Ned vs. Nick

“The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry martini you always shake to waltz time.” ~The Thin Man
One of my favorite movie series is The Thin Man, with William Powell-needless to say based on another of Hammett’s novels. I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know how representative it is of the text, but if Nick is in represented as anything, it’s a sarcastic, witty, faithful alcoholic. Ned’s does the drinking, as well as gambling and he;s a master of witty discourse, but he’s a lot more difficult to get along with than Nick. Reading The Glass Key has made me curious to finally read The Thin Mas, as well as The Maltese Falcon to compare the films with the novels. I look forward to watching The Glass Key, even though I know I’m going to have a very difficult time imagining Alan Ladd as anybody other than Shane. I’ll add more on all of this after we begin the movie.