned into a brand-new book as we speak.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really "never before published novellas" but story treatments for the first two Thin Man movie sequels fleshed out with other material so they make logical sense

Finds Hammett working not in his usual hard-boiled style or even the breezier writing of the Thin Man novel, but in the cutesy martinis-murder-and-wisecracks style of the film.

Not a literary find on par with the work discovered and published in "The Lost Stories" or "The Hunter" but well worth it for the Hammett completist.

[Franky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, Hammett’s lost treasures didn’t turn out as good as expected. The two “never published” installments of The Thin Man series—After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man—are billed as “novellas” in the blurb on the cover, yet in truth are screen play adaptations.

The unfortunate aspect is that much of the power of The Thin Man—the mystery, the humor, the suspense—is really stripped away in this format. Gone is the feel of a true noir one might get while reading. The wit and charm between Nora and Charles doesn’t ring forth and the character interaction seems a little forced and flat (in contrast to the film version of After the Thin Man, for example).
A typical example of this format:
Nick, to Selma: “Where’s Robert?”
Selma is about to speak, but, Aunt Katherine hastily intervenes.
Aunt Katherine: “Robert telephoned that he was unavoidably detained. So we’ll start without him.”

Perhaps one plus of the book is simply the introduction, which sheds some light on how Hollywood produced the film versions, and gives some insight into Hammett’s close work with the studios. Fascinating to see how Hammett’s vision came to life on the big screen.

Over all, though, the book feels like false advertisement and is disappointing.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains two novellas, After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man in which Nick Charles and his wife Nora solve crimes. These novellas were written for the movies.

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't remember the first time I watched The Thin Man; maybe in my teens probably in my 20s back when PBS used to show old movies instead of infomericals and beg-a thons

Anyway I loved it; and I loved most of the sequels they get a little tired towards the end

This is Dashiell Hammett's 'draft' or layout of how the next two Thin Man movies would progress. This isn't a screen play there is very little direction and it isn't a script its just the plot and dialogue

I think you need to have seen some of the films to really grasp what's going on. But it's definitely a must for a fan of the series

[Aditya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Return of the Thin Man comprises of two sorta screenplays (proffered as novellas) and one plot outline written as sequels for the original The Thin Man movie. The stories are entertaining mysteries that might be called reductive by its critics but never fall as low as to become parodies. They embody the golden rule of diminishing return of movie sequels. The style is reminiscent of the cash cow that generated the sequels but everything the scripts do, The Thin Man did it first and better. I did not mind it; many crime series follow the same formula throughout their life span, so it seems churlish to call out movie sequels on repetition which were marketed as more of the same.

Hammett has never been big on characterization, his selling point being bullet speed banter and puzzling plots. Hence the screenplay format does not bother him as much as it would other more descriptive authors. There are forewords and afterwords providing a lot of backstory on what went on behind making the movies. It might be insightful to the interested but the average reader would give it nothing but a quick once-over. Hammett had to include some of the credited scriptwriter's ideas and they are the most forced parts in the book. But when he is left to do his own thing, the dialogue displays the chutzpah that is Hammett's calling card.

The Thin Man is my favorite Hammett book, if it the same with you, dive in without a second thought. These might not be original but they retain the spirit of outlandish fun that makes the original so beloved. Rating - 4/5

PS. It stands so heavily on its predecessor's shoulders that instead of writing a bigger review a link to my The Thin Man review seems more practical - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jan C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this one. The back story for The Thin Man sequels is narrated. But After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man are read as screenplays with different readers doing Nick and Nora. Not sure if there were other cast members, too, or not. But you do get to see how much was changed after Dashiell Hammett's story. There was also another story, Return of the Thin Man which brought back a number of characters from The Thin Man but had them all moved out to San Francisco.

This is really for Hammett/Thin Man aficionados. I found it enjoyable but I regularly watch the movies, either on dvd or on Turner Classic Movies.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the full cast audiobook. I enjoyed the narration but not the movie history information so much.

[Cara Putman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the thin man movies, so it was such fun to listen to this. There’s history of the stories as well as the screenplays acted out as Hammett intended. A real treat.

