DigBoston movie critic Jake Mulligan will lead a seminar on classic detective comedy The Thin Man (1934) before a 35mm screening at the Coolidge Corner Theatre this Thursday, December 15. The seminar will begin at 6:15pm, leading up to the film screening at 7pm.

Official notes for the program explain that it will:

…discuss the exciting origins of [lead characters] Nick and Nora Charles, and the secret history of screwball detective comedies surrounding The Thin Man. Finishing with an investigation into the connections between Hollywood franchises in the 1930s and the 2020s, this seminar is sure to blow the case wide open!”

Mulligan’s previous seminars at the Coolidge included lectures on Jackie Brown (1997) and The Big Lebowski (1998) earlier this summer, following longer programs “Defining Screwball Comedy” in 2019 and “Roger Corman, Producer” in 2020. Writing about his plans for the Thin Man seminar, he noted that:

I’ve always wanted to look deeper into the connection between screwball comedies and crime fiction, and The Thin Man provides the perfect base. Mixing up those classic American traditions like a precisely made cocktail, the movie pulls off the combination with an illusory ease that few others have ever achieved. I’m so excited to speak more about it at the Coolidge, and then to join everyone in (re)watching this classy and intoxicating holiday classic!”

For tickets and more information on both Thin Man events at the Coolidge this Thursday, see the seminar page here. Tickets for the 6:15pm seminar ($27.50) include admission for the 7pm film (which is $15.50 on its own).