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Nick Carter (character)

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Template:Short description Template:For Template:Lead too short Template:Infobox character Nick Carter is a fictional character who began as a dime novel private detective in 1886 and has appeared in a variety of formats over more than a century. The character was first conceived by Ormond G. Smith and created by John R. Coryell. Carter headlined his own magazine for years, and was then part of a long-running series of novels from 1964 to 1990. Movies were created based on Carter in France, Czechoslovakia and the USA. Nick Carter has also featured in many comic books and in radio programs.

Literary historyEdit

File:A Great Conspiracy by Nicholas Carter.jpg
From The New Magnet Library Collection at The George Peabody Library.

Nick Carter first appeared in the story paper New York Weekly (Vol. 41 No. 46, September 18, 1886) in a 13-week serial, "The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square"; the character was conceived by Ormond G. Smith, the son of one of the founders of Street & Smith, and realized by John R. Coryell.<ref name="DE1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Coryell retired from writing Nick Carter novels and the series was taken over by Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey, who wrote 1,076 novels and stories from 1890 until his suicide in 1922.<ref>"Creator of 'Nick Carter' Kills Himslf; Penniless After Writing 40,000,000 Words", The New York Times, April 27, 1922, p. 1</ref> The character proved popular enough to headline its own magazine, Nick Carter Weekly. The serialized stories in Nick Carter Weekly were also reprinted as stand-alone titles with the imprint of New Magnet Library.<ref>Bedore, Pamela. Dime Novels and the Roots of American Detective Fiction. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.</ref> By 1915, Nick Carter Weekly had ceased publication and Street & Smith had replaced it with Detective Story Magazine, which had a more varied cast of characters. There was a brief attempt at reviving Carter in 1924–27 in Detective Story Magazine, but it was not successful.

During the 1930s, due to the success of The Shadow and Doc Savage, Street & Smith revived Nick Carter in a pulp magazine (named Nick Carter Detective Magazine) that was published from 1933 to 1936. Since the Doc Savage character had basically been given Nick's background,Template:Explain Nick Carter was now given new characteristics. Novels featuring Carter continued to be published through the 1950s, by which time there was also a popular radio show, Nick Carter, Master Detective, which was broadcast by the Mutual Broadcasting System network from 1943 to 1955.

Killmaster revivalEdit

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Due to the success of the James Bond series during the 1960s, the character was updated for a long-running series of novels featuring the adventures of secret agent Nick Carter, aka the Killmaster. The first book, Run Spy Run, was published in 1964 and more than 260 Nick Carter-Killmaster adventures were published until 1990.

Two additional books have been listed erroneously as Killmaster novels by some sources: Meteor Eject!, a memoir by a Royal Air Force pilot named Nick Carter, published in 2000, and a 2005 release entitled Brotherhood, which is actually an autobiography of singer Nick Carter of the musical band Backstreet Boys.

The 100th Killmaster novel—Nick Carter 100—was accompanied by an essay concerning the 1890s version, and a short story featuring the character; that marked one of the few times the Killmaster series acknowledged its historical roots.

None of the Nick Carter series of books had author credits, although it is known that several of the earliest volumes were written by Michael Avallone, and that Valerie Moolman and NYT bestselling author Gayle Lynds wrote others, making this the first series of its kind to be written in significant part by women. Bill Crider is another author identified with Nick Carter.<ref name="DE2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Nick Carter name was treated as if it were a pseudonym, and many of the volumes were written in the first person.<ref name="DE3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

AuthorsEdit

The works were published using the house pseudonyms "Nicholas Carter" and "Sergeant Ryan". Authors known to have contributed include the following:

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> as well as writing extensively under the pen name "Scott Campbell"<ref name="Clarke 32">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey (1861–1922), who took his own life
  • Thomas C. Harbaugh (1849–1924), who died penniless in the Miami County Home in Ohio<ref>Time magazine; Thomas Harbaugh, 75, one of the authors of the Nick Carter Detective Stories and other dime novels; penniless in the Miami County Home, Ohio. He wrote from 300 to 600 thrillers, at the rate of one a week, with pen; later, in the days of the typewriter, he sometimes bettered his speed.</ref>
  • George C. Jenks (1850-1929)
  • Eugene T. Sawyer (1847–1924)<ref>Time magazine; Eugene T. Sawyer, 77, one of the authors of the Diamond Dick, the Nick Carter Detective Stories; in San Jose, California</ref>
  • Charles Westerbrook
  • Richard Edward Wormser (1908–1977), who claimed to have written 17 Carter magazine stories published in 1932–33<ref>p.139 Wild Cat Books The Pulp Hero: Deluxe Edition 2008 Lulu</ref>

Stories are also credited to Harrison Keith, the joint pseudonym of John A. L. Chambliss and Philip Clark, who both wrote for the franchise.

