The Thin Man (film) The Thin Man (film) The Thin Man is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy-mystery film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The film stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles; Nick is a hard-drinking, retired private detective, and Nora is a wealthy heiress. Their wire-haired fox terrier Asta is played by canine actor Skippy. The film's screenplay was written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, a married couple. In 1934, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The titular "Thin Man"
Ballad of a Thin Man at that time. Obviously there must have been a tremendous amount of them for me to write "that" particular song. It was like, 'Oh man, here's the thousandth Mister Jones'." In the John Lennon-penned Beatles song "Yer Blues", Lennon describes the character as feeling "suicidal, just like Dylan's Mr. Jones". Dylan critic Mike Marqusee writes that "Ballad of a Thin Man" can be read as "one of the purest songs of protest ever sung", with its scathing take on "the media, its interest in and inability to comprehend [Dylan] and his music." For Marqusee, the song became the anthem of