He quit school at 13 to become a messenger boy, then a stevedore, and finally a Pinkerton detective. In the latter capacity, he investigated the "Fatty" Arbuckle case and the affairs of gambler Nick Arnstein. In the late 20s and early 30s he wrote five mystery novels, three of which have been made into films: THE MALTESE FALCON (1931), (1941) and as SATAN MET A LADY (1936); THE GLASS KEY (1935), (1942); and THE THIN MAN (1934), which provided the basis for a series of five mystery movies from 1934 to 1947 starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. The influence of these five novels on the private-eye-thriller genre in American fiction was considerable. Excluding the gay, debonair Nick Charles in THE THIN MAN (1934), the Hammett hero was typically as tough and brutal as the criminals he pursued and his universe was a pessimistic one, filled with raw sensuality and devoid of emotion. In 1931, Hammett was put on contract by Paramount to write original stories directly for the screen. The first of these provided the basis for Rouben Mamoulian's memorable gangster melodrama CITY STREETS (1931). Hammett's few other original screen stories were rather routine. But in 1943 he wrote an excellent screenplay for WATCH ON THE RHINE (1943), from the Lillian Hellman play. In 1951 he was identified as a Communist in testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and the same year he was jailed for six months for refusing to divulge the source of the funds he was holding as trustee of the Civil Right Congress, an alleged Communist-dominated organization. He was later charged with tax delinquency by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and never resumed writing. Hammett was portrayed by Jason Robards, Jr., in the film JULIA (1977).    Nominated for Writing (Screenplay) 1943: WATCH ON THE RHINE 1 nomination