Nick and Nora Charles the bantering, romantically involved detective duo has become a well-used trope in literature, stage, screen, and television ever since. The characters first appear in Dashiell Hammett's best-selling last novel "The Thin Man" (1934). Nick is an alcoholic former private detective who retired when he married Nora, a wealthy Nob Hill heiress. Hammett reportedly modeled Nora on his longtime partner Lillian Hellman, and the characters' boozy, flippant dialogue on their relationship. (The novel also mentions that Nick was once a Pinkerton detective, as was Hammett.) The novel is considered one of the seminal texts of the hard-boiled subgenre of mystery novels,
The Dollar-a-Year Man The Dollar-a-Year Man The Dollar-a-Year Man is a 1921 American comedy film starring Fatty Arbuckle. It is not known whether the film currently survives, which suggests that it is a lost film. Based upon a summary in a film publication, Franklin Pinney (Arbuckle) is a member of the Yacht Club which is hosting a Prince at a dinner. Fearing that Franklin, who is not a blue blooded member, will commit some indiscretion, the members plan to have Kate Connelly (Greenwood), the club detective, lure him to a haunted house until after the ceremony. Tipson Blair (Dumont) has plans to kidnap