AFTER THE THIN MAN (1936) – Previously, Balladeer’s Blog covered the neglected Sam Spade short stories that Dashiell Hammett wrote HERE. This time around I will look at the story treatment that Hammett provided the studio with regarding After the Thin Man. I feel this treatment is better than the actual shooting script and wish he had released it first as a longish short story.
It’s shorter and less prone to the silly diversions that stretched the film version to such an unnecessary length. As you would expect, there are other differences besides the running time.
HAMMETT’S TREATMENT: The story starts out the same way as the subsequent movie. It is New Year’s Eve as Nick and Nora Charles’ train arrives back in San Francisco a few days after their highly publicized investigation of the Wynant Murder aka “The Thin Man” case. We get familiar bantering and eccentric behavior between the tipsy married couple. Continue reading
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