MOVIES

Silver Screen Sleuths

Nick and Nora Charles

are the characters created by Dashiell Hammett in his novel The Thin Man. Nick is a retired private detective and Nora a wealthy society woman whose snobbish family thinks she has married beneath herself; Hammett modeled her on his lover Lillian Hellman. Their banter provides comic relief of the type that would later be seen between John Steed and Emma Peel in The Avengers. The couple have a pet dog, Asta, who is a female schnauzer (but became a male wire fox terrier when the book was made into a film). [Wikipedia]

Charlie Chan

Created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1923, the enigmatic Chinese detective Charlie Chan has appeared in best-selling books, as well as on radio, television, movies and even in comic books. Chan, a devoted family man, solves difficult crimes while spouting Asian 'pearls of wisdom' which add a quaint and exotic tone to all of the Chan mysteries. More...

Sam Spade

is a fictional character who is the protagonist of the novel The Maltese Falcon (1930) and the various films and adaptations based on it. The character was created by Dashiell Hammett, and the novel was first published as a serial in the pulp magazine Black Mask. [Wikipedia]

Hercule Poirot

Hercule Poirot made his first appearance in Agatha Christie's "The Mysterious Affair At Styles" in Christie's first book, published in 1920. With this amazing mystery novel, the Queen of Crime began her illustrious literary career.
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