Before the Thin Man The Prequel to Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man is a prequel, set in 1928, to the original work based on The Thin Man characters created by Dashiell Hammett in 1933. His book was published in 1934 and soon afterward made into the hit movie of the same name starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles. The movie was so popular five more movies starring the same lead actors were made in the following thirteen years. The final movie, Song of the Thin Man, was released August 28, 1947. This story shows who Nick and Nora are, where they came from, and how they met to go on to become the iconic detective couple created by Dashiell Hammett.