[Greg · Rating 1 out of 5]

BOOK 215 - Mid-20th Century North American Crime Readathon - Round 10
There are actually 2 works within this volume: I've reviewed "After the Thin Man" elsewhere, so my focus here is "Another Thin Man"which is the final, 7th, 'novel' Hammett completed. But it's sort of a mash-up of a screenplay, and Hammett puts Nick and Nora Charles into a previous work, "The Farewell Murder" which is a Continental Op story. Hollywood wanted a 3rd Thin Man film, Hammett was done, really, with it all but did come up with this.
HOOK - 1 stars: >>>AN ELABORATE SUITE IN A NEW YORK HOTEL<<< is the opening line and is nothing but a screenplay heading, telling us very little (it's the job of the set designers to actually put that suite on screen, and the word 'elaborate' isn't really necessary: "NEW YORK HOTEL SUITE - DAY" would have sufficed.) Nora is in a negligee on the telephone and she mentions her baby, Nick Jr. There is no alcohol mentioned here (unusual for a Thin Man page, or paragraph, for that matter) but still it's a flat opening.
PACE - 1: Hammett, here, puts Nick and Nora in a previously mentioned Contintental Op story, slowing everything down to nap-time.
PLOT - 2: It's a Continental Op story, and it's probably good, with the ultra ridiculous, insufferable. boring Nick and Nora inserted for (desperate) laughs. Nora's father has done some underhanded business with Sam Church. Church says Nora's father only received the 'honest' money, but of course that's immediately debatable. I'm giving this 2 stars because without Nick and Nora, this could have been interesting, and probably is as "Farewell Murder."
CAST - 1-Nick and Nora relatively sober are even more unlikable. Nick Jr. "is a fat, year-old boy who is interested in very little besides eating and sleeping. His vocabulary is limited, consisting chiefly of two words-'Drunk' for things he does not like and 'Gimme' for things he does." An early slaughter of a beloved collie is rather vicious, but Nick and Nora's Asta survives by hiding among patio furniture.. It's hard to believe this line made it to print: "Dum-Dum is sitting on his heels in one corner of the room eating a dish of ice cream." Dum-Dum appears to be a Negro chauffeur, but that singular line is simply vile.
ATMOSPHERE - 1: Well, we do know the NY Hotel Suite is 'elaborate' but that's about it.
SUMMARY - 1.2 stars. In my readathon, I set a number of works aside. But I read this one only because it's Hammett's 7th and final novel. Glad it's over: it's a fast read, so I didn't waste too much time. Hammett should have stopped with "The Glass Key": for me, the 3 Thin Man works are substandard for any writer. Yea, Hollywood paid him big bucks, and I hope Hammett simply laughed all the way to the bank.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reutrn of the Thin Man contains two previously unpublished film treatments of the first two Thin Man sequels (plus on brief synopsis of an unfilmed sequel) with additional notes about both films. The stories are enjoyable enough, although all of the Thin Man stories use the same basic setup, which can get boring after a while (Dashiell Hammett stopped writing Thin Man stories after the second sequel since he too was sick of the series). If you've never read or watched a Thin Man book or movie before, the main characters are Nick Charles, an ex-detective, and Nora Charles, his upper-crust wife who angered her family by marrying below her station. Nick is typically called out of retirement to help clear a family member or old friend of a murder rap, doing so while drinking heavily and engaging in witty banter with his wife.

The problem with Return of the Thin Man, though, is not in its story; it's in its format. These stories, as written by Hammett, were never meant to be read as a book. As film treatments, they were meant to provide a script, along with some basic directions as to how sets should look and very basic character movements. Everthing between the dialogue is written with an eye towards helping the director succesfully film the story, not to help the reader enjoy it.

If you are interested in what happens after the first Thin Man, you would be better off just watching the movie sequels, which is how these stories were intended to be consumed.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit disappointing as the book was two screenplays and not novellas. However, they were amusing to read and the escapades Nick and Nora get up to. They were the original basis for screwball comedies and would have been even funnier if the crazy laws for 30s and 40s movies had never been implemented.

The plots are good and the characters well developed with tidy endings. Overall entertaining but they are screenplays cashing in on Dashiell Hammett’s fame.