BooksEdit

New Magnet LibraryEdit

MoviesEdit

The character has had a long and varied movie history, with three countries producing movies based on it.

FranceEdit

ÉclairEdit

In 1908, the French movie company Éclair engaged Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset to make a serial movie based on the Nick Carter novels which were then being published in France by the German publisher Eichler. Nick Carter, le roi des détectives, with Pierre Bressol in the title role, was released in six episodes during late 1908, and enjoyed considerable success. Further adaptations followed with Nouvelles aventures de Nick Carter in 1909, and the character was revived for a confrontation with a master criminal in Zigomar contre Nick Carter<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in 1912.<ref>Richard Abel. The Ciné Goes to Town. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. pp.195–199,359–361.</ref>

1960sEdit

American actor Eddie Constantine played the title roles in the French-made spy movies Nick Carter va tout casser (1964) and Nick Carter et le trèfle rouge (1965). In one self-referential scene, Constantine (as Carter) enters a house where he finds a large collection of Nick Carter pulp magazines and other Nick Carter memorabilia. Neither movie is associated with the Killmaster book series.

GermanyEdit

The Hotel in Chicago (1920), The Passenger in the Straitjacket (1922), Women Who Commit Adultery (1922), and Only One Night (1922) are among the silent movies made in Germany featuring Nick Carter.

United StatesEdit

MGMEdit

Walter Pidgeon plays Nick Carter in a trilogy of movies released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939); Phantom Raiders (1940) and Sky Murder (1940). Though MGM owned the rights to a large number of Nick Carter stories, the movies used original screenplays.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the 1944 MGM movie The Thin Man Goes Home, detective Nick Charles (William Powell) is seen reading a Nick Carter Detective magazine while relaxing in a hammock.

ColumbiaEdit

Columbia could not afford the rights to produce a Nick Carter serial, so they made one about his son instead; Chick Carter, Detective appeared in 1946.

TelevisionEdit

In 1972, Robert Conrad made a television pilot movie, The Adventures of Nick Carter, which was set during the 19th century. It was shown as a rare made-for-TV installment of the ABC Sunday Night Movie, which normally featured theatrical releases edited for broadcast.Template:Cn

CzechoslovakiaEdit

The Czechoslovakian movie Dinner for Adele (1977) is a parody inspired by Nick Carter's pulp magazine adventures. It features "America's most famous detective" visiting Prague at the beginning of the 20th century and solving a case involving a dangerous carnivorous plant (the Adele of the title). The Slovak actor Michal Dočolomanský played Nick Carter.

RadioEdit

File:Charlotte Manson Lon Clark Nick Carter Master Detective 1946.JPG
Charlotte Manson and Lon Clark in the Mutual series Nick Carter, Master Detective (1946).

Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for more than a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright.

Patsy Bowen, Nick's assistant, was played by Helen Choate until mid-1946 and then Charlotte Manson was given the role. Nick and Patsy's friend was reporter Scubby Wilson (John Kane). Nick's contact at the police department was Sgt. Mathison (Ed Latimer). The supporting cast included Raymond Edward Johnson, Bill Johnstone and Bryna Raeburn. Michael Fitzmaurice was the program's announcer. The series ended on September 25, 1955.

Chick Carter, Boy Detective was a serial adventure that were broadcast weekday afternoons on Mutual. Chick Carter, the adopted son of Nick Carter, was played by Bill Lipton (1943–44) and Leon Janney (1944–45). The series was broadcast from July 5, 1943 to July 6, 1945.<ref name="dunning_link">Template:Cite book </ref>

Comic booksEdit

In 1937, the Brazilian comic artist Renato Silva published a comic strip featuring Nick Carter published in the comic book Suplemento Juvenil.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Nick Carter and Chick Carter appeared in comics published by Street & Smith from 1940 to 1949.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Nick appeared in The Shadow Comics, was then transferred to Army & Navy Comics and Doc Savage Comics briefly, before being transferred back to The Shadow Comics. Some of these appearances were in text stories.

Chick appeared in The Shadow Comics, some of which were in text stories.

There was also Nick Carter, a 1972 Italian comic strip featuring detective Nick Carter.

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

SourcesEdit

External linksEdit

AudioEdit

Template:Nick Carter (character) Template:Authority control

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