The Thin Man is an amazing story written by
Dashiell Hammett in the
1930's about a boozing retired private detective named
Nick Charles, who had recently married an heiress named Nora. The interaction between these two characters is wonderful.
Shortly after it was published it was made into a movie starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. This is one of my favorite films ever, the way these two go at it is amazing. Although the book is more risque than the movie, Powell and Loy's performance make the movie an equal in style and character. The Thin Man was nominated in three of the top Acadamy Award catagories; Best Actor, Best Director (W.S. Van Dyke), and Best Picture. It lost out in each one to It Happened One Night. The Thin Man(1934) was such a success that it spawned 5 sequels (After the Thin Man {1936}, Another Thin Man {1939}, Shadow of the Thin Man {1941}, The Thin Man Goes Home {1945}, and Song of the Thin Man {1947}).
Every one of these movies is highly reccomended.
The movies were so popular that ten years after the last one, a TV show was made starring Peter Lawford, of Rat Pack fame, and Phyllis Kirk, lasting 3 seasons.