[Schuyler Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dashiell Hammett not only wrote about excessive drinking, he also indulged in the pastime to his ultimate demise from too much sauce. Many have attributed his slow decline in abilities to the habit and, indeed, I can see it in his writing. “The Return of the Thin Man” is a poorer effort at writing than the original, “The Thin Man,” and it shows. Nick Charles never suffered fools and he denigrated them constantly with his witty and stinging barbs. In the “Return” the wisecracks are still there but much less amusing and lacking in originality. For that reason, I found this book much less appealing than the original. Even Hammett considered Nick and Nora Charles to be “an insufferably smug pair of characters.”

His original plots were tight and appealing with sharp dialogue that readers and moviegoers flocked to that gave him top dollar and a sense of accomplishment that colored his career and brought him much acclaim. But, as his talent and wit deteriorated in the foggy haze of alcoholism, he began to have trouble with his book and movie producers that were unsatisfied with his final products. He became unreliable and personally unresponsive to their demands that he step up his performance. The original “Thin Man” movie, produced in 1934, was one of the year’s top moneymakers, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, and the fox terrier “Asta,” won four Academy Award nominations, becoming the new prototype of crime movies that featured comedy and romance, a happily married couple as highly successful detectives. The successful film begged for a sequel.

Unfortunately, Hammett could not produce the material because of his physical condition and “The Thin Man” slowly dissolved into mediocrity that was never overcome. He died in NYC in 1961, 64 years old, from lung cancer and the various ailments he suffered as a result of his alcoholism.

I write all this because I have never seen such a decline in writing talent as I have observed above. I enjoyed the book if for no other reason than to see first-hand the deterioration of writing skill suffered by this talented man. Glimmers of the glorious past shine through but overall it’s a waste of time.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Hammett’s the Thin Man was made into a highly successful film (1934) it became forever linked with the actors William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles and of course demanded sequels. (Maybe one of the first film franchises). These two novellas are essentially the basis for screenplays for the second and third films in the six Thin Man series. "After the Thin Man" (1936) is certainly the stronger and better of the two because it is closer to the original. The plot and resolution of the third, "Another Thin Man" (1939) seem unnecessarily complicated and the inclusion now of the Charles’s baby further weakens things, especially the opportunities for the smart, witty dialogue between Nick and Nora. More interesting and worthwhile are the Introduction and Notes by the editor, Richard Layman which describe Hammett’s life during this period, his relationship with the studio and other script writers and the many changes that found their way into the films.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Thin Man scripts are a fun read and full of the classic Hammett lines like those found in the Maltese Falcon. Some are dated and some have been rehashed but the quips are fun and the history of the films are interesting.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe only 3 1/2 stars. Not really a lost novel of Hammett's but 3 increasingly shorter film treatments for sequels to the movie, The Thin Man. Still, they contain some of Hammett's crackling dialogue and complex plots.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but not meant to be a book. If I could add a star for the narrator, I would. (My spouse, the inimitable Gregory Maupin, read it aloud to me, complete with a delightful William Powell impression.)

[Yourfiendmrjones · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a scholarly essay regarding the work Hammett did on the three Thin Man films than literature. And while the research and analysis are interesting, ultimately, it’s more of a supplement on a DVD and less of a full story. To be read by Thin Man completists only.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually think the movies are both better and more fun, but I still really enjoyed these. This is a compilation of a couple Thin Man Stories.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun read with a couple of caveat's to consider.
1. You are a fan of the characters Nick and Nora Charles.
2. You realize this is not original stories but the initial screen treatments (screenplays to use) for the 2nd and 3rd Thin Man films.
3. Some camera and stage directions are mixed in with dialogue and structure of the stories.

However all in all...the stories are fun and keep you captivated.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 kinda screenplays for the Thin Man sequels. Still good dialogue and action.

[Ben Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reading was delightful. Why would they mess with a Hammett script and not just make this as he wrote it?

[Maryellen Donahue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting to listen to after seeing all of the Thin Movies. Sorry to learn about Dashiell Hammett's drinking problem.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freeing

[MorganJac · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a cool combination of the scripts and the history around them.

[Dan K · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essays about the writing and production of the two films are great! The stories/scripts themselves are OK, I suppose.

[Christopher (Donut) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I faked finishing this on time.
Happy New Year.