February 2012 Program

Nick and Nora’s San Francisco: Martinis and Mystery

Tuesday, February 21 - 7:30 PM

Note special date!
Jewish Community Center
3200 California Street at Presidio Avenue

The San Francisco–based, martini- hoisting sleuths Nick and Nora Charles and their dog Asta were the creation of San Franciscan Dashiell Hammett, author of The Thin Man, one of the most popular film series in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Myrna Loy biographer Emily Leider will talk about Hammett (himself a former detective); actor William Powell, who played Nick in the 1934 MGM movie version, which spawned five sequels; and Myrna Loy, the actress who portrayed Nora in The Thin Man films.

Illustrating her presentation with film clips and photographs, Leider will discuss Hammett’s alter-ego relationship to Nick, Nora (and her relationship to Lillian Hellman) and the experiences of Powell and Loy in the city while filming “After the Thin Man” (1936) and “Shadow of the Thin Man” (1941), the two Thin Man movies actually shot (in part) in the City.

Leider will touch on San Francisco’s reputation as a “wet” city during Prohibition and on the impact of repeal in 1933 on the audience for The Thin Man